In Smartphone Inc., you become a CEO of one of the largest smartphone-producing companies in the time when smartphones were only beginning to conquer the world. Research technologies, develop your factory, build your worldwide office network, and outprice your competitors to become the most profitable and successful smartphone company in the world.
Smartphone Inc. is an economic simulation Eurogame. Over five rounds, players program their decisions about price, production, research, and expansion. The game features a unique mechanism of planning, which combines patching mechanisms with bidding and action selection. Each of the rounds consists of eight simple phases: planning, pricing, production, development, research, expansion, selling, and profits.
In the planning phase, all players simultaneously make decisions for the next year by overlaying ("patching") their two plan cards and all of their development tiles. The actions they plan on their cards and tiles in this phase will determine what actions they can perform during all of the later phases.
In the pricing phase, players change the price they charge for their smartphones based on their plan. A lower price helps to go earlier and sell more smartphones on the market, but a higher price, while risky, helps players to earn more money.
In production, all players produce smartphones.
In development, players take development tiles, which expand their planning possibilities in future rounds.
In research, players discover new technologies. Each technology not only expands players' ability to sell smartphones to customers, but also gives them special powers they can use during the game.
In the expansion phase, players open offices in neighbor regions, which allow them to sell in that region and develop their network of offices to more regions in further turns.
In the sale phase, players sell the phones they produced in regions where they have offices. But there is limited space in each region - and if your price is too high, cheaper rivals can block you from selling.
In the profit phase, players get income for their sales. Players gain the sale prices for all of their sold smartphones, and the player who sold the most phones in each region gains a bonus for controlling the accessory market. At the end of this phase all sold smartphones are discarded from the map - and a new round begins.
After five rounds, the richest player wins.
- Coherent technology startup theme aligns with competitive play
- Potential for tight, teachable rounds with crunchy depth
- Kickstarter expansion content can add complexity
- Some players may find the weight substantial
- Near and Far
- Rome
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- hand management — Players curate a hand of actions or resources to execute product development steps each round.
- Resource and budget management — Players allocate limited resources to compete for features, research, and production capacity.
- Worker placement / team management — Players recruit and deploy a workforce to develop smartphone products, balancing capabilities with market needs.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- "five about five games from our shelf of shame that we are going to play and put on the table"
- "we're going to go that is the goal"
- "we're swimming because you know no family... we are a family first"
- "learn the rules"
- "we are going to do this because we're telling family"
References (from this video)
- Fast-paced Euro feel with clean, crisp mechanics
- Innovative and memorable action-selection using tiles/phones
- Inter-player interaction through undercutting and strategic pricing order
- Clear progression from round to round and a satisfying sense of momentum
- Unforgiving; strong early outplay can be hard to recover from
- Tends toward a cutthroat meta which may not appeal to players who dislike mean interactions
- Box aesthetics initially mislead some players about the game's weight or vibe
- Competitive market dynamics, pricing strategy, network growth, and production optimization in a tech-centric world.
- A contemporary technology startup racing to design, price, and sell smartphones across regional markets.
- Economic Euro with high inter-player interaction and sharp, cutthroat decisions.
- Hansa Teutonica
- Yokohama
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action_selection — Players reveal a set of actions each round by placing flexible double-sided tiles; the arrangement signals which actions are available that turn and influences production and expansion.
- network_expansion — Expanding the network either within current regions or into adjacent regions costs progress points and can yield new market access and scoring opportunities.
- office_placement_and_bonus — When techs are completed, you remove markers and place an office on the board; the first to do so gains a bonus token, creating a race element.
- per_phone_value_and_scaling — Points from sales are multiplied by the selling price, weaving together pricing strategy and market access into a scalable scoring engine.
- pricing_and_turn_order — All companies start price tokens at five and adjust prices up or down; after pricing, the cheapest company acts first, creating dynamic anticipation and strategic sequencing.
- production_and_tile_underlay — Production occurs based on how many boxes are shown and how many squares of a player’s big tiles are covered; overhang rules keep layout tidy and create spatial tension.
- research_and_tech_progress — Research requires progress markers accumulated via specific symbols; meeting a tech’s cost unlocks an office and, for the first to do so, a bonus token.
- sales_and_region_scoring — Phones are sold to red or purple buyers; red buyers award more points and purple buyers require matching techs; the top seller in a region gains red points, with potential secondary points for second place.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- "The best thing about this game is pricing determining turn order. It makes for some fascinating decisions and interactions."
- "Getting in a region they thought was theirs and undercutting them is brutally fun"
- "The action selection system of juggling your two phones is really bizarre at first, but it's so good once it clicks."
- "It's a modern take on classic Euro gameplay."
- "The box looked like it would be heavy Euro, but it's fast and sharp; very clean and crisp."
- "If you get outplayed early on, there's little the game will do to help you recover; it rewards meanness and blocking."
References (from this video)
- Described as Food Chain Magnate variant
- Host owns and prefers Food Chain Magnate
- Food Chain Magnate
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I know the games I play. I know the games I love to play. And I know the games that I theoretically want to play but don't actually play.
- I need at least one of those two things in play - either high personal interest or good reputation
- Designers, reviewers, other people mentioned
- I'm going to be trying to be more mindful about reality as opposed to the desires that I have
- These tend to be less of a priority. Like occasionally I dive into an unplayed game that isn't a review copy, but more often than not if I'm diving into an unplayed game, review copies do take precedence
- I have so many euros I love and so many that I'm behind on
References (from this video)
- tactile and thematic action selection
- engaging economic engine with strong interaction
- game looks dry at first glance, but has depth
- economic ruthlessness and corporate strategy
- Tech startup and smartphone market
- tactile and crunchy but thematically focused on business growth
- Brass Birmingham
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action_selection — tactile, dual-dial action selection mechanism
- economic_engine — competition to become the dominant smartphone company
- hand_management — players manage resources and actions via overlapping boards
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Hang is such a masterpiece of a game.
- It's so interactive. It's so engaging. It's so kind of mean in that con mean.
- I love it I love it
- What a game.
- What a pick.
- The game looks dry AF. But there is a lot there is a lot of meat in the game.
- There is this little mini game in the game that is super cool.
- We absolutely love it. It's one of the best games from Ludus Magnus.
- Zia, Legends of a Drifter is a fantastic game.
- Secret Legendary. It's the ultimate version of Secret.