From sign-in to the Energy Win, in one page.

01What is Wind Tycoon?

Wind Tycoon is a real-time multiplayer browser strategy game that fuses classic Monopoly mechanics with the development of American wind farms. As CEO of an energy company, you buy land, install turbines, and upgrade to massive Wind Farms with one goal: reach 100 MW of generation — or bankrupt every rival.

02How do I sign in and start my first game?

Wind Tycoon offers three sign-in options: Google account, Email magic link (passwordless), and Guest mode. The first two save your stats and rank you on the leaderboard; Guest mode is for offline-style practice vs Bots only.

① Continue with Google Recommended

The fastest option. You'll be redirected to Google's OAuth page, then bounced back to Wind Tycoon with your avatar and display name visible in the top-right. The first time you sign in, your Google display name becomes your default in-game nickname; you can change it before any game.

② Email magic link Passwordless

Enter your email and we'll send a "magic link". Click the link in the email and you're authenticated — no password needed. A player profile is created automatically on your first sign-in.

③ Guest mode Practice only

Jump straight in without leaving an account behind. The trade-off: vs Bots only, no Quick Match, no Private Rooms, no leaderboard, and your data is wiped when you close the browser. You can upgrade to a full account from the top-right anytime.

03Which of the four modes should I pick?

After signing in you land on the "Start Game" page with four mode cards. Each fits a different situation — here's a quick reference.

04How does the lobby work? How do I invite friends?

Once you create a Quick Match or Private Room, you enter the lobby and wait for opponents. The lobby shows a Game ID (room code) — share it with friends and they can join. The game starts the moment all seats are filled.

Three ways to share your Game ID

• 📋 Copy invite link: copies the full URL (with embedded Game ID) to your clipboard. Friends click and they're in.
• 📤 Share (mobile only): triggers the OS native share sheet — pass it through iMessage, WhatsApp, Discord, anywhere.
• Click the Game ID box: copies just the room code as plain text. Friends can paste it into the "Join with Code" mode.

Fill empty seats with AI bots

Don't want to wait? Click 🤖 Add Bot Player to add an AI bot. Bot names are randomized (e.g., "Grid Storm", "Green Baron") and they'll act according to the difficulty you picked earlier. Add up to 3 bots to play 1-vs-3 solo style.

05What's on the game screen?

The screen splits in two: the left side is the 11×11 board (with a center status zone), and the right side is the sidebar control panel (player status, auctions, assets, player list, dice).

Left side: the board

• 40 tiles around the perimeter: 4 corners (Start, Blackout, Windfall, Go-to-Blackout); 22 wind-farm properties; 4 Opportunity-card tiles, 4 Turbulence-card tiles, 4 Grid Fee tiles, 2 Grant tiles.
• Click any tile to open its detail card: owner, rent, base supply, current build level, and a photo of the real wind farm.
• Player tokens appear at the bottom of each tile. Your token has a glowing cyan border.
• Buildings: turbine icons (1–2) for partial builds; a Wind Farm icon at max level.
• Center area: the Energy Jackpot value, the system log feed, the chat input box, and an emoji picker.

Right side: the console

• Status card: cash, supply/demand progress bar, current tile, remaining steps.
• Auction House (only visible during an auction): item, current high bid, bid/pass buttons, 30-second countdown.
• My Assets: list of your properties with turbine counts, supply, and a button to start a voluntary auction.
• 🎲 Roll Dice button: enabled on your turn only.
• Player list: every player's cash, supply, online state, and current-turn marker. Bankrupt players show as 💀.
• Reaction bar (bottom): five emoji buttons that broadcast a quick reaction to all players.

Top sidebar buttons

06What does a single turn look like?

Players take turns in clockwise order. Each turn is capped at 75 seconds (admin-configurable). The flow is fixed: Roll → Move → Tile event → Action → End turn.

① Roll & move 🎲

• Click 🎲 Roll Dice. The system rolls 2 dice and moves you forward by the total.
• Doubles bonus: matching values (e.g., 3+3) → take another turn after this one resolves.
• 3 doubles in a row: grid overload → instantly sent to Blackout (#10), turn ends.
• Passing GO GREEN: every time you pass or land on tile #0, collect $25M in federal incentives.

② Tile event 📍

The system auto-triggers an event based on the tile type (purchase prompt, rent payment, card draw, tax, grant). See "Tile Types" below.

