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The First Million

The First Million Game Cover
75%Game Brain Score
Most mentioned positive aspects:replayability
Most mentioned negative aspects:gameplay, grinding
75% User Score Based on 77 reviews

Platforms

LinuxPCMac OSSteam DeckWindows
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The First Million Game Cover

About The First Million

The First Million is a single player economy management game with a economy theme. It was developed by Sonderland and was released on June 24, 2026. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

THE FIRST MILLION takes the endlessly satisfying feeling of making numbers go up from idle games and fuses it with the strategic depth and replayability of roguelike deckbuilders. As they say, THE FIRST MILLION is the hardest — you cannot win this game on the first try. But you will get closer with every try as you constantly unlock new cards and upgrades and discover one game-breaking stra…

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The First Million screenshot
The First Million screenshot
The First Million screenshot
The First Million screenshot
The First Million screenshot
The First Million screenshot
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Reviews

75%Audience ScoreBased on 77 reviews
replayability3 positive mentions
grinding7 negative mentions
  • Engaging incremental roguelike deckbuilder with strategic depth and rewarding progression.
  • Active developer support with ongoing balance updates and community engagement.
  • High replay value through daily challenges, meta progression, and diverse card synergies.
  • Unlocking more cards increases randomness and difficulty, sometimes making progress feel punishing.
  • Balance issues with certain strategies dominating and forced nerfs reducing player enjoyment.
  • User interface and information clarity issues leading to confusion and frustration for new players.

  • gameplay

    18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    17% positive mentions, 66% neutral mentions, 17% negative mentions

    The gameplay of "The First Million" combines idle progression, incremental mechanics, and roguelike deckbuilding to create a strategic, optimization-focused experience that rewards creativity and persistence. While the minimalist design keeps mechanics clear and engaging, meta-progression elements and quick run cycles can feel restrictive or repetitive, with some players finding unlocking cards and advancing through difficulty frustratingly slow or punishing. Overall, it offers deep, mechanically rich gameplay suited for fans of complex economic and deckbuilding systems.

    • “Developed and published by Sonderland, The First Million offers a refreshing combination of idle progression, incremental mechanics, and roguelike deckbuilding that turns the pursuit of financial growth into an engaging strategic challenge.”
    • “The gameplay centers on constructing a deck capable of generating wealth through powerful synergies instead of relying solely on passive accumulation.”
    • “The cards and mechanics feel intuitive and straightforward, and for the most part everything you do just makes your run stronger.”
    • “The bull and bear mechanic is clearly meant to diversify build options, but the game cycles so quickly (~5 minutes per run when at max speed) that it ends up feeling like a drag.”
    • “A lot of the core mechanics are locked behind meta progression that you have to sacrifice runs in order to speed up progress towards.”
    • “Unlocking cards feels more like a punishment mechanic to make the difficulty get worse over time than an upgrade.”

  • grinding

    8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    13% positive mentions, -1% neutral mentions, 88% negative mentions

    Grinding in the game is viewed variably: some players find it minimal due to strategic deck-building and winning builds, while others feel significant grinding is required for progression and unlocking cards, with some unlocks making gameplay more challenging rather than rewarding. The necessity of repetitive "silver farm" runs to earn currency highlights the grind-heavy aspects for certain advancements.

    • “Unlike a lot of other reviews, I found that it wasn't really grindy at all: there are several builds that can consistently win runs (and this is without simply getting infinite time to make money through a set of good synergies).”
    • “I have zero interest in grinding this game all over again.”
    • “There is 'progression' in the form of permanent unlocks, but the benefit they provide is extremely marginal compared to the amount of grinding required to actually unlock them.”
    • “Earning them is incredibly grindy for very small benefit.”

  • optimization

    5 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    20% positive mentions, 20% neutral mentions, 60% negative mentions

    The game strongly emphasizes strategic optimization and experimentation, appealing primarily to fans of optimization-heavy and mechanics-focused gameplay. While it may not engage players seeking narrative or fast-paced action, it offers a rewarding and deep experience for those who enjoy puzzle-like incremental optimization challenges.

    • “Nice little incremental card optimization game with a decent free demo to show you how it plays.”
    • “Its heavy emphasis on optimization and repeated experimentation means that players seeking story-driven adventures or fast-paced action may find the experience less engaging.”
    • “Although its minimalist presentation and mechanics-focused gameplay will primarily appeal to fans of optimization-heavy titles, those players are likely to discover an enjoyable and surprisingly deep indie game that continues to reward creativity and persistence over many hours.”
    • “This feature shifts the emphasis toward strategic thinking and optimization rather than randomness, giving players an enjoyable opportunity to compare approaches and maximize profits under equal circumstances.”

  • replayability

    3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The game offers exceptional replayability, driven by a rewarding progression system, meaningful permanent unlocks, and strategic experimentation. This ensures the experience stays engaging well beyond the initial playthrough.

    • “Replay value is one of the title's strongest qualities.”
    • “Its rewarding progression system, impressive replayability, meaningful permanent unlocks, and emphasis on strategic experimentation create an experience that remains engaging long after the first million has been earned.”
    • “If you want a bunch of replay value, this is how you'll get it.”

  • graphics

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 100% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    The graphics may not feature elaborate or cinematic effects, but they effectively provide clear and functional visuals where it matters most.

  • story

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions

    The story is minimal and takes a backseat to optimization and repeated experimentation, which may disappoint players looking for narrative-driven or fast-paced gameplay.

    • “Its heavy emphasis on optimization and repeated experimentation means that players seeking story-driven adventures or fast-paced action may find the experience less engaging.”

  • music

    1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
    0% positive mentions, 100% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions

    Users praise the game's music for its strong quality, highlighting it as a standout element alongside the visual and sound design.

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Play Times

6h Median play time
6h Average play time
6-6h Spent by most gamers
*Based on 1 analyzed playthroughs
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Frequently Asked Questions

The First Million is a economy management game with economy theme. Common tags for The First Million include roguelite, 2d, deckbuilding, roguelike, inventory management and others.

The First Million is available on PC, Mac OS, Steam Deck, Windows and others.

On average players spend around 6 hours playing The First Million.

The First Million was released on June 24, 2026.

The First Million was developed by Sonderland.

The First Million has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked The First Million for its replayability but disliked it for its gameplay.

The First Million is a single player game.

Similar games include 9 Kings, Combolands: Roguelike Citybuilder, Outhold, Luck be a Landlord, Roguebook and others.