Hey y'all. I wanted to take a second today and look at all the possible ways a casual player can squeeze out the most from Upland.
For starters I'd like to note that this is just my personal experience and ways I've adapted to thinking about this game without paying for anything. Upon registration for the game you'll be prompted to create an account and start the tutorial. The tutorial awards you with 6,000 UPX (the in-game currency used for basic property transactions) and prompts you to buy a property worth 6,000 UPX. DON'T BUY THIS PROPERTY. Instead look around at some cheaper FSA properties along the same street, and in the same neighborhoods. Buying up a few of these will allow you to instantly complete a select few collections which add to your total UPX earnings. Our goal here is to maximize the starting UPX and reach 10,000 as quick as possible so you do not have to constantly renew your visa. Putting these properties in collections also boosts their idle earnings, thus aiding your journey to this goal every more.
The next step is...well...wait. Accumulate properties overtime, focusing on collection eligible properties. There are only a select number in each city so as the player base grows their demand increases while their supply shrinks. Eventually your 1,500 UPX properties will be worth thousands more. One thing I am waiting for is for the actual USD transactions to come out of beta so that my investments will see actual fruition.
The other goal is to save save save. Getting to higher cities like New York, sooner, will benefit you in the long run. These properties give out more UPX and are more coveted. As the player base of this game grows your potential reward grows along with it. Now...that's about it. Aside from building up virtual buildings and other decor on your properties (which doesn't consume your UPX) you're now playing the waiting game. I personally like to check back once or twice a month to see if I can make any moves, but for the most part you are done! Collect "money" as you live your daily life which you can eventually turn into real money! I've seen a lot of posts about how this game is a money scam and is not worth your time, but that's only true if you buy into it. Take advantage of the tools you're given. I'll give you an unrelated example. I told my friends about the BRAVE browser a year ago and how they could put in 0 money and start making thousands. They all laughed. Now it's a year later and I've made $200 purely off Brave ads. Collect ad revenue, leave it in BAT, wait for it to peak, sell high, buy back in at the dip. There is something to be said about non-involved money making. There are so many tools in the world that make use of this exact principle so why not apply on your own elsewhere?
I know there will probably be backlash saying this is ineffective or way too slow, but that's the idea. You're not trying to live off this game. You're just trying to have fun and make some pocket change. In 10 years when Upland is still going strong you'll look back and wonder why you didn't start playing the casual player's Upland today.
Thanks for your time and let me know what you think in the comments!
