Guide for beginners
Maintained by The Center
Welcome to Sim Companies. This guide will help you grasp some key mechanics of the game and its economy simulation. It’s suggested to do the Game Tutorial first, it will show you how to start production, buy and sell items. This guide takes a closer look.
It’s important to remember that there is no wrong way to play this game. There isn’t a “best” industry, strategy, or map layout. The game economy isn’t fixed, so what worked great for someone 6 months ago may not work now. Learn how things work, have fun, set your own goals and see how minor changes can have a large effect.
FIRST STEPS
The first goal of your business will be to generate revenue. There are primarily two modes of generating revenue.
You can produce goods using production buildings (eg. Farm, Ranch) and subsequently trade for a profit with other companies through the Exchange or contracts (Lvl 5 and above). Alternatively, you can retail end products through retail buildings (eg. Grocery) that converts them to cash.
Both production and retail have unique mechanics of their own and you can decide whether focusing on production, retail, or a mix of both best suits your game plan. If you need time to make sense of the game, it is encouraged to have both a Grocery and Farm/Ranch to get a feel of both production and retail. It also ensures you’ll be able to safely generate revenue by your own means at the start.
In the beginning, companies at lower levels cannot put in long overnight orders. Build time will increase as you gain levels. As with all good common business sense, as long as you are making a profit, you’re on the right track.
Retail Buildings
Check out what you can sell in the grocery store by clicking on the building and which of the products have the highest demand.
You can set a sale order by listing the quantity and price of the product. The average profit per item and the total time will be shown based on your inputs.
The average price states what others are selling at.
Sales speed determines how much time is required to retail a batch of products. The time taken is translated into operational cost in the form of wages.
Sales speed is influenced by two factors. Higher demand and higher quality increases the sales rate.
Sales price sets the desired profit margin of each product. Note that higher sell prices decreases the sales rate and vice versa, and you can calculate the optimal price to maximize profit/hour.
Pro-tip - the average profit per item is a good factor to consider, however the key principle you really want to find balance in is the average profit turnover rate. At times, setting a lower price may gain you a larger profit at the end of the day. Selling 60 items at $2.5 profit/unit at a rate of 1 minute/unit - totaling $150 profit in 1 hour, or 40 items at $3 profit/unit at rate of 1.5 minute/unit; totaling $120 in 1 hour
You don't need to pay too much attention to the average price - that's just information about what others are selling at. The demand is important because it determines how fast you sell and, essentially, what will be your per-unit profit. Let's assume that apples are high in demand right now.
Gaining Experience
You gain experience points while buildings are working; to level up fast, keep your buildings busy.
BUILDINGS
Buildings are the core of your company. They can be built with new construction and/or upgraded to add more value to your company.
On top of the variety of production and retail buildings, there are two (2) fixed buildings that you cannot upgrade, destroy or move: Headquarters (HQ) and Exchange.
Construction/Building Upgrades
Constructing new buildings is how your company grows and adds value. Each building allows you to produce different items or to sell items that are produced.
Building upgrades allows you to produce/sell more on each building slot.
If you make a mistake or change your plans you can scrap buildings. This returns your construction materials back to you so you can build or upgrade more of your buildings.
Note: Buildings that are level 1 and level 2 will return all construction materials. Any building level 3+ you begin to lose your construction materials. (For more about this see Construction Industry Guide.)
Headquarters (HQ)
The Headquarters building is the one with your company name on the Map. It contains all of your financial information. In it, you can keep track of your Company Value (CV), cash flow and transactions. You will also receive a daily update on your Income Statement. As you level up, Bonds (level 10) and Executives (level 15) will be unlocked.
The Warehouse is also located inside of your Headquarters.
The Warehouse is where you can find your inventory and details on them. Clicking on one of the items in storage will show the cost details for that item - breaking down the labor, admin and component costs. You can also choose to put up a batch of goods on the exchange, send contracts, display them on your profile, or block it to prevent unintended usage. You also can see the first 5 market orders, and any recent transactions you have made.
An important thing to note is the transportation. Transportation units are necessary in order to place goods on exchange or send contracts. In this case, 1 orange requires 1 transport unit. The number of transport units required per item can be found in your warehouse, or in the encyclopedia. Contracts require half of the transport requirement shown.
Whether you choose to trade on Exchange or through contracts, be mindful to factor in the hidden cost of transport as they do not appear on your cash flow.
Note: You do not need Transport units to sell in Retail buildings.
Tip: A quick way to access both your Headquarters and Warehouse; select the Green cash up in the upper right corner by your company logo.
Exchange
The Exchange is the common place where buyers and sellers trade for goods.