③ Action 🎯

Depending on the event:

• Unowned property: a buy dialog opens — choose "Buy" to purchase or "Auction" to put it up to public bidding.
• Your own property (and you own the full color set): a build dialog — add a turbine or upgrade to a Wind Farm.
• Card tile: 3 cards appear face-down — pick one to reveal and apply.
• Opponent's property: rent is auto-deducted, no input needed.

④ End turn ⏭️

The system auto-ends your turn after the action resolves. If you rolled doubles, you go back to step ① for an extra roll.

07What's on the 40 tiles?

The board has 40 tiles: 4 corner specials + 22 wind-farm properties + 4 Opportunity-card tiles + 4 Turbulence-card tiles + 4 Grid Fees + 2 Grants.

The 8 US-Edition color groups

22 wind farms split into 8 color groups of 2–3 sites each. You must own a complete group to upgrade (under default rules).

08How do I build turbines and upgrade to Wind Farms?

When you land on your own property, you can build — provided you (1) own the full color group, and (2) build evenly (no tile may be ahead of others in the group).

How is build cost calculated?

Each property has its own HousePrice. As a rule of thumb: low groups (Brown, Light Blue) cost ~$5M per build; mid groups (Pink, Orange, Red) ~$10M; high groups (Yellow, Green, Dark Blue) ~$20M.

Market events affect build cost

Occasionally a "market event" triggers (Steel Boom, Green Subsidy, etc.) that multiplies build costs by 0.7×–1.5× for several turns. Active market events appear at the top of the sidebar.

09Opportunity vs Turbulence — what do they do?

When you land on an Opportunity (OPP) or Turbulence (TURB) tile, the system draws 3 cards face-down and asks you to pick one. The card content is hidden (server-side, so DevTools snooping doesn't help) until you pick.

5 card-effect categories

10How do auctions work? When does someone go bankrupt?

Voluntary auction

Click "Auction" next to any of your properties in the sidebar's "My Assets" panel. Set a starting price; opponents have 30 seconds to bid (each bid must beat the current high). No bid → the auction fails and the property stays yours.

Bank auction (unowned land)

When you land on unowned property, the buy dialog includes "Auction" alongside "Buy" and "Pass". All players (including you) can bid. Highest bid wins.

Forced liquidation 🚨

When a player's cash hits $0 with debt remaining (rent unpaid, fine owed):

1. The system auto-selects their lowest-cost property (turbines and farms are wiped to 0).
2. A forced auction starts at the property's cost price.
3. Other players can bid; the winning bid pays off the debt.
4. If no one bids, the bank repurchases at cost and the property returns to unowned.
5. If debt remains, the next-cheapest property is liquidated.

11How do I escape the Blackout Zone?

Three things send you to Blackout (#10): (1) rolling doubles 3 times in a row, (2) landing on tile #30, or (3) a Turbulence card.

What can I do while stuck?

• Cannot move.
• Cannot collect rent: when opponents land on your properties, they pay no rent (you'll see "🚧 … in Blackout — … pays no rent").
• Cannot place bids in auctions: the system blocks bidding with "Cannot act in Blackout". You may still be listed among bidders and pass, allowing the auction to resolve.
• Can still mint carbon: carbon minting consumes supply, unrelated to Blackout. (Note: bots will not auto-mint carbon while in Blackout.)
• On your turn, choose one of two escape methods ↓

Two ways out

12How do I win the game?

Two paths to victory; whoever gets there first wins.

13🌱 Carbon Trading System New in v17.1

Tokenize your surplus green supply into carbon credits and sell to the global carbon market — settles after 5 of your own action cycles based on the market index. An advanced come-back mechanic for trailing players.

Real-World Counterpart

The "carbon credits" in this game correspond to real-world Renewable Energy Certificates (T-REC) and the EU CBAM (Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism). Wind power producers tokenize their surplus green energy capacity and sell it to companies needing to offset emissions, forming a global carbon market.

Core Gameplay

1. Mint: Before rolling on your turn, invest supply (min 3, max 10% of your supply) to get a carbon contract
2. Wait: 5 of your own action cycles later, the contract matures
3. Settle: Returns supply based on price index at maturity. Return = invest × 1.3 × index
4. Cooldown: 2 of your own turns before you can mint again

Key Concept: Price Index

More active carbon credits in the market = lower index (oversupply). Range 0.4 ~ 1.6, market events can push beyond to 0.2 ~ 2.5. Examples:

• 0 per-player active → index 1.50 (invest 5 → return 9~10)
• 5 per-player active → index 1.00 (invest 5 → return 6~7)
• 10 per-player active → index 0.50 (invest 5 → return 3~4, loss!)

