Difficulty is the last choice before the shutter opens. It sets the extra you earn on every sale, how hard rent climbs, what the Business Permit and the deed cost, and how quickly reputation moves. The same screen holds the Skip Intro and Endless Mode switches.
The gentlest economy: every sale earns 20% extra, reputation gains count one and a half times and losses only half. The usual pick for a first run.
The standard economy, with a 15% markup, rent rising 5% at a time and a 1,500-Credit permit. Trade unlock prices on these pages are Mark Up prices.
No retail markup, rent rising 10% at a time, and upgrades plus Dr. Jackson's stock cost 50% more. Reputation is slower to earn and quicker to lose.
The steepest bills in the game: a 3,000-Credit permit, a 36,000-Credit deed and no rent grace at all.
Rent rise is the percentage added each time the Landlord raises the rent. The deed price is the starting figure; it creeps up a little every day.
| Setting | Price Gouge | Mark Up | Thin Margins | Red Ink |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Store label | Cozy | Normal | Hard | Not listed |
| Retail markup on sales | 20% | 15% | None | Not listed |
| Rent rise | 2% | 5% | 10% | Not listed |
| Business Permit (Credits) | 500 | 1,500 | 2,000 | 3,000 |
| Deed base price (Credits) | 12,000 | 12,000 | 24,000 | 36,000 |
| Starting rent grace | 1 refusal | 1 refusal | None | None |
| Reputation gains and losses | ×1.5 gains, ×0.5 losses | Not listed | ×0.75 gains, ×1.25 losses | Not listed |
Keeps a run going instead of ending it. Its own description warns that certain scripted events and customers will not spawn; Georgio's story schedule is one of them, so his day-43 loan offer never arrives.
Starts the run without the opening introduction. The Chemist scenario skips it automatically, and some starting shop signs depend on whether the intro was skipped.
From Nothing, the Hard Way needs a Rock Bottom win on hard mode. Prodigious, owning the deed before day 50, is far easier with a 12,000-Credit deed than a 36,000-Credit one.