Make sure when selling products on the exchange it is listed as priced per unit and not the total price.
Items on the Exchange are listed with the lowest price at the top. Items of higher quality will also take precedence over lower quality items of the same price. Likewise, when products on the market are bought, those at the top of the exchange are sold first. Changing the minimum quality (gold stars) will filter the list of products to the specified quality or higher.
Note that a market fee of 3% of the total sale value will be applied for goods that are sold through the Exchange. For example, an order of 1 apple priced at $2.00 will have a fee of $0.06 and an approximate transport cost of $0.35, leaving you with about $1.59 to cover your cost. Market fees affects the actual profit value of each product, hence one should be mindful to factor in the cost of market fees in cost when deciding on the sales price, especially for items that are priced lower (eg. sand).
You can choose to cancel the Exchange order by locating your listed product and clicking the “x” beside it. You will be charged 3% of market fees if you cancel an order before 48 hours upon the time of listing. There will be no market fees charged after 48 hours. Unsold items on the exchange will be automatically returned to your warehouse after 2 weeks.
Visit Frequently Asked Questions for a walk through on how to sell items on the exchange.
CONTRACTS
What are contracts? A contract is a trade of goods between two (2) players. In order to do contracts (send or receive) you must be at least level 5. Contracts are also the suggested method of doing trades between companies because there is no market fee of 3% like the exchange and transportation is half of what is listed for that product in the Encyclopedia (see below).
Players have a number of options in game to find contracts with other players.
Short Video on finding Suppliers
Sales Chat, is a chatroom for sales only and is one of the first places to find buyers/sellers.
Company Tagging is a way to search for players selling or buying all the products in game (see Interface Tips “Company Tagging”).
Exchange, you can see who is selling specific products.
Once you have found a potential trade partner reach out to them via Private Message; you negotiate with them the Price and Quantity for your contract(s).
Once an agreement has been set contracts can be one time trade or they can be daily.
Visit Frequently Asked Questions for a walk through on how to sell items through contracts.
Note: Sim Companies is Buyer Beware. Meaning players have the freedom to be scammed. Always verify contract prices when negotiating prices and verify the price(s) sent to the warehouse. Everyone is allowed to refuse or cancel a contract. If a company sent the wrong price; contact them via Private Message to confirm the price negotiated. Everyone has the right to use the Ignore feature on player’s profiles; if the prices did not meet your company standards. Using the ignore feature blocks incoming Contracts and Private Messages.
THE ENCYCLOPEDIA
The Encyclopedia is your friend. It holds a wealth of information about the products in the game. Learn how to use it and referring to it often will help you make smart decisions.
The screenshot below is what a beginning player will see for apples. As you grow and get a good CFO, you’ll see information in the Profit Calculator too.
How to Read the Encyclopedia Listing:
At the top, you’ll see the requirements to build/grow items. In this case, 3 water and 1 seed is required for every apple. 100 apples would require 300 water and 100 seeds.
Next is the “building” that produces apples - the Farm, as well as what consumes apples - the Grocery Store.
Next up is the Production Calculator. This helps you figure out how much you can produce, and how much upgrades will boost production. Play with the settings to see how your production and costs change. Mine, Quarry, and Oil Rig products will have a 4th variable - Abundance. The higher the Abundance the easier it is to mine. Mines, Quarries, and Rigs also lose abundance 0.032% per day. Young companies are fine with a 85% Abundance or higher because of lower Admin costs, but later on most people look for 95% or higher. The longer you plan on keeping the Abundance building, the higher the Abundance you want to start with.
The Sales Calculator is similar to the Production, but applies to the Sales Building. Play with these settings to see how an upgrade will boost selling speed. This is only available for products that can be sold in a Store.
The Chart shows retail price and volume history. In this case the demand for apples has been very steady, but the retail price has bounced between around $4 to $4.30.
MISCELLANEOUS
Personal Assistant (PA)
Wondering about the Personal Assistant? Your PA will notify you on the following
Contracts refused by other companies
Updates on current and potential Executives
Changes in the economy
Early in the game your PA will present a series of business related problems. How you respond to them is completely up to you, but there are benefits or consequences to your choice. They are designed to help you earn extra money and make good business decisions. If you are struggling, you can see Personal Assistant Quests in the Forum.
Make sure you answer every quest. Sometimes players don’t get quests and the reason is they have not answered the last quest they received from the PA.
Note: The newer quests that were added to the game have requirements that need to be met:
Time Played
How much cash that your company could potentially lose ($50,000).
Executive requirements (level 15)
Sim Boosts
What are Sim Boosts? Sim Boosts are blue stars that can be earned from daily login and producing/selling. Or can be purchased with real currency. They are used to unlock/speed up/switch items in the game. Cash earned in game cannot buy Sim Boosts.
