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Default Alive

A startup tycoon game for iPhone. After the seed round, one real day is three months.

Live Public beta on TestFlight. Coming to the App Store.

Play the beta on TestFlightiPhone, free. The link installs Apple's TestFlight app first if you do not have it.

If you have worked at a startup, you have done the sum: at this pace, does revenue pass costs before the cash runs out? Default Alive gives you a company of your own to find out with, starting alone in a garage with $120k of savings.

A Default Alive store screenshot headed Your startup keeps running, One real day is three months, app open or not. Below it, a pixel-art office with the team at their desks, and a report that reads You were away 24 h. 13 weeks passed. The top stories say the Q3 board deck is ready with annual revenue up 156% to $253k, a post about the company went viral, and monthly revenue passed $10k.
Back after a day away: 13 weeks passed
A Default Alive store screenshot headed Reach a Series A, then share it. The card shows a pixel-art office party under a Series A banner, the company Care Works, Ready for a Series A, 138 weeks to the bar, $1.2M of annual revenue at the end, You own 74%, and a chart of annual revenue week by week.
The Series A ending, with its card to share

What it does

You pick a market and a price, and you name the company. The garage runs on its own and stops whenever you have a call to make. Customers write to tell you why they signed, and why they said no or cancelled. When investors notice you, you choose how much to raise and whom to meet, then compare the term sheets side by side. A lower valuation with clean terms can leave you more money than a higher one, and each sheet shows what you would take home if you sold.

Three months a day

Once the seed closes, the company runs on a real clock: one real day is three months, whether the app is open or not. The team brings the calls that need a founder, from a hire to an outage. The board meets once a real day, and its deck names the causes behind the biggest change in the numbers. When the cash runs low, the clock stops and waits for you.

A run ends at a Series A, which is $1.2M in annual revenue, or earlier: a sale, an empty bank account, burnout, or a board vote. Every ending gives you a card to share, with your weeks and your revenue curve.

Who it is for

For founders, engineering managers and anyone who likes a management game. The game runs on a model of how software companies grow: each ad dollar buys fewer leads than the last, an interview is a rough signal, and funded rivals keep launching in your market. If you want a game to finish in one evening, this is the wrong one. After the seed round the company runs on its own and asks for you when a decision is waiting.

The details

PriceFree. No ads and no in-app purchases.
Where to get itThe public beta on TestFlight, Apple's app for beta software. The App Store release is coming.
PlatformiPhone, iOS 26 or later.
AccountNone. There is no sign-up and no password.
The clockThe garage pauses when you leave the app. After the seed round, one real day is three months, app open or not.
NotificationsOptional. At most three a day, and none from 9 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Your saveOn your iPhone. Deleting the app deletes the company.
This versionThe garage and the seed stage, up to a Series A.

Questions

What happens while the app is closed?

In the garage, nothing: it pauses when you leave. After the seed round, the company keeps running at three months a day, and when you come back a report shows what happened while you were away.

Can I lose?

Yes. You can run out of cash, burn out, or have your board vote you out. You can also sell the company. There is no time limit, so a run ends only when one of those happens or you reach a Series A.

How do I install the beta?

Open the TestFlight link on your iPhone. If you do not have TestFlight, Apple's app for beta software, the link asks you to install it first, and then it installs the game.

What data does the game collect?

Gameplay events, tied to a random ID made for your install, so the game can be tuned where players get stuck. There is no account, no ads and no tracking across other companies' apps. The privacy policy, linked at the foot of this page, lists every detail.

Get Default Alive

Play the beta on TestFlightiPhone, free. The link installs Apple's TestFlight app first if you do not have it.

Published by Enginery · Support · Privacy

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