Product updates

What changed in Founder Runway?

Track how each release improves the game flow, mobile experience, content, and language support. Admin, Firebase, and game engine behavior are not changed as part of this scope.

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v0.19.0Latest

A new look: the founder's notebook

The site and the game now speak one visual language: paper background, ink text, a single accent colour. Light and dark themes use the same palette on every screen.

  • NewIn the Decision Room on the home page, picking an option now shows the outcome of that decision in one sentence, next to the metrics.
  • ImprovedNew typefaces for headings, text and numbers. Values like cash, MRR and runway have fixed-width digits, so lines no longer jump when a value changes.
  • ImprovedSector, founder archetype and badge icons are line icons that look the same in every theme, instead of emoji.
  • ImprovedA shorter, calmer home page: sample turns from one run, a sector and archetype list, and a summary of the final report instead of card grids.
  • FixedIn the dark theme the sector and founder setup screen stayed light; it now follows the theme.
  • FixedDecision cards no longer move on hover; the selected card stands out by its border only.
v0.18.3

A clearer contact form

The contact form now tells you up front how long your message needs to be, and how long to wait if you need to try again later.

  • ImprovedThe counter under the message field shows the 20-character minimum and how many characters you have written, before you press send.
  • ImprovedIf too many messages are sent in a short time, the form now tells you how many minutes to wait instead of "wait a bit".
  • FixedIf sending failed and you sent the same message again, it no longer reaches us twice.
v0.18.2

More reliable leaderboard

Fixed a case where the "This month" board fell back to a "cannot load" notice, and runs at the turn of the month now land in the right month.

  • FixedThe "This month" tab sometimes showed "The leaderboard can't be loaded right now"; the board now loads in that case too, and your own standing keeps showing.
  • FixedRuns finished in the first hours of a month were missing from every monthly board for a few hours. The monthly board now resets at 00:00 UTC on the 1st.
  • ImprovedYou can switch between leaderboard tabs with the arrow keys.
v0.18.1

Leaderboard and button fixes

The link to the weekly challenge board and the email button that disappeared in dark mode are fixed.

  • FixedThe "This week's board" link on the challenge card now opens the challenge tab on the Leaderboard page directly.
  • FixedFounders on the challenge board now appear with the same number they have on the monthly and all-time boards.
  • FixedThe submit button of the email form on the pricing page and the play gate was invisible in dark mode; it now shows in both themes.
v0.18.0

Weekly challenge, result card and decision analysis

A weekly challenge where everyone builds the same company, a result card that previews when you share it, and an analysis that shows which decision your run broke on.

  • NewWeekly challenge: this week everyone plays the same sector, the same founder type and the same scenario sequence. Verified scores appear in a new tab on the Leaderboard page.
  • NewWhen you share your result, the link now opens with a card showing your score, outcome and metrics.
  • NewOn the result screen, reading and calculator suggestions for the areas where your run was weakest.
  • NewWith the Premium Pass: how each decision moved your score, the decisions that carried you and held you back, and the run's breaking point; download the whole report as a PDF Founder Playbook; a brand colour and emblem for your company.
v0.17.1

Updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy

Our legal pages now spell out how the Premium Pass works and which data is kept where when you buy it.

  • ImprovedThe Terms of Use have a new Premium Pass and payments section: one-time payment, tied to your account, no change to the game's rules, and your records are kept if a purchase is refunded.
  • ImprovedThe Privacy Policy explains what the payment provider receives at checkout and that we only keep your pass status and order id.
v0.17.0

Different decisions every turn

The choices you face during a run are now far more varied. You used to see the same three option sets across 20 turns; a run now shows 14–15 different decision sets on average.

  • New23 new decision sets: paid early access, cutting scope, answering a rival, value-based pricing, negotiating the term sheet and more. Each comes with its own feedback and its own cost.
  • ImprovedEarly-stage product decisions can now move your revenue and burn too, so there is a clearer way to win from Pre-Seed. Starting cash was adjusted slightly to keep the difficulty balanced.
v0.16.0

Leaderboard scores are now verified

When a run ends, its score is verified by replaying your decisions with the same game rules. The scores you see on the leaderboard now come from runs that were actually played.

  • NewYour finished run's score is verified by replaying your decisions. There is nothing extra to do; the game itself plays exactly as before.
  • ImprovedScores that could not be verified are marked “Unverified” on the leaderboard. Runs played before verification existed carry this mark too.
v0.15.0

100 rows on the leaderboard, plus your own rank

The leaderboard now lists the top 100 founders instead of the top 20, and your own row sits right under the board — even when you are outside the top 100 you can see your rank, your best score and the run behind it.

