Landlord

Landlord is a GPS real estate game that turns your phone into a property portfolio. You buy shares of real-world venues near you, then collect rent whenever other players pass through those places. Part idle income sim, part travel checklist, part monopoly board on an actual city map — the appeal is that your daily commute starts producing virtual income.

The comparison everyone makes is Monopoly, but the reality is closer to a living atlas. Each property you own becomes a pin on a map you actually walked, and that connection to a real street corner changes how you judge a good buy.

How Property Hunting Works in Landlord

The moment you open the map, the game scans your coordinates and lists venues within a certain radius. You cannot buy anything outside that zone, so the options change as you move. Walking one block can reveal a completely different set of buildings.

Each venue lets you buy anywhere from 0.1% to 100% of its shares. I hit a wall after a week: my neighborhood coffee shop was fully bought out, and the only remaining venues were a laundromat and a bus stop. Once you hold all shares, the only way to expand further is to send an offer to another owner — a negotiation layer that most mobile games never attempt.

The Economy: Rent, Costs, and the 20% Tax Trap

New purchases generate rent from real-world visits, but every venue also carries daily costs. New owners face a paperwork period: lawyers process the deal, the building earns nothing, and maintenance fees still come out of your pocket. Coins can skip the wait, but coins run out fast unless you pay. Selling to the bank costs 20% tax; selling on the marketplace costs 10%. The difference matters when you flip small venues for profit.

Real Limitations Before You Invest Time

The biggest weakness of Landlord is GPS dependency. In dense city centers, the map is full of cafes, offices, and landmarks; in suburbs or rural areas, the list can be nearly empty. The game also tracks your position in the background, which drained my battery noticeably over a full day. If you stop opening the app for 28 days, it slowly starts selling your entire portfolio — 10% per day per property. One short login stops the process, but an emergency trip or a broken phone can wipe out months of collecting.

Tips for Getting Stable Income Early

Buy low-priced venues first and understand their daily costs before confirming the purchase. Revisit neighborhoods after a few days; a property that looked worthless on Monday can become profitable when foot traffic changes. Keep a reserve of coins for paperwork skips only on high-rent venues. The level system tracks the sum of your holdings, so selling a property will not drop your level — that detail makes portfolio management far less punishing than it first appears.