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Idle Harbor Tycoon Beginner’s Guide: Tips, Cheats & Strategies to Build Your Harbor Empire

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to manage your own harbor? It might sound glamorous with all the millennials trying to fulfill their travel goals and bucket lists, but it’s also a lot of work. Idle Harbor Tycoon shows you just how tough it can be to run your own cruise ship business. Following the success of Idle Supermarket Tycoon and Idle Theme Park Tycoon, developer Codigames is back with another idle game, and this one is a lot more challenging than it looks.

In Idle Harbor Tycoon you start out with a single terminal and a lonely dock. It will be up to you to build everything up by buying bigger and better ships, researching technology, and upgrading the different facilities. Don’t think this will be a walk in the park just because you have played other idle games before. Things will become more hectic as your boat empire grows. But fear not, as we have come up with a number useful Idle Harbor Tycoon tips, cheats and strategies to help you out! So let’s dive into our Idle Harbor Tycoon beginner’s guide!

1. Multiply Your Income, Here’s How

how to multiply income in idle harbor tycoon

Before you do anything, the first task on the list is always to watch a series of video advertisements until you max out your income multiplier. There is a Power Up button at the bottom of the screen. Tap on it to access the income multiplier screen. This is where you can double your earnings for a certain period. The default maximum for this boost is 12 hours.

Once you hit the 12-hour max, you will receive some bonus gems. If you want to increase the maximum number of hours, you will have to invest some gems to upgrade this feature. We suggest you hold on to your gems, though. A 12-hour boost is long enough, and it will be easy for you to log back into the game and refresh the timer with another round of ads.

2. Unlock The Divine Touch

If there is one thing you should spend your gems on, it is the Divine Touch upgrade. When you unlock this, you can just tap and hold on the screen to get more passengers instead of having to repeatedly tap on the screen. Upgrading the Divine Touch will increase the number of passengers you get per second. The more your upgrade, the easier it will be for you to get more passengers.
Unlike other idle clickers, Idle Harbor Tycoon does not have a way to automate clicks. The Divine Touch is the best way for you to get more passengers without exhausting yourself. Prioritize this when investing your gems. All other gem upgrades are optional.

3. Look For The Super Reward Boat

idle harbor tycoon super reward boat

Every few minutes, a glowing boat will roll into the docks. You can tap on it and an ad offer will pop up. The offer will give you cash or gems in exchange for watching a video advertisement. Always accept this offer when you see it because it is one of the easiest ways to earn more gems. Even if the offer is just cash, it is usually a considerable chunk. The cash rewards increase depending on your progress in the game, so it will always be worth getting.

4. Don’t Upgrade Docks And Terminals Too Fast

Docks and Terminals cost cash to upgrade. You will notice that unlocking one will increase the upgrade cost of the others. Upgrading one will also increase the upgrade cost across the board. When you are starting out, you won’t really be able to fill them up anyway. Instead of burning through your earnings by trying to unlock every Dock and Terminal, and keeping them at an even level, it is better if you check if you can actually fill them up.

idle harbor tycoon docks

It is better if you invest your money in Research first. Upgrade a Dock or a Terminal only if you see that it is already at 70% capacity and you are about to log off from the game. Otherwise, you can just ignore it until you run out of space. Upgrade them one at a time until you see that the capacity bar is below 50%. This way, you only spend cash on space that you will actually use. Save the rest for Research.

5. Max Out The Research Tiers

There are multiple tiers of Research available in Idle Harbor Tycoon. You will need to invest a certain amount in lower tiers in order to unlock higher ones. Even if you have already unlocked a higher tier, it is better if you try to max out the lower tiers first. If you have leftover cash after investing in lower tiers, that is the time to upgrade higher-tier research.

idle harbor tycoon research tiers

The reason behind this is that higher-tier research is a lot more expensive to upgrade. You will end up spending an inordinate amount just to move a high-tier research by one level which barely has any impact on your current output. You could upgrade a low-tier research by ten levels or more for the same amount. All research options are useful in the long run, so you don’t need to worry about wasted investment in low-level research.

6. Develop Your Harbor As Soon As Possible

idle harbor tycoon harbor development

At the top left corner of the screen is a boat icon. Tap on it to access the development screen. This is where you can discover new trip types or boats. You will need to invest a considerable amount in order to discover these development, but they increase the basic price of your tickets, which means your overall earnings will be multiplied afterwards. If you don’t invest in any developments, your progress will slow down to a crawl eventually, so don’t be afraid to spend.

7. Watch Out For Employee Fatigue

When you are actively tapping, or holding if you have unlocked Divine Touch, a bar will appear at the top left of your screen. This is your employee fatigue indicator. It will gradually deplete as you get more passengers, but it will recover once you stop tapping. When the bar is completely depleted, you will not be able to get any more passengers through tapping until your employees have recovered. You can upgrade the maximum fatigue levels of your employees through various research upgrades. Prioritize such upgrades if you tend to play actively and find yourself depleting the bar often.

8. Build The Oil Platforms

idle harbor tycoon oil platforms

Just beyond your docks are a bunch of white hexagon outlines on the water. Tap on it to get to the Oil Platform screen. This is where you can build oil platforms. Constructing these platforms will allow you to continue earning money for a certain period after you log off from the game. If you are a free player, you will only be allowed to build up to two platforms. That means you will only be able to earn offline for a maximum of two hours. You will need to buy a Pro License with real money if you want to build more oil platforms. It’s not really worth buying since you can simply log into the game every two hours to refresh the timer. Just make sure you build your two free platforms as soon as possible, so you don’t miss out on offline earnings.

9. Multiply Your Offline Earnings

While we are on the topic of offline earnings, everything that you earn while logged off from the game will be presented to you when you return. You will also be given the option to multiply these earnings by watching a video advertisement. If you were away for a while, you will have a considerable amount waiting for you when you return. Always take advantage of the offer in order to maximize your resource gain. The only time you can decline the ad offer is when you accidentally closed out the game and return a few seconds later.

10. Use Your Boosters Wisely

There are several types of boosters available in the game. These are all temporary boosts that can give you a big advantage in Idle Harbor Tycoon when used correctly. Boosters can also be used at the same time in order to combine their effects. For example, you can use the three types of Bolts to get a 56x multiplier in your earnings. Check out the list of Boosters below to have a better idea on how to use them.

idle harbor tycoon boosters

Bolt x2: Doubles your earnings for 6 hours. Use only if you will be playing actively for the next 6 hours, or can at least log back in every 2 hours to refresh the oil platforms.

Bolt x4: Gives a 4x boost to earnings for 1 day. Use only if you will be able to refresh the oil platforms every 2 hours in order to maximize the boost.

Bolt x50: Gives a 50x boost to earnings for 1 hour. Use only if you will be able to maintain the Divine Touch for the entire hour.

Make it rain: Stacks of bills with varying amounts will appear all over the harbor. Use this only if you will have time to actively scroll around the map to collect the bills manually. Don’t accept any ad offers during this time because the 1-minute timer will continue even while you are watching an ad.

Super Employees: The employee fatigue bar will not deplete for 5 minutes. Use this only if you will be able to maintain the Divine Touch for the entire 5-minute duration of the boost.

Time Machine: Instantly gives you the equivalent of 10 hours’ worth of earnings. Make sure you max out all the upgrades you can afford before using this.

11. Don’t Be Afraid To Prestige

As with any idle game, a prestige option is available that will allow you to reset all your progress in exchange for permanent boosts. When you prestige in Idle Harbor Tycoon, you will earn a permanent increase in earnings depending on the number of Investors you were able to accumulate. The further you progress in your current run, the more Investors you will be able to get. To Prestige, or to check the number of Investors that you have, just tap on the certificate icon on the top right section of your screen.

The first prestige opportunity comes in when you reach 30 Investors. Prestige as soon as you hit 30 Investors for the first time. After that, you should be able to breeze past your progress from the initial run with the boosted earnings. Try to earn more Investors on your subsequent runs before using the Prestige option again.

12. Complete Your Missions

idle harbor tycoon missions

Beside the Prestige button is a square icon with an exclamation mark. Tap on it to view the Missions menu. The game gives you tasks that you need to accomplish. Don’t worry because these are usually just things that you would do while playing. If anything, the missions help you stay on track in terms of progress. Missions reward you with gems, and this is another way for free players to earn premium currency without spending. Make sure you claim your reward as soon as you complete a mission because the next one won’t appear until you do.

13. Log In Every Day For Rewards

idle harbor tycoon daily rewards

Aside from completing missions, you can earn rewards by simply playing every day. The game gives out daily login rewards for active players. Daily rewards include gems and Boosters. Make sure you don’t miss the days when the rewards are Boosters. Since Boosters only have temporary effects, and they cost gems to purchase, it is really better if you don’t buy them. Save your gems for permanent upgrades. The best way to get the Boosters is to acquire them through rewards.

14. Pick Up Piles Of Cash

Even if you don’t have the Make it rain Booster, random piles of cash will still appear around the harbor, only it will be at a much lower rate. Nevertheless, you should keep an eye out for these piles of cash and pick them up whenever you can. The amount you get per pile varies, but the average increases depending on your progress. These piles of cash are especially useful when you are still in the early stages, or right after you Prestige, but any extra earning is always a good thing.

You are now ready to run your own harbor empire in Idle Harbor Tycoon! Just stick to our tips, cheats and strategies above if you want to succeed! If you happen to know more tips for the game, feel free to leave us a message in the comment area!

SAKET MEENA

Saturday 25th of November 2023

Please show us all 51 missions of this game.

Jenniffer

Wednesday 6th of April 2022

Why can't I upgrade docks past level 7