The GrindHaven town square at dusk: a fountain, lamp posts and City Hall with its green dome, with the downtown skyline behind

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GrindHaven: Start broke. Run the city.

GrindHaven is an online city where the jobs, the shops, the courts and City Hall are run by players. Clock in, train up, buy land, hire people, run for mayor. Or steal a car and see how far you get.

Play free See the careers

Runs in your browser on PC, Mac or phone. Nothing to download.

Start with nothing

You arrive on the City Hall steps with $500 in your pocket. Everything after that, you earn.

The grill minigame at Burger Barn: patties on a grill, one ready to flip

Day one

Your first shift

Clock in at Burger Barn, the grocery or City Hall. No experience needed. Every task is a short minigame, and the better you play, the more it pays.

A bench press set at the Public Gym: press when the marker crosses the gold zone

Week one

Train for the next rung

Lift, run and sprint at the Public Gym. Study any skill at the library with quick quizzes. Better jobs check your stats at the door.

A residential street of low-poly houses with gardens and trees on a clear day

Later

A lot of your own

Buy land from the city or from a player broker. Build a house, a shop or a farm on it. Pay your property tax, or the city auctions it off.

Pick a career

Every career starts with a job anyone can do and climbs from there. The Job Center lists every opening, what it needs and where to train for it.

Food & drink

  1. Cook
  2. Shift lead
  3. Manager

Flip patties, ring up orders, then run the Burger Barn kitchen. Tend bar at the casino to build charisma.

Medicine

  1. Orderly
  2. Paramedic
  3. Doctor

Triage arrivals, bring the downed back with CPR, then treat patients for less than the hospital desk charges.

Police

  1. Officer
  2. Sergeant
  3. Lieutenant
  4. Captain
  5. Chief

Train at the range, then take a badge, a cruiser and the dispatch radio. Walk your beat, answer 911 calls and climb the ranks to Chief.

Law

  1. Law clerk
  2. Lawyer
  3. Judge

File dockets, reach law 50 and take clients. Defend cases, hold contract escrow, and get appointed to the bench.

Money & land

  1. Teller
  2. Loan officer
  3. Land broker

Count out withdrawals at the bank, appraise collateral for loans, then sell lots for a 5% commission.

On the road

  1. Courier
  2. Taxi driver
  3. Trucker

Run deliveries on foot, pick up fares in your own car, then haul freight in a pickup, box truck or semi.

Garage

  1. Apprentice
  2. Mechanic

Tighten bolts in the right order and find the worn part. Get pinged when a car crashes nearby and fix it for less than the garage charges.

Industry

  1. Yard hand
  2. Mill operator
  3. Owner

Split logs and break rock at the State Market, then log, mine, farm and fish. Sell to the depot or to players.

Business

  1. Food stand
  2. Restaurant
  3. Supermarket

Own the shop, set the prices and the wage, and hire other players to work the counter.

Politics

  1. Voter
  2. Council
  3. Mayor

File for office, campaign and win the vote. The mayor sets the city's fees and appoints its judges.

Crime

  1. Shoplifting
  2. Till cracking
  3. ATM skimming
  4. Bank vault

Lift goods, crack tills, skim ATMs, then the bank vault. Wear a mask: witnesses call it in, and getting caught means fines and jail time.

City Hall

  1. Sanitation
  2. DMV clerk
  3. Library

Sort the city's trash, check licence applications against ID cards and shelve books. Paid from day one.

City Hall seen from above the avenue, with its wide front steps, the courthouse beside it and towers behind

Run the city

Every week the city votes. Win the mayor's office or one of three council seats and you set the rules everyone else plays by.

  • The mayor sets fees, casino rates and state wages
  • The council votes on taxes, budgets and laws
  • Taxes, fines and fees fill a real treasury
  • The treasury pays police, medics and judges
The downtown towers of GrindHaven from above at dusk, streets running out to the edge of the city

One city. Everyone in it.

Every shop, job and office can be run by a player. When nobody does, the city keeps it open, just slower and pricier. So a player doctor, broker or mechanic always has customers.

Badges, cards and horsepower

An officer on duty beside a police cruiser, with the dispatch list showing a person down and a wanted suspect

Keep the peace

Clock in at Police HQ with a taser, cuffs and a cruiser. Answer dispatch, chase the wanted and book them. A judge on duty hears the case.

The Haven Casino slot machine: three reels, a lever and a gold Spin button

Haven Casino

Blackjack, slots and Texas Hold'em against other players. The odds are fair, and the house edge goes to the city treasury.

Cars on turntables in the Haven Motors showroom forecourt

Haven Motors

From a $150 skateboard to a $1.25M supercar. Pass the driving test, fill up at the pump, and call a mechanic after the crash.

Own a piece of it

Buy up to three lots, build on them and put people to work. Your shop sells to players and to the customers who walk in off the street, staffed or not.

Start small, scale up

Big lots split into four plots for four small buildings, or take the whole block for one big one. Hire a player contractor, or wait for the state builder.

Food standGeneral storeBarSupermarket
  • Small houseHome
  • TownhouseHome
  • Apartment complexHome, whole lot
  • Food standShop
  • Fast foodShop
  • BarShop
  • Gas stationShop
  • General storeShop
  • SupermarketShop, whole lot
  • Logging campRaw material
  • QuarryRaw material
  • Mine shaftRaw material
  • Farm plotRaw material
  • Oil pumpjackRaw material
  • SawmillProduction
  • Textile millProduction
  • Food processorProduction
  • Cement plantProduction, whole lot
  • Steel millProduction, whole lot
  • RefineryProduction, whole lot
  • WarehouseStorage, whole lot

Your shift starts now

Make a character in under a minute. The city is already running.

Play free