  • ImprovedThe board shows 100 rows instead of 20, so founders who are not near the very top can find themselves on it.
  • NewWhen you are signed in, your own row appears highlighted under the board: your rank, your best score, and that run's sector and outcome. If you are inside the top 100, your row is marked in the board as well.
  • FixedThe monthly board now covers every completed run of the month. In a busy month, high scores set in the first days could drop off the board.
v0.14.1

An empty leaderboard now says the right thing

When the leaderboard could not be loaded it said “no run has been completed this month yet” — while the completed runs were sitting right there. It now says it cannot load the board, and fills back in on its own as soon as it can be read.

  • FixedThe leaderboard no longer claims “no runs yet” when it simply could not be loaded. Your runs keep being recorded either way; when the board comes back, your scores are exactly where you left them.
  • ImprovedIf the board is temporarily unreachable it is retried on your next visit, instead of the empty view staying on screen for minutes.
v0.14.0

The leaderboard is open: this month and all time

The leaderboard page now shows real scores. There are two boards built from completed runs: this month's ranking and the all-time ranking. The monthly board resets on the first day of each month, so first place opens up again every month.

  • NewTwo boards are now live on the leaderboard page: “This month” and “All time”. When you finish a run your score enters the board on its own — there is nothing extra to do.
  • NewEvery founder enters with their best run only. The ranking shows who ran well, not who played the most.
  • NewWhen scores are tied the higher company value goes first; if those are tied too, whoever got there first stays on top.
  • ImprovedYou appear under a pseudonym (for example “Founder #42”). Your profile name, username and email address are not shown on the leaderboard.
  • ImprovedThe “Show my score on the leaderboard” preference in your profile is applied: turn it off and your runs stay off the board.
v0.13.0

Premium Pass: pay once, keep it

The whole game stays free — all 20 turns, your outcome, your score and the reason behind it. The reporting beyond that now opens with a one-time Premium Pass: no subscription, no renewal, nothing to cancel.

  • NewAdded the Premium Pass: $9, paid once. It opens the full run report (a four-part SWOT plus the detailed founder profile read), your entire run history, the filters, run comparison, Founder DNA and the full achievement shelf.
  • NewWith the Premium Pass you see no ads anywhere on the site — not in the articles, not between turns.
  • NewThe 3D format is part of the Premium Pass. 3D is still rolling out gradually; when it reaches you, your pass already covers it.
  • NewA refund policy page is live: a no-questions refund within 14 days. Taking a refund never deletes your run history, scores or badges — only visibility returns to the free limit, and buying the pass again opens the same records unchanged.
  • ImprovedNothing was taken away from free play: a run is never cut off, your outcome and the main reason behind it are always visible, and your last 3 runs and last 3 unlocks stay on your profile.
  • ImprovedThe Premium Pass does not change the game. Scenarios, scoring, failure conditions and turn count are identical for pass holders and free players.
  • ImprovedThe pricing page now says on one page what stays free, what the pass opens and who takes the payment.
v0.12.2

The contact form actually sends again

Two separate things were wrong: some messages could not be sent at all, and others said "delivered" on screen when they had not been. Both are fixed, and the form now tells you what really happened.

  • FixedMessages sent through the contact form reach us again. Sending had been failing for a while; if you wrote during that time and never heard back, please send it again.
  • FixedA message caught by the spam filter no longer claims it was sent. The screen says it did not go through, what you wrote stays in the form, and you can send it again right away — previously the message vanished silently.
  • FixedFilling the form in incompletely a few times no longer locks you out for a while. The submission limit now counts only messages that were actually sent.
  • ImprovedYou can no longer hit send before the page has finished loading: the button stays inactive until it is ready, so what you wrote is not lost.
v0.12.1

A new page for students and educators

There's now a page for instructors who want to use the game in class: how a run fits a single session, what devices it needs, and what the game deliberately does not do.

  • NewAdded a page for students and educators covering how a 20-turn run fits inside one class period, which devices work in a classroom, and how to structure the debrief afterwards.
  • NewThe same page is explicit about what isn't there: no teacher dashboard, no class roster, no student tracking and no ready-made lesson plan. It also states up front that starting a run asks for an email or a free account.
v0.12

Early stages can be won, and pages got faster

A run started at Pre-Seed or Seed can now actually end in success. You can also change your cookie consent from Settings, and a lot of pages load noticeably faster.

