How to Play Gold Rush

The basics

• Pick a game length: 10, 30, 50, or 100 days. Each is its own leaderboard.
• Trade between San Francisco, Hangtown, Sacramento, Coloma, Sonora, Nevada City, Stockton, and Marysville. Prices change each day.
• Buy goods when the price crashes, then sell where and when it spikes.
• Your starting Poke carries 100 units. Trade Gold Nuggets, Gold Dust, Quicksilver, Whiskey, Flour, Eggs, Boots, Laudanum, Wool Blankets, and Black Powder.
• Each trip to a new city advances the day. Days are the real currency.

Money and debt

• The lender charges 20% interest per travel day, so the $5,500 grows fast if you ignore it.
• Pay the debt down early once you have a cushion, not on the last day.
• The bank keeps deposited cash safe from road agents and pays 7% interest per travel day.
• Final score is cash plus bank minus debt. Unsold goods do not count, so sell before your run ends.

Strategy tips

• Learn each item's normal price range. A real bargain is far below the usual low, not just cheaper than yesterday.
• Buy during a price crash, but keep a cash cushion: the next market may not offer the sale you need.
• Upgrade from your Poke to Saddlebags, a Pack Mule, and a Wagon as you can afford them. More capacity lets you carry more goods.
• Bank your winnings before a risky stretch. Getting mugged only takes loose cash.
• On short 10 day runs, take bigger swings. There is no time to grind back.

Leaderboards

Every finished game can be posted to the global leaderboard. Sign in with Google to claim your scores, set a custom display name, and keep your runs tied to your account. You can also watch the game live on the stats dashboard, which shows games played, players online, and the top scores today.

About the game

Gold Rush takes inspiration from John E. Dell's Drug Wars (1984), the predecessor behind its buy-low, sell-high trading loop. This California setting is a new interpretation, not the original game. It is free, needs no download, works on mobile, and has no ads. Found a bug or have an idea? Use the feedback button in the game.