Build your star team
Manage Real People, Not Stats
Forget faceless resource management. Each employee is a person who remembers how you treat them:
Motivation affects everything: Happy developers ship faster. Burned-out ones quit—or worse, stay and poison the well.
Team chemistry matters: Stack compatible personalities and watch magic happen. Mix the wrong people and watch projects implode.
Loyalty is earned: Overwork your team and they'll leave for your competitor. Treat them right and they'll carry you through disasters.
Experience compounds: Junior devs level up into seniors. Veterans become mentors. Every person grows—or burns out.
This isn't min-maxing. This is managing humans.
Deliver successful project
The Startup Roguelike
Found your company in a garage. Hire brilliant misfits. Burn through runway. Pivot when everything falls apart. Every card is a decision with consequences—and every decision gets you closer to glory or spectacular failure.
Can you turn a struggling startup into a thriving company without losing your soul?
Build Companies, Not Decks
Every card represents a real choice:
Hire that expensive rockstar developer or three junior coders?
Take the sketchy investor's money or bootstrap another month?
Push your team to crunch or risk missing the deadline?
Fire the brilliant jerk who's tanking morale but shipping incredible code?
Your company's fate hangs on every draw. And unlike spreadsheet sims, you see the consequences stacking up.
Don't Click. Think
No frantic clicking. No time pressure. No APM requirements.
CEO Quest is turn-based—each turn is one week. Take your time. Plan your strategy. Consider every angle. Hit "Next Week" when you're ready.
Strategy games should reward thinking, not reflexes.
Every Pivot Counts
Three projects. Four employees. Eight weeks before you run out of money.
Which project do you take?
The safe client work with low payout but guaranteed revenue?
The high-risk contract with triple reward but brutal deadline?
The R&D project with no deadline but no cash—just unlocked abilities?
Balance project deadlines against team capacity. Budget revenue against monthly salaries. Optimize for speed or sustainable growth.
Every startup runs out of runway eventually. The question is what you built before you did.
Two Paths, One Company
Build the company you choose to lead:
The Empathetic Leader:
Keep morale high. Build employee loyalty. Create sustainable growth. Take the long view.
Risk: Slower progress. Lower profits. Competitors move faster.
The Ruthless Optimizer:
Push teams to the limit. Maximize short-term profit. Cut costs aggressively. Move fast and break things.
Risk: Burnout. High turnover. Reputation damage. Unsustainable.
The game doesn't judge. It just shows you the consequences.
Your choices shape company culture. Culture shapes productivity. Productivity determines survival.
No Two Startups Fail the Same Way
Every run is different:
Procedural projects: Random requirements, deadlines, and rewards. Adapt or die.
Random employee pools: Different skills, personalities, and salary expectations every game.
Market chaos: External events you can't control. Investors, competitors, economic shifts.
Your own choices: Every decision cascades. Hire cheap talent early? That technical debt haunts you later.
Master one strategy and the game will humble you. The best CEOs adapt.
See Your Teams Work
Visual team management makes everything clear:
Cards stack on projects: See exactly who's working on what. No hidden menus. No abstract lists.
Leaders rise to the top: First employee becomes team lead. Visible hierarchy. Clear responsibility.
Effort accumulates weekly: Watch progress bars fill as your team ships code. Or doesn't.
Deadlines countdown: Color-coded urgency. Green means comfortable. Yellow means tight. Red means panic.
This is a kanban board that breathes.
The Startup Fantasy You've Always Wanted
Start in a garage with nothing but ambition
Hire your first employee—will they stick around or bail when it gets hard?
Ship your first project under insane pressure
Watch your company grow from 2 people to 10, 20, 50
Navigate funding rounds, investor drama, and competitor sabotage
Make impossible choices with real consequences
Build something that lasts—or fail spectacularly and learn why
You've wondered what it's like to run a company. Now you can find out without the real-world consequences.
Core Gameplay Loop
Choose projects: Pick from available client work (deadlines + cash) or R&D (abilities + long-term power)
Build teams: Drag employees onto projects. Assign team leads. Optimize composition.
Watch them work: Each week, teams generate effort based on (skill + experience) Ă— motivation
Ship or fail: Complete before deadline = revenue. Miss it = reputation damage and zero payout.
Pay salaries: Every 4 turns (monthly), everyone gets paid. Keep budget positive or it's game over.
Grow strategically: Better projects unlock as reputation grows. Stronger teams tackle harder challenges.
Win Conditions That Actually Matter
Complete 10 projects successfully
Reach IPO with a company people want to work for
Keep employees motivated and productive
Don't go bankrupt
Sounds easy. It's not.
Why CEO Quest Hits Different
Most management games treat people like resources. Numbers on a spreadsheet. Cogs in a machine.
CEO Quest treats them like humans. With memories. With breaking points. With potential.
Most card games are about combat. CEO Quest is about building something.
Most roguelikes are about death. CEO Quest is about learning from failure.
You kept a two-person garage startup alive for six months. But can you scale to 50 employees, navigate a Series C, and reach IPO before your runway hits zero?
For Players Who Love
Strategy depth without time pressure: Slay the Spire fans who want thoughtful decisions over twitch reactions
Meaningful choices with consequences: Fans of Cultist Simulator, Frostpunk, or Papers Please
Card games that aren't about combat: Players tired of "kill the enemy" mechanics
Management sims with soul: Two Point Hospital meets Slay the Spire
Startup culture: Anyone who's ever worked in tech and laughed at the chaos
Key Features
Visual Team Management: See your teams stack on projects—no spreadsheets, no hidden stats
Turn-Based Strategy: No time pressure. Think before you act. Strategy over reflexes.
Real People Simulation: Motivation affects output. Overwork causes burnout. Loyalty is earned.
Company Culture System: Your leadership style shapes everything. Cult of overwork or sustainable growth? Your call.
Procedural Generation: Random projects, employees, and market conditions. Infinite replayability.
Strategic Depth: Balance budgets, deadlines, team composition, and employee wellbeing simultaneously
Progression That Matters: Employees gain experience. R&D unlocks abilities. Skills develop over time.
Economic Pressure: Revenue vs. salaries. Budget vs. growth. Profit vs. principles.
Build Your Company. Shape Your Culture. Lead Your People
Every card is a decision. Every decision has weight. Every failure teaches something.
Don't Click. Think.