  • ImprovedWhatever stage you start a run at, you now face that stage's decisions. Before, a player who picked Series A still spent the first five turns on Pre-Seed questions; a Seed run now starts at Seed and a Series A run starts at Series A.
  • ImprovedStarting cash was rebalanced for every stage: none of them is now noticeably easier — or impossible — compared to the others.
  • ImprovedDecision option copy now fits the scenario it belongs to. Options like “talk to your narrowest customer group” no longer show up on decisions about document hygiene or an acquisition meeting.
  • FixedRuns started at Pre-Seed or Seed were all but impossible to win: the success thresholds were fixed at late-stage scale. They now scale to your starting stage, so there is a way to win early too.
  • NewYou can change your cookie and analytics consent — or withdraw it — from the Settings page at any time. Before, the choice was made once in the first-visit banner and could not be revisited.
  • ImprovedLog in, sign up, profile, settings, privacy and terms load much faster: a large blog data bundle that these pages were loading for no reason is gone.
  • NewGoing to an address that does not exist now gives you a real page with links to the game, the blog, the calculators and search, instead of a blank error screen.
  • ImprovedSame when something breaks: instead of a bare error screen you get a retry button and a way back into the site.
  • ImprovedSearch is simpler: tabs that filtered nothing and sample user names are gone, and it now shows a result count and an empty state.
  • ImprovedNotifications stopped showing sample notifications; until a real notification source opens it shows an honest empty state.
  • FixedOn a phone, the “Leaderboard” link in the menu took you to an empty screen without warning; it now carries the SOON badge, like in the footer.
  • ImprovedThe English runway calculator lived at two addresses and one of them showed unfinished copy. They are merged into one, and sharing a result through the address bar still works.
v0.11.1

Contact form: no more silently dropped messages

If your browser autofilled the form, your message could be discarded silently — the screen said “sent” while nothing reached us.

  • FixedThe hidden bot trap on the contact form was named “Company”, so browser autofill could fill it. When it was filled the message was discarded silently while you were told it had been sent. The trap was renamed and autofill no longer touches it.
  • FixedWhen the confirmation email could not be sent, the screen still claimed it was on its way. It now says what actually happened: your message reached us, the confirmation did not go out this time.
  • ImprovedThe contact form's spam protection got stricter: forged address headers can no longer bypass the rate limit.
v0.11

An email or an account to step in

The game stays free. Starting a run now takes your email address — or an account, which carries your run history across devices.

  • NewBefore your first run you leave your email, so we can tell you when new modes, seasons and major updates land. Nothing to pay: the whole game is still free.
  • NewYou can create a free account instead. With an account your run history belongs to you rather than to the browser, so it is still there on another device.
  • ImprovedIf you have played before, or have a run in progress, you never see this screen — the gate is only for a first run.
  • FixedGoogle sign-in did not work at all in browsers that block popups (phone browsers, the in-app browsers of Instagram and LinkedIn). If the popup is blocked, sign-in now completes with a redirect.
  • FixedAfter signing in you go back where you were. Every sign-in used to drop you on the profile page, so returning to the game meant going back manually.
  • NewSigning up sends a verification email to your address. You can verify later; the game starts right away.
  • ImprovedThe account section on the home page is now the email form itself: leave your address there and you go straight into the game.
v0.10

Everything is free: plans are gone, ads fund the site

The Pro and Studio plans are removed. The full end-of-run report, your whole profile history, Founder DNA and the 3D format are open to everyone; the site is funded by ads.

  • NewThe full end-of-run report is free: the four-part SWOT and the detailed founder read now appear at the end of every run.
  • NewNothing is locked on your profile: the full run history, success/failure filters, run comparison, Founder DNA, the 30-day activity view and the full achievement shelf are open.
  • NewThe 3D format is no longer tied to a plan. The flag, staged rollout and device-support rules stay; the payment gate is gone.
  • ImprovedThe pricing page says one thing: the game is free. Our promise about ads is written there too — no ad on the decision screen, at most two ad units on a content page, and ads never change the rules of the game.
  • NewAds appear in blog posts, on the tool pages, at the end of a run and between turns. The between-turns ad skips the first turn, waits at least 45 seconds, and shows at most six times in a run.
  • ImprovedThe cookie banner now covers advertising cookies as well. If you decline, ads are not personalised — the game and the content work exactly the same.
  • ImprovedThe privacy policy now states plainly that ads are served by Google (AdSense) and what technical data is sent while an ad is shown.
  • ImprovedThe purchase-related documents (pre-sales information, distance sales agreement, refund policy) are gone; with no sale their content would be misleading. The old URLs redirect to the terms of use.
v0.9.5

Runway reads “Unlimited” when revenue covers burn

When MRR covers burn, or cash lasts more than 60 months, the screens say “Unlimited” instead of a month count that means nothing. Metric abbreviations are now explained inside the game too.