Here is a list of all the uses for Sim Boosts.
You can use Sim Boosts to: (suggested order)
Unlock four (4) building slots (50, 100, 500, 500)
Move production speed bonus to sales speed bonus and vice-versa (Headquarters - HQ)
Unlock Executive slots (50, 100, 200, 400, 500)
Upkeep recreational buildings: park, lake, castle (40 a week)
Other Sim Boost uses: (no particular order)
Advertise your company in the Sim Companies Times
Rush building construction and upgrades, this means you do not have to wait for construction and upgrade to finish
Rush executives training and hiring
Exchange Sim Boosts for in-game money - limited to $10,000 a day
Unlock display case slots, where you can showcase your certificates, inventory, and achievements
Unlock Four (4) building slots (Sim Boost cost: 50, 100, 500, 500)
Beginner Boost
When you first start, your building’s production is doubled to help you get off to a good start. Take advantage of this and keep your buildings as busy as you can. It’s a great way to produce low cost materials.
Note: time shown in image is based on when this screenshot was taken. Your time will be different.
Creating More than One Account to Get Ahead?
Thinking outside the box, right? New companies get substantial start-up boosts, to make the game fun to play at the beginning and, sadly, some players try to abuse this to gain an unfair advantage against honest players.
This is why having more than one account is strictly prohibited.
Also, small companies are more restricted regarding what prices they can sell resources at, or send contracts.
There are monitoring mechanisms in place. It's very easy to check if the contracts or market orders a company is receiving are substantially lower-priced than the average price in the game for the concerned goods. Same, if a company sells to other players at much higher prices than the average.
If you try this approach you will get caught.
This guide should cover you to Level 10
Take this time to learn, read the guides, and then go back and read them again. This game is complex, don’t expect to learn everything at once. Much like a real business, it takes time to grow. The PA Quests will help you in the beginning and give you rewards. Frequent review of the Encyclopedia will help understand the interdependencies of products.
If you have kept your buildings at level 2 or below, you can scrap for full value and try something else if you like. But eventually you will want to pick an industry and specialize. Power is one of the easiest, Aerospace is the most complex. There are many other choices in between. Just pick what sounds interesting, fits your style, and stay with it a while.
Whatever you decide to go with, keep at it and optimize the flows. You need heavy cash to be able to experiment and explore other industries. If you are a manufacturer, you can try to find somebody who will take your goods using contracts, so you save on the market fees. It's also good to have stability.
Similarly, if you are a retailer, find a stable supplier(s) with prices better than the Exchange.
GUIDES
There are many useful guides in the Library. Scrolling past the newspapers will reveal many guides. It is highly suggested to read these guides. You will gain an understanding of the mechanics of the game. The Forum is also a great source of information.
After reading this guide check out some of the other guides listed in the library:
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - Is a list of questions and answers, that are very common for new players to ask.
Interface Tips - How to use many of the features of the game. Navigation Bar, Chat, Production Values, Warehouse, Exchange, Headquarters (HQ), Buildings, Notes, and Charts.
Abundance - Reviews what Abundance means on Resource buildings.
Leveling Up and Experience Gain - How to level up and understand what gives experience.
Research Guide - Covers what research and quality are with means to obtain both.
Construction Guide - Covers construction and what is needed for constructing new buildings and how scraping works.
Retail and Demand - Covers the Retail sector and how quality and demand are associated for retail goods.
Bonds Guide - Covers what bonds are and how you can gain capital needed for growing your company.
Executives Guide - Goes over what executives are and how they benefit your company.
Time Table - This is a list of times when functions of the game are calculated. Check the list for your local times.
Links to helpful articles from the Sim Times:
Now What? (parts 1 and 2) - An intermediate guide for business planning.
Game Jargon - Identifies the many Acronyms and Abbreviations that are used in game
Links to the Forum:
Using the Encyclopedia (production)
Simboosts - Efficient Utilization Guide
My Version of Achievement Hunting
If you are having problems finding what you want, the Search bar is a useful tool. You can search for Companies (players), Products, Buildings, Guides, and Sim Times Articles.
If you have more questions, please ask in Help Chat. It may even be helpful to just follow along for a while and see what people are asking about. It’s a great way to learn about the game. Join in Game Chat too - for discussions about the game.
Link to the original guide for beginners: Original
Disclaimer: All articles (and forum posts) that are player-written-articles are the opinion (editorial) of that author and do not reflect the opinions and beliefs of the Sim Companies or its affiliates (developers, moderators, editors).
By Mighty Moo Inc. & Anonymous