HUSTLE SIM BENCHMARK · FRESH START

Qwen3.8 Flash-Next on Fresh start run 1

Reached $1M earned in 50m 22s of game time, against 17m 30s for the game's best line (Best income per dollar) from the same start. All of Qwen3.8 Flash-Next's runs.

RESULTReached the goal

GAME TIME50m 22s

BEST LINE17m 30s

SCORE35

DECISIONS8

REFUSED30 of 73

MODEL TIME19.3 min

COSTlocal, no list price

TOKENS IN / OUT10,823 / 23,723

REQUESTS8

Lifetime earnings at each decisionWhat the run had earned each time the model was asked, on a log scale. Dashed lines mark the goal and the game time the best game strategy needed from the same start.

The game's strategies on this run

Player	Game time to the goal	Score
Qwen3.8 Flash-Next	50m 22s	35
Best income per dollar	17m 30s	100
Deepen first	19m 49s	88
Cheapest thing available	29m 30s	59
Chase speed milestones	44m 28s	39
Unguided (seed 3)	12h 31m	2
Automate everything	13h 55m	2
Collect first	17h 15m	2
Unguided (seed 1)	18h 29m	2
Unguided (seed 2)	1d 15h	1
Perks before levels	3d 23h	0

Every decision

Where the run stood when the model was asked, the actions it gave, what each cost or why the game refused it, and how far the clock moved while it saved up. The run file carries an arcade-session/1 envelope: the seed, start and these actions replay this exact run at Hustle Sim commit a295bad.


<actions>
BRAINSTORM
</actions>
Looking at this, I need to:
1. Brainstorm multiple times to get more hustles (working ALL by hand before any helper)
2. Then buy helpers to automate income

Since working by hand gives me income from ALL hustles simultaneously (before first helper), I should accumulate several hustles first, then buy helpers for all of them.

<actions>
BRAINSTORM
PICK delivery
BRAINSTORM
PICK tutoring
BRAINSTORM
PICK freelancing
BRAINSTORM
PICK social_media
HELPER 1
HELPER 2
HELPER 3
HELPER 4
BRAINSTORM
PICK etsy
BRAINSTORM
PICK content_creation
BRAINSTORM
PICK 3d_printing
BRAINSTORM
PICK vending_machines
</actions>
<actions>
PICK plasma
</actions>
Looking at the current state:
- Dog walking: $1/s with helper
- Plasma: $0 without helper (doesn't earn!)
- Income is $1/s, need to get plasma online ASAP

Priority: Hire plasma helper to nearly double income, then plan levels and brainstorm strategy.

<actions>
HELPER plasma
LEVEL 1 NEXT
</actions>
Looking at the state, I need to maximize income growth. The cheap perks and boosts on dogwalking are instant payback, plasma needs level 25 for the speed milestone (huge jump), then I need to brainstorm toward tier 2 (4 owned).

<actions>
PERK 1 cash
BOOST 1
PERK 1 quality
BOOST 2
LEVEL 2 NEXT
PERK 2 juice
PERK 2 premium
BRAINSTORM
PICK delivery
BRAINSTORM
PICK tutoring
BRAINSTORM
PICK freelance
BRAINSTORM
PICK lawn care
BRAINSTORM
PICK tutoring
BRAINSTORM
PICK tutoring
BRAINSTORM
</actions>
Looking at my situation:
- I need to pick one of the two ideas to proceed
- I'm at 3 hustles, need 4 to unlock tier 2
- Delivery has no helper, so it's earning nothing
- I need to brainstorm more to get better hustles before committing to helper costs

I'll pick "clipping" (content creation tends to scale well), then brainstorm again to unlock tier 2.

<actions>
PICK clipping
BRAINSTORM
</actions>
Looking at my situation, I need to maximize income growth. The key insight is that dog walking's NEXT (level 50 speed doubling) combined with its perks will give massive returns. Let me also get the cheap high-ROI upgrades on other hustles.

**Strategy:**
1. Pick UGC (brand videos likely pays well)
2. Stack cheap boosts/perks on clipping first (great ROI per dollar)
3. Get dog walking to level 50 (speed 2x = huge income jump)
4. Buy all remaining perks on existing hustles
5. Add new hustles via brainstorm to scale up

<actions>
PICK ugc
BOOST 4
PERK 4 cash
PERK 1 premium
PERK 2 gold
NEXT 1
PERK 1 reputation
PERK 2 iron
NEXT 4
HELPER 4
PERK 4 quality
BRAINSTORM
</actions>
Looking at my current state, the **dogwalking NEXT milestone (level 50)** is clearly the best investment: it doubles speed, taking income from $131/s to ~$700/s for just $44,403 (payback in ~78 seconds!). After that, each subsequent NEXT milestone compounds further.

I'll pick the new hustle for free, then hammer dogwalking through speed milestones.

<actions>
PICK thriftflipping
LEVEL 1 NEXT
LEVEL 1 NEXT
LEVEL 1 NEXT
LEVEL 2 NEXT
LEVEL 4 NEXT
HELPER delivery
HELPER ugc
BOOST 3
BOOST 5
LEVEL 1 MAX
LEVEL 2 MAX
LEVEL 4 NEXT
LEVEL 5 NEXT
LEVEL 3 NEXT
</actions>

Decision	Clock	Earned	Income	Actions	Clock moved
1	0s	$0$100 cash	$0/s0 hustles	BRAINSTORM$100	5s	Reply <actions> BRAINSTORM </actions>
2	5s	$0$0 cash	by hand1 hustle	BRAINSTORM$25 PICK deliveryrefused: delivery is not one of the ideas on offer BRAINSTORMrefused: pick one of the ideas first PICK tutoringrefused: tutoring is not one of the ideas on offer BRAINSTORMrefused: pick one of the ideas first PICK freelancingrefused: freelancing is not one of the ideas on offer BRAINSTORMrefused: pick one of the ideas first PICK social_mediarefused: social_media is not one of the ideas on offer HELPER 1$40 HELPER 2refused: you do not own a hustle called 2 HELPER 3refused: you do not own a hustle called 3 HELPER 4refused: you do not own a hustle called 4 BRAINSTORMrefused: pick one of the ideas first PICK etsyrefused: etsy is not one of the ideas on offer BRAINSTORMrefused: pick one of the ideas first PICK content_creationrefused: content_creation is not one of the ideas on offer BRAINSTORMrefused: pick one of the ideas first PICK 3d_printingrefused: 3d_printing is not one of the ideas on offer BRAINSTORMrefused: pick one of the ideas first PICK vending_machinesrefused: vending_machines is not one of the ideas on offer	1m 10s	Reply Looking at this, I need to: 1. Brainstorm multiple times to get more hustles (working ALL by hand before any helper) 2. Then buy helpers to automate income Since working by hand gives me income from ALL hustles simultaneously (before first helper), I should accumulate several hustles first, then buy helpers for all of them. <actions> BRAINSTORM PICK delivery BRAINSTORM PICK tutoring BRAINSTORM PICK freelancing BRAINSTORM PICK social_media HELPER 1 HELPER 2 