  • ImprovedWhen MRR covers burn, runway now reads “Unlimited” instead of “∞” — the same wording on the game, result, and end-of-run screens.
  • ImprovedA runway longer than 60 months also reads “Unlimited”. Unhelpful spans like “12.5 years” are gone, and the runway calculator follows the same rule.
  • ImprovedThe cash flow card and the cash-out warning now say what is actually happening when revenue covers burn or cash lasts more than 60 months, instead of quoting a misleading date.
  • NewPMF, retention, MRR, burn, and runway are explained inside the game: tap the ⓘ marker on a metric row to read what it measures.
  • ImprovedThe metrics step of the game guide now includes a short glossary, and decision impacts spell the metric out — for example “PMF (product-market fit) increases”.
  • ImprovedOn phones, the profile button is gone from the game screen header, where it competed for space with the turn counter and “End Run”. The menu button stays, and profile opens from there.
v0.9.4

Sign up if you want: profile and settings in one place

You still do not need an account to play. If you sign up, your run history and plan attach to your account — and settings moved into a new tab on your profile page.

  • NewCreating a free account is now one step from the home page. The email-first access step is gone: you can open the demo without signing up, and an account only carries your run history and plan across devices.
  • NewThe profile page has a “Settings” tab: theme, language, plan status, and account links in one screen. The separate Settings row in the profile menu is gone.
  • ImprovedSelected text (right-click or drag) now follows your theme; the blue highlight that was unreadable in dark mode is gone.
  • ImprovedAccount-bound sections such as profile, settings, and notifications now show a short sign-up/log-in screen to visitors without an account instead of empty data.
  • ImprovedThe terms and privacy texts were updated to describe the account system that is now live and where your email is used.
v0.9.3

The locked report card has its button back

On the card that lists what a paid plan unlocks after a run, the upgrade link had flattened into plain text. It reads as something you can click again.

  • FixedOn the card that shows the locked part of your run report, the link that opens the plan looked like plain text, so nothing suggested it could be clicked. It sits below the locked section titles as an orange button again.
  • ImprovedThat same button now shows a visible outline when you reach it with the keyboard; tabbing through the result screen used to lose track of where you were.
v0.9.2

Your message arrived — now your inbox says so too

Send the contact form and a confirmation email lands in your inbox; our reply arrives with your original message attached to it.

  • NewAfter you send the form, a confirmation email reaches your address: it shows that your message arrived, its topic, and when you sent it. Even if you miss the on-screen confirmation, you have a record.
  • ImprovedOur reply comes from the Founder Runway address and quotes the message you sent, so it stays clear what we are answering even weeks later.
  • ImprovedThe privacy policy now explains where the message you send through the contact form — and the replies we write back — are kept, and for how long.
v0.9.1

A clearer promise at checkout

A plan goes on sale only once we can actually deliver it. The pricing page now says plainly what is ready and what is not.

  • ImprovedThe Studio card states that the 3D format is not live yet. Studio stays off sale until it ships; leave your email and we will tell you first when it opens.
  • FixedPaid plans cannot go on sale before the infrastructure that records a purchase against your account is connected. Paying and never getting the plan is no longer possible.
  • FixedPaid screens can no longer be opened by writing a plan name into the browser. That was possible before when one server setting was missing.
  • FixedWhen you decline analytics cookies, nothing is written to your browser any more. Before, only the server-side record was stopped; a local log was still kept.
  • FixedThe "your guest run history was not moved" notice after signing in now appears only when there really was history left behind. It used to show for everyone signing in from a clean browser.
v0.9

Contact page

You can now write to us directly: a single form covers both product feedback and support requests.

  • NewThe contact page is live. Pick a topic — product feedback or support — write your message, and we reply to the email address you leave in the form.
  • NewThe page ships in English and Turkish, reachable from the Account section of the footer and the mobile menu.
  • ImprovedThe privacy policy now explains what the name, email and message you share through the contact form are used for, and how long they are kept.
v0.8

Three plans: Free, Pro and Studio

The whole game stays free. The end-of-run report unlocks with Pro and the 3D format with Studio; both are a one-time payment.

  • NewThe pricing page is live: Free, Pro ($5) and Studio ($20). Payment is one-time — no subscription, no auto-renewal.
  • NewPro unlocks the end-of-run report: the four-part SWOT, the detailed founder profile read, full run history, Founder DNA and progress statistics.
  • NewComparing two runs side by side was added to the profile: score, outcome, cash, runway, MRR, valuation, PMF, retention and growth differences.
  • NewStudio unlocks the 3D format. 3D stays a visualisation layer; it changes no rules and gives no advantage.
  • ImprovedPlaying no longer needs an email: /play opens straight away and all 20 turns are free.
  • ImprovedThe free final screen lost nothing: outcome, score, the four core metrics, the progress line and the main reason are visible without paying.
  • ImprovedSettings now carries a real card showing your plan and where your entitlement comes from.
  • ImprovedPaid entitlements live on the server; writing a plan name into the browser no longer unlocks paid surfaces.
  • NewReal accounts are live: email/password and Google sign-in, plus password reset. If you played as a guest, your run history moves to your account when you create it.
  • NewPre-sale documents are published: Pre-Sales Information Form, Distance Sales Agreement and Refund Policy. The payment confirmation step links all three.
  • FixedBehavioural events could never be written to the server — the write permission was missing. Fixed, so funnel measurement actually works now.
  • ImprovedFabricated user profiles are gone: /user addresses no longer show sample profiles and say “coming soon” until real publishing opens.
  • ImprovedThe profile menu now says “Guest” with a sign-in link instead of showing a fake email address when you are not signed in.
v0.7

Balance calibration and mobile accessibility

Game balance was measured from scratch and all four starting stages were made fair; readability and navigation gaps were closed on mobile.

  • ImprovedStarting stages are balanced: Pre-Seed, Seed, Pre-Series A and Series A now play at a similar difficulty. Pre-Series A and Series A runs used to go broke on turn 2–3.
  • ImprovedScore is now relative to your stage: taking MRR from zero at Pre-Seed counts as much as growth at Series A scale.
  • ImprovedDifficulty levels are genuinely ordered: Normal, Low Cash, Competitive and Inflationary get progressively harder. Competitive used to be easier than Normal.
  • ImprovedThe success gap between business models is narrower; B2C and B2G now have odds comparable to B2B.
  • FixedCash and MRR values that grew to meaningless sizes in long runs are back in a realistic range.
  • ImprovedOn mobile, company metrics now sit above the decision: you no longer decide without seeing cash and runway.
  • ImprovedThe whole site is reachable from the mobile menu, and the tool and calculator pages now carry the bottom bar and footer too.
  • FixedThe cookie consent buttons were hidden behind the mobile bottom bar; they are tappable again.
  • FixedText that was unreadable in dark theme is fixed across every page.
  • ImprovedThe early access form now reports an invalid email and a missing consent box separately and clearly.
  • ImprovedCommunity and Leaderboard are marked “coming soon” until they open with real data; the sample content was removed.
v0.6

SEO and discoverability

Content and technical SEO were strengthened so Founder Runway shows up better in search and when shared.

  • NewAdded 4 keyword-targeted blog posts in both Turkish and English.
  • NewCreated an SEO strategy document for the project.
  • ImprovedAdded hreflang tags for TR/EN pages and a raster OpenGraph image.
v0.5

Bilingual site and navigation

The entire site is now production-ready in Turkish and English, with a language switcher in the navbar.

  • NewCompleted site-wide TR/EN localization.
  • NewReplaced the navbar theme toggle with a language switcher.
  • NewAdded a Playwright e2e suite covering TR/EN localization.
  • FixedFixed English copy leaks on the onboarding screen.
  • FixedMade metric display consistent across play and result screens.
  • FixedFixed A/B/C/D badge alignment in the mobile landing decision mockup.
v0.4

Mobile experience revision

Mobile navigation, touch targets, and in-game layout were reworked for one-handed use.

  • NewAdded a mobile bottom tab bar for one-handed navigation.
  • ImprovedImproved the mobile in-game UI and overall layout.
  • ImprovedRefactored the navbar and footer with mobile menu support.
  • ImprovedImproved blog post body readability.
  • FixedFixed small touch targets, a misaligned play tab, and hidden scroll affordances.
v0.3

Admin panel and persistence

Persistence and consistency improvements for admin analytics and early access data.

  • NewAdded persistent admin display IDs.
  • NewAdded an onboarding modal at game start.
  • FixedFixed early access user email linkage.
  • FixedFixed idempotency in admin run metrics.
  • FixedFixed option impact summaries and the Turkish setup guide.
v0.2

Scenario library and /en

The scenario dataset was expanded and the English-localized /en experience went live.

  • NewAdded a new 500-scenario dataset.
  • NewAdded the English-localized /en experience.
  • ImprovedReworked single-player scenario rotation.
  • ImprovedCompleted English in-game localization gaps.