Strategy: Collective Suppression

When one player is close to winning, others can collectively mint after them to depress the index, causing them to suffer losses at maturity. This mirrors real CBAM political dynamics.

Victory Calculation

Note: Until maturity, minted supply does NOT count toward victory progress (effectiveSupply). So leading players take risk by minting — locked supply delays victory and may lose value.

Market Event Modifiers

• 🏛️ Carbon Tax Law (CARBON_TAX_LAW): Price index ×1.5 for 2 turns (bull)
• 📉 CBAM Delay (CBAM_DELAY): Price index ×0.6 for 2 turns (bear)

Strategy Tips

• Watch other players' carbon badges (🌱X(Y) in p-list) to track market dynamics
• Low active + nobody minting → time to enter
• High active (per-player ≥ 5) → wait for maturities to clear before entering
• Leaders should mint cautiously — risk of collective suppression
• Trailing players can use the 1.3× multiplier to catch up

Glossary

14Seven CEO-grade strategies

Want to graduate from "I get it" to "I usually win"? These seven principles separate the top players from the rest.

① Color groups beat property count

Don't reflexively buy every unowned tile you land on. Completing a color group doubles rent on undeveloped land AND unlocks building. Skip random Yellow tiles to lock down the full Brown group instead.

② Offshore = endgame weapon

The Green and Dark Blue groups are your fast lane to 100 MW. A single fully-upgraded Dark Blue Wind Farm (Empire Wind, South Fork) provides up to 250 MW — instant Energy Win. Play conservatively early; concentrate fire on these two groups in the mid-late game.

③ Defend your $20M+ reserve

Sinking every dollar into turbines feels productive but leaves you helpless to a Hurricane card. Maintain $20M+ in liquid cash as your "lifeline".

④ Hunt the Windfall (#20)

Grid Fees and fines all flow into the Energy Jackpot. Mid-game it stacks to $50M+. Landing on #20 is a game-changer — count squares, and don't pass up rolls that put you within range.

⑤ Use auctions as offense

If an opponent is cash-strapped, voluntarily auction one of your properties they need (e.g., the last tile in their color group). Either they overpay or you keep it cheap.

⑥ Avoid the Blackout Zone

While stuck in Blackout you cannot move, cannot collect rent, and cannot bid in auctions — pure loss (see Section 11). Be especially careful after rolling doubles twice in a row; a third doubles sends you straight in. In late game with multiple high-rent properties, even one Blackout turn costs several rent collections. If you have ≥ $10M cash, pay to escape immediately — don't wait on doubles.

⑦ Build evenly the smart way

The "build evenly" rule means levels must stay ≤ minimum. Within that constraint, prioritize the tile opponents land on most often. Tiles 6–9 spaces past the Blackout exit see the heaviest traffic (dice probabilities cluster around 7).

⑧ Carbon Trading: the come-back lever New in v17.1

When you're trailing in supply but past the 10 MW entry threshold, minting carbon is a high-EV move (1.3× base multiplier). Three core principles:

• Time entry by per-player active: the sidebar shows "Global active" total. When per-player active < 5 AND index ≥ 1.0, it's golden entry time; when ≥ 5, the index is already depressed — wait for others' carbon to mature and exit.
• Leaders mint cautiously: while minted, supply doesn't count toward victory (effectiveSupply). If you're < 5 MW from winning, minting delays your win, and others may collectively suppress the index to make you lose.
• Watch market events: "🏛️ Carbon Tax Law" pushes index ×1.5 (bull) — enter aggressively. "📉 CBAM Delay" pushes index ×0.6 (bear) — avoid minting; wait for the bear cycle to end.

15How do I review past games?

During or after a game, click 📋 Review in the sidebar to open the game-review panel.

Three analytical views

• 📈 Supply chart: each player's MW over time, with the 100 MW target line. Spot who's racing ahead and who's stalled.
• 💰 Cash chart: each player's bankroll trajectory. See bankruptcy turning points and Windfall jackpot windfalls clearly.
• 📜 Event timeline: filterable feed of every action — purchases, auctions, card draws, rents, bankruptcies. Perfect for post-mortem.

Share your win

The victory screen offers a Share button that generates a shareable result card with your final supply, win type, and game length. Post to social media or message it to friends.

16Frequently Asked Questions

The most-asked questions from the community (with structured-data markup for search engines).