Software Inc 1.8.41 — Mac version

The calendar flips to 1990. You've got a rented room, a cheap desk, and a contract for a basic word processor. Ten years later, that first hit has funded a custom campus with basement server rooms, three sub-teams, and a car park full of employee vehicles. That's the kind of story Software Inc lets you play out.

Fans spin up with a hundred staff on screen

The build supports modern Macs with both Apple Silicon and 64-bit Intel chips. Performance holds up well, even with larger office setups, though fans may spin up once you have a hundred staff on screen.

Setting up your first office

Furnish a single floor for your founders, then build upwards. The construction tools let you go ten storeys high with basements, parking, and server rooms once you have the cash.

Managing teams and projects

Assign leaders to coordinate development and handle subordinates. A good team lead can keep a project on track while you worry about the next release and the server infrastructure to support it.

Turn off auto-assign before you lay your first wall

The defaults work, but a few tweaks make early game much smoother. Open the options before you lay your first wall.

Turn off auto-assign furniture if you enjoy placing desks yourself. The automatic placement tends to scatter chairs in odd spots when rooms get small. If you want full control, switch it off and build your own layout from the catalogue.

Set auto-save interval to 10 minutes instead of the default 30. Nothing hurts like losing an afternoon because a contract deadline slipped past while you were decorating the canteen. The game runs stable on Mac, but the market doesn't wait for manual saves.

Dial down room quality decay a notch if you find the maintenance loop distracting early on. You can always bump it back up once you've hired cleaning staff and the budget can handle it.

Staff won't use your rooms? Check door facing and zoning

People often hit the same few walls in their first couple of companies. Most of them are fixable without starting over.

Staff won't use the rooms you built. Check that doors are facing the right way and that zoning hasn't accidentally sealed off a corridor. A wall placed one tile too far can trap half your team in the kitchen. Use the zoning overlay to spot dead ends, then knock through with the bulldozer tool.

Servers overheat and go offline. Basements are great for server rooms but they need cooling. Place air conditioning units early, not after the first summer heatwave tanks your online store uptime. One unit per rack is a safe starting rule.

Contracts keep failing. You probably assigned too few people or gave them no leader. A contract with a tight deadline needs a dedicated team and someone coordinating it. Check the assignable tasks panel before you accept work you can't finish.

Frame rate tanks on a big office. Lower the render distance for furniture details in the graphics settings. A ten-storey building full of animated chairs and pot plants will make any Mac work harder than it needs to. The simulation runs fine; it's the decoration rendering that adds up.

Hiring twenty before your first product ships burns cash

Hiring too fast. A team of twenty looks impressive but burns cash before your first product ships. Start with three or four good staff, land a few contracts, then grow when revenue stabilises. Software inc game economics punish early bloat — salaries don't wait for launch day.

Ignoring parking and roads. Staff need a way to reach the office. Build a small car park and connect it to the road network before you expand the team. Employees who can't travel simply don't show up, and the notification isn't always obvious.

Skimping on support staff. New players often hire only developers and designers. Hire at least one support person early so bug reports don't pile up and tank your product ratings. A cleaner and a maintenance worker stop the office from turning into a morale-sapping mess.

Building the dream office first. A custom campus with a fountain and glass meeting rooms is satisfying, but it's a mid-game treat. Start with a functional box, make money, then expand. The building tools are deep enough that you'll want to renovate later anyway — and you'll have the funds to do it properly.

When you're ready, a software inc download from a trusted source gets you the current beta. The macOS build handles large offices well, so your only real limit is how long you can resist knocking down a wall just to fit another server rack.

• macOS (no specific minimum version stated)
• Apple Silicon or 64-bit Intel processor