Frequently Asked Questions
Answered as honestly as a 19th-century trading firm can manage.
Is this the actual 1979 game?
No, but it's built on its bones. TAIPAN! is inspired by Art Canfil's 1979 original — one of the very first trading games ever written, for a computer with less processing power than your current microwave. We rebuilt it from scratch in native iOS and added gameplay the original never had room for.
Why does Elder Brother Yu charge so much interest?
Because he can. You're the one who showed up broke asking for a loan. In fairness, he's never once sent pirates after you — that's Li Yuen's department — so by 1860s standards, he's basically a philanthropist.
Who is Li Yuen, and why does he keep finding me?
Li Yuen runs the local pirate fleet, and he has a business model: you pay tribute, or he and several dozen junks make your voyage considerably more exciting. You can run, fight, or pay him off — choose based on how many guns you're carrying and how attached you are to your cargo.
Can I actually get rich trading opium?
In the game, sure — it's one of six tradeable goods, same as the 1979 original, and it's usually the most volatile (and most lucrative) line on the market board. In the real 1860s, the opium trade was a genuinely grim chapter of history, which is exactly why it's depicted here as a historical setting and a game mechanic, not something to be glorified. Play responsibly. Historically, nobody involved did.
Does my progress sync between devices?
Yes — your Captain's Log and current run back up to iCloud automatically whenever you're signed in on your device. Switch to a new iPhone with the same Apple ID and your save should be right where you left it. Local storage is still the primary copy, so if you're not signed into iCloud, back up your device the regular way before deleting the app.
I lost all my money and I'm in debt up to my eyeballs. Help?
That's called Tuesday, Taipan. Sell what's left in your hold, pay down what you can, and consider that running from a fight is free, but losing one usually isn't.
Is there multiplayer?
No — it's just you, your ship, and some very bad decisions. The Game Center leaderboard lets you compare your net worth against other Taipans asynchronously, but nobody can board your ship except pirates.
How do achievements and the leaderboard work?
TAIPAN! uses Apple Game Center. Twenty-seven achievements track milestones from your first million taels up to numbers that stop being real money and start being a personality trait, plus things like staying debt-free, visiting every port, surviving ten pirate engagements, and trading enough of any one good to corner its market. The Net Worth leaderboard ranks every finished run by how rich you ended up.
The game crashed, froze, or otherwise misbehaved. Now what?
Our sincere apologies, Taipan — that shouldn't happen. Head over to the Support page and send us a note with what you were doing when it happened. Screenshots help enormously.
Can I suggest a new port, good, or achievement?
Always. Use the contact form on the Support page and tell us your idea. We can't promise it'll make the cut, but we read everything, and more than one achievement in this game started as somebody's joke.