The goal
€30,000 profit – per year
You manage a vacation rental and make weekly decisions about prices, booking channels, guests, rules, marketing and investments. One game year consists of 52 weeks. After Year 1, you can submit your result or continue into Year 2 with the same property.
Why two years?
The first year is often shaped by investments, setup work and fluctuating demand. In Year 2, you continue with the rating, upgrades, cash balance and strategy you have built up. This lets you see whether your business model is truly sustainable.
30.000 €
Target each year
Guided setup
The first 3 steps before the game starts
The start screen guides you step by step through the most important basic decisions, so you do not have to understand every game mechanic immediately.
1
Step 1
Choose region
Choose coast, mountains, city or countryside. The region changes demand, seasonal peaks and sensible pricing strategy. A mountain region can be strong in winter, a coastal location in summer, city locations are steadier, and countryside locations rely more on niches and guest loyalty.
2
Step 2
Choose target audience
Families, premium & wellness guests, workation guests and pet owners have different expectations. They affect length of stay, price acceptance, ratings and which upgrades are especially useful.
3
Step 3
Set your starting budget
Set base prices for low, high and peak season. Allocate your starting capital between furnishing quality, marketing/channels and a liquidity reserve. Extras such as a pool, sauna, terrace, solar panels or carport can be deliberately purchased later as upgrades.
Game flow
After starting: Steps 4 to 8
After setup, the actual game opens. The most important areas are numbered to make it easier for new players to get started.
Annual planning
Plan private use, maintenance and cleaning/renovation. These days are blocked in the calendar. Fewer blocked days create more booking potential, but too little maintenance can be risky.
Tuning & strategy
Choose booking mode, pricing strategy, distribution channels, website marketing, minimum stay, arrival days, cancellation rules, cleaning and maintenance.
Tools & Marketing
One-time investments and ongoing tools help with direct bookings, automation, communication and price optimisation. Website direct bookings start at a realistically low level and grow through your actions.
Financing
If cash gets tight, you can take out a loan. It helps in the short term but reduces your annual result through repayments and interest.
Upgrades
Invest in amenities such as a pool, sauna, terrace, solar panels, carport/garage, playground or wellness extras. Upgrades can improve ratings, market value and occupancy.
End of week
After each week, you receive a summary of revenue, costs, platform fees, direct-booking share, occupancy and rating changes.
Game mechanics
What happens in the game
The most important rules at a glance.
Guest enquiries
In enquiry mode, groups of guests appear that you can accept or reject. You see length of stay, risk and price. Low-risk guests are safer; higher-risk guests may pay more but can hurt your rating.
Instant booking & dice
Instant booking increases your chance of occupancy but removes guest selection. In this mode, you can roll the dice each week and receive automatic bookings or event effects.
Events
Not every week needs a special event. There are quiet weeks, positive events and occasional damage. Major problems such as a broken boiler or water damage are limited so they do not destroy every strategy.
Prices & Dynamic Pricing
You can adjust prices manually or use dynamic pricing/PMS later. Prices that are too high reduce demand and can hurt ratings when price and quality do not match.
Direct bookings
Your own website starts with a realistic base share of direct bookings. SEO, blogging, GEO activities, newsletters, a digital guest guide and other tools can increase that share and save platform fees.
Annual result
Your cash balance is your liquidity. The leaderboard score is your annual profit/result after costs. Loans and investments can make Year 1 negative even if your cash balance is positive.
Strategy overview
Channels, tools and investments
The key is not to buy everything immediately. Invest so that liquidity, quality, demand and direct bookings stay in balance.
| Area | Effect | Risk | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|
| RentalPortal A / TravelPortal B | More reach and occupancy | 15–18% platform fees | Good for getting started |
| Own website | Commission-free direct bookings | Does not reach full effect immediately | Activate early |
| SEO, blog, GEO, newsletter | Increases direct-booking share | Ongoing costs | Combine with website |
| Channel Manager / PMS | Helps with multiple channels and automation | Setup costs | Useful for a multi-channel strategy |
| Amenity upgrades | More appeal, market value and rating | Investments reduce Year 1 result | Targeted rather than all at once |
| Loan | Liquidity for investments | Interest and repayments | Only with a plan |
Calendar legend
What the colours mean
The ring calendar in the centre shows the status of each day of the year. This lets you quickly see whether you have enough bookings or too many blocked days.
Peak
Peak-season day
Booked
Booked via platform
Sofortbuchung
Accepted automatically
Direct booking
Via your own website
Dynamic price
Automatically optimised
Blocked
Private / maintenance / cleaning
Available
Still available
Leaderboard
Leaderboard with 3-character code
After the year-end result, you can submit your score. The leaderboard uses an anonymous code of exactly 3 characters.
Code instead of a free-form name
Exactly 3 characters from A–Z and 0–9 are allowed. Special characters, emojis and spaces are not accepted. A blocklist prevents problematic codes.
Only the best run counts
If you play several times with the same code, only your best score is shown in the main list. The number of your runs may also be displayed.
Cash balance is not the leaderboard score
The cash balance shows your liquidity at the end. The leaderboard uses annual profit/result, which accounts for investments and costs more realistically.
Pro tips
How to play more successfully
These strategies are especially useful in the second year.
🌐Build your website early
A website does not instantly deliver 50% direct bookings, but it is the foundation. Combine it with SEO, GEO, a blog, newsletter and digital guest guide.
📸Make quality visible first
Photos, ratings, good amenities and clear rules make your property more attractive. That helps with price acceptance and demand.
📅Plan blocked dates deliberately
Too many blocked dates cost revenue. Too little maintenance can become expensive. Find a realistic balance.
💶Do not overprice
Extremely high prices can look tempting in the short term, but they reduce demand and can hurt ratings.
🏦Do not underestimate loans
A loan can enable investments, but repayments reduce your annual result. This can make Year 1 look negative in particular.
🚀Make use of Year 2
After Year 1, you have experience, data, upgrades and better visibility. Year 2 often reveals whether your strategy is sustainable.
Free · No sign-up · Play in your browser
© 2026 RentalPage Studio / bioculture GmbH. All rights reserved. Idea and concept: Robert Klosko. Game concept, text, design, graphics, logic and code may not be copied, published, modified or reused without permission.