What is The First Million?
Imagine if Balatro's broken combos combined with the brain-melting satisfaction of an idle game. The First Million is a weird, addictive beast that tasks you with optimizing an economy to make a million bucks and then some.
Gameplay
You're basically building a money-making machine. It's an idle deckbuilder, which sounds weird, but you're just trying to solve the economy to hit a million bucks. You aren't fighting monsters like in Slay the Spire; you're hunting for game-breaking synergies. You'll start by scraping together pennies, then find a card that makes your numbers explode. It's all about optimization and pivoting your strategy when a new card makes your old build obsolete. The meta-progression is killer—you unlock new toys that make every subsequent run faster and more efficient.
It's not perfect, though. It's a two-person team, and the UI is a bit lean. Since the game's designed to be broken, you'll eventually hit a wall where the numbers get so massive they lose all meaning. It's a bit derivative of the incremental genre, but the deck-building twist keeps it fresh. At $6.99, it's a paid entry in a genre usually filled with free-to-play mobile clones, but the strategic depth makes that price tag feel justified.
Key Features
- Incremental money-making machine
- Game-breaking card synergies
- Permanent meta-progression upgrades
- Optimization-focused deckbuilding
What Players Say
Players are mostly vibing with it, with one calling it 'like balatro but for investing'. Some love how the permanent upgrades help you overcome the burden of making money quickly, and others say 'my numbers go up people!' to justify the stay. However, it's not for everyone. Some find it too random, complaining that you'll get more junk cards than anything else and that your first choice can determine if you'll ever pass $2m, potentially requiring ten restarts to hit the first million.
Screenshots
Verdict
“Really enjoying the game so far. Seems to be a few ways to overcome the burdens of making money quickly. Like the permanent upgrades you can "earn" too. Fun in general.”
“It seems really well designed and implemented, unique even. On the surface, there appears to be a lot of different ways you can assemble your engine/tableau to get to the goal. It took me approx 2 hou…”
“Kinda sucks. To random. and tend to get more junk cards than any other card. Your first choice in the game determines if you will ever pass $2m... getting to $1m expect to restart atleast 10 times. Th…”
“My numbers go up people!, there is something here, stay a spell and read. its worth it.”
“Fun game, like balatro but for investing”
8/10. Grab this if you love watching numbers spiral out of control and want a great second-monitor game. Skip it if you hate RNG-heavy starts that might force you to restart your run early.
View on Steam →* Price at time of publication (checked 25.06.2026). Prices may vary by region and are subject to change. This is an editorial review, not a commercial offer.