The Hamster Wheel

The Hamster Wheel

Satirical Life Sim for iOS

"You wake up Monday with $200, no job, and 60 hours to spend."

Download on the App Store

Free to try — first 7 weeks, no restrictions. Unlock full game for $5.99.

About the Game

The rat race got a board game.

60 hours. 8 locations.

Every turn is one week. Allocate 40 weekday hours and 20 weekend hours across 8 locations — the Job Center, University, Bank, Market, Clothing Store, Pawn Shop, Gym, and your Apartment. Every hour you spend is a trade-off.

Turn-based strategy.

No time pressure — play at your own pace. One turn takes 2–5 minutes, making it perfect for commutes, breaks, or late-night sessions. Undo mistakes. Save and resume anytime.

The chaos of 2026.

Tariff announcements tank your grocery budget. Crypto pumps and dumps. The Fed raises rates. Your landlord raises the rent. Satirical weekly news events create real economic pressure — the same strategy that worked last week might not work next week.

Screenshots

See the wheel in motion.

Victory screen
Board map
Weekend event
Economy news event
AI rivals

Scroll to see more →

Meet Your Rivals

They all have a plan. Do you?

Nine rivals with distinct personalities and strategies. Beating them requires understanding how they think.

Morgan
"Grinds 80-hour weeks and talks about passive income."
Wealth-first
Parker
"Networks obsessively and uses the right keywords."
Career-focused
Quinn
"Reads every book and corrects your pronunciation."
Education path
Chip
"Has been playing this game since before you were born."
Balanced veteran
Sage
"Meditates through every crisis you're currently having."
Wellbeing path
Reese
"Makes no plans and somehow keeps up anyway."
Wildcard
Blair
"Turned their phone into a business model."
Hustle culture
Finley
"Lives on nothing and calls it philosophy."
Minimalist
Devon
"Believes in you. And will still beat you."
The nice one

Five Paths to Victory

Define what success looks like.

💰
Wealth
Stack cash and investments until you're embarrassingly rich.
📈
Career
Climb the ladder to VP before your rivals do.
🎓
Education
Collect degrees like trophies. Yes, all of them.
🧘
Wellbeing
Achieve inner peace while everyone else has a breakdown.
✨
Self-Actualized
Balance all four. The hardest win. The most satisfying.

Press Kit

For journalists and creators.

"The Hamster Wheel is a satirical life-simulation strategy game where you allocate 60 hours per week across 8 locations, outsmart AI rivals with distinct personalities, and navigate the economic chaos of 2026. Free to try on iOS — 7 full weeks of gameplay, no ads, no tracking."

Solo developer Free to try $5.99 unlock No ads No data collection iOS Turn-based strategy Hot seat multiplayer

Screenshots and app icon available above. For additional assets, contact kariannolsenkristiansen+hamsterwheel@gmail.com.

Support

Need help?

How do I save my game?
Your progress saves automatically on your device. Just close the app and come back — everything will be where you left it.
How do I restore my purchase?
Go to the game's Settings screen and tap "Restore Purchases". Your purchase is tied to your Apple ID, so it will restore on any device signed in with the same account.
Is there multiplayer?
Yes — Hot Seat mode lets 2 players take turns on the same device. Pass the phone back and forth.
Do you collect any data?
No. The game stores save data locally on your device only. No accounts, no tracking, no ads. See the Privacy Policy for full details.
What is the free trial?
The first 7 weeks of gameplay are completely free — full access to all game mechanics, all locations, and all rivals. No credit card required, no restrictions. After week 7, a one-time $5.99 unlock continues the game forever.
The game is crashing / something isn't working.
Please send a quick description of what happened to the support email below. Include your device model and iOS version if you know it.

Still need help? Reach out directly:

kariannolsenkristiansen+hamsterwheel@gmail.com