# Hello World to IPO: Every programmer's dream: from your first line of code to ringing the bell.

> A free survivor-like browser game about every programmer's dream. Act 1 takes you from intern to legendary programmer against bugs, 0-days and AI models; act 2 from first-time founder to tech titan against meetings, scope creep, regulators and the market. Your tools fire on their own while you move: code shots, a linter, refactors, compilers, regex beams, rubber ducks, funding rounds and more. Pixel art, no install, no sign-up.

- URL: https://oliverz.dev/products/hello-world-to-ipo
- Author: Oliver Zhang (https://oliverz.dev)
- Language: en
- Platform: Browser game
- Status: live
- Price: Free
- First released: 2026-10-30
- Requirements: Any modern browser

It starts with `Hello, World`. It ends, if you make it, with a bell on a stock exchange. In between is everything that comes for you: bugs, bosses, AI models, meetings, the market.

![Eight seconds of act 2: hires, a moat, funding rounds and rubber ducks against meetings and copycats.](https://oliverz.dev/products/hello-world-to-ipo/demo.mp4?v=3cf86a93)

You only move. Your tools fire on their own. Fixed bugs drop XP; each level up pauses on up to three cards, and each pick is a new tool or a level for one you have. Act 1 has five weapon slots and four passive ones, so choose; act 2 opens more, starts with a free pick of a founder's tool, and every level up there lets you pick twice: one programmer tool and one founder tool. Now and then a magnet turns up on the map: grab it and every gem left lying around flies to you. Elites always drop a power-up, and a plain kill rarely does: `rm -rf` clears the screen into XP, a code freeze stops everything for 5 seconds, a hackathon doubles your damage and fire rate for 10. Enemies come in waves with a short breather between them, a boss fight is just the boss and its minions, and beating one turns the whole field into XP. Every level makes you hit a little harder, even once everything is maxed. Levels cost more as you climb, and once everything you hold is maxed, level-ups just heal you.

## Act 1: intern to legendary programmer

Intern, junior, mid-level, senior, staff, architect, legend.

![Act 1: a senior dev with headphones, glasses and a coffee, as a swarm of bugs closes in.](https://oliverz.dev/products/hello-world-to-ipo/1-act1.webp?v=5457e728)

**What comes for you:** plain bugs, tanky null pointers, race conditions that weave as they fly, memory leaks, and 0-days you can't see half the time. Elites: the **Repeater**, which splits when it dies, and **Context Overflow**, slow and heavy. Bosses are AI models: the **Hallucinator**, half of whose spawn isn't real; the **Token Eater**, which heals while you hesitate; and the **Frontier Model**. Beat it and you ship: everything on screen turns into XP.

| Tool | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| Code shot | Fires at the nearest bug. Levels add speed, damage, more shots and pierce. |
| Linter | Blocks orbit you and hit whatever they touch. |
| Refactor | Sweeps the space in front of you; from level 3, behind you too. |
| Compilers | A shot that branches like a syntax tree when it hits. |
| Regex | A beam that matches everything on its line. |
| Garbage collector | A pulse that hurts and pushes back everything near you. |
| Rubber duck | Ducks bounce around the screen and debug whatever they hit. |
| Docker | Drops containers that blow up when something steps on them. |
| Caffeine, unit tests, monitoring, multithreading | Passives: speed, a recharging shield, a wider XP pull, faster weapons. |

## Act 2: first-time founder to changing the world

Founder, angel round, Series A, Series B, unicorn, public company, tech titan, trillion-dollar company, richest in the world, changed the world.

![Act 2: a founder with a moat, hires and rubber ducks, as the Black Swan arrives among meetings and copycats.](https://oliverz.dev/products/hello-world-to-ipo/2-act2.webp?v=a391a320)

**What comes for you:** meeting invites that slow you down, copycats, burn rate, scope creep that doubles if you leave it alone, clients from hell, and regulators who keep their distance and throw paperwork. Elites: the **Black Swan**, which dashes, and the **Ratchet Term Sheet**, which fires a ring of clauses. Bosses: the **Valuation Bubble**, which pops into smaller ones; the **Incumbent**; and the **Capital Winter**, which chills you when you get close. Beat it and you ring the bell.

Act 2 has power-ups of its own on top of act 1's: an **acquisition** buys out everything on screen for double XP, **viral growth** triples your XP for 15 seconds, and a **golden parachute** makes you untouchable for 8, hurting whatever you run into.

| Tool | What it does |
| --- | --- |
| Funding round | Coins rain down on whatever is on screen. |
| The big vision | Pies in the sky orbit you and knock everything back. |
| Hiring | Your first hires follow you and shoot on their own. |
| Moat | A ring around you that slows and wears down whatever is inside. |
| Growth hacking, stock options, crisis PR | Passives: more XP, harder hits, health over time. |

All the art is original pixel art. The titles are generic; no real people, products or logos.

A one-lane version of the same world runs at the foot of the [home page](https://oliverz.dev/).

## FAQ

### Do I need to install anything or sign up?

No. It runs on this page, in any modern browser, on a computer or a phone. Your best run is kept in your browser only.

### How long is a run?

A full run, both acts, takes about 15 minutes. Each act's bosses arrive at about 2, 4½ and 7 minutes into it; beating the third one ends the act.

### How do I play on a phone?

Press anywhere on the game and drag: it works like a joystick. Tap a card to pick an upgrade. **Fullscreen** gives you the biggest field.

### Is there sound?

Yes, small synthesized blips with no audio files. It starts muted; press **♪** to turn it on, and the choice is remembered.