Beginner's guide
How to Play
Buy Your Friends is a social tycoon game. Public X profiles become collectible "friends" on a shared market. You buy them with points, put them to work, and grow a business empire while other players try to buy them out from under you. The whole loop fits in three steps: buy friends, seat them to earn, and snipe pricier friends to climb.
1. Buy friends on the Market
Open the Market to browse friends. Each friend has a level and an asking price. A friend nobody owns costs their level's price to claim. A friend another player owns can be sniped at the current market price, and each purchase pushes that friend's price up. Start with cheap friends so you can fill seats quickly.
2. Seat them in Positions to earn
Your board is made of Positions, such as Reply Guys, Quote Tweeters, Growth Hackers, Algorithm Gurus, Engagement Farmers and Ragebaiters. Every seated friend pays points on the game timer, every few seconds, while you play. Upgrade a position with points to raise what it pays and unlock more seats. An empty seat earns nothing, so keep your board full.
Bigger positions unlock as you grow. Creator Revenue, Subscribers and Affiliate Marketers pay LLC cash on top of points, and you upgrade them with LLC cash instead of points.
3. Snipe and climb
The market is live. When you can afford it, buy pricier friends off other players. When someone snipes one of yours, you receive 85% of the price, and the snipe bell shows who did it. Good players keep cash moving: sell low earners to rivals, reinvest, and trade up.
Hiring and your LLC
Friends level up as they change hands. At level 29 a friend can no longer be sniped. Instead you hire them for their asking price. A hired friend becomes an employee with a badge carrying their photo, then returns to the market as a contract employee at level 1. The friend's previous owner receives 25% of the hire price.
Your first hire founds your LLC. Name it and pick a logo. Every hire permanently raises your point pay, and employees also boost LLC cash, a second currency for late-game positions and upgrades.
Promotions
Hire a friend you already have a badge for and you promote them instead: Bronze, Silver, Gold, then Diamond. Promotions cost the hire price plus LLC cash, and each tier adds more point pay and LLC cash.
Major Restructuring
The prestige system. Spend LLC cash to start over: points, positions and seats reset, and your friends return to the market. Your badges, bots and cosmetics stay, and each restructuring doubles your LLC cash for good. The first one costs $10M of LLC cash, and each one after costs ten times more.
Events, bots and frames
Limited-time events run on their own board. During the Halloween event, the Cursed Market, everyone starts fresh with Treats. Final net worth decides who earns Gold, Silver or Bronze avatar frames. Bots in your Storage boost particular positions, and avatar frames show off what you've achieved next to your name.
Strategy tips
- Fill every seat before upgrading. An empty seat is wasted income.
- Upgrade the positions with the most seated friends first.
- Treat getting sniped as profit. Reinvest it immediately.
- Watch friends approaching level 29. They're your path to hires and permanent multipliers.
- Save LLC cash for promotions and your first restructuring. Both pay off for good.
- Check the Updates page and the in-game News tab for new events and balance changes.
Frequently asked questions
Is Buy Your Friends free?
Yes. The game is free to play in any web browser on a phone or computer.
Can I win real money?
No. Points, LLC cash and Treats are fictional game balances. They have no cash value and cannot be withdrawn, sold or traded outside the game.
Why is my X profile in the game?
The market is built from public X profiles. If you would rather not appear, email us from the Contact page and we will remove you.
Do I need an account?
You sign in with X to save your board between sessions. The game only receives your public username, display name and profile picture, never your email.
Someone sniped my friend. What happened?
Any friend who isn't protected can be bought by another player at the current market price. You receive 85% of the price they paid, and the friend's price goes up. Seat strong friends and reinvest to stay ahead.
See it without signing in: view-only main game and the Halloween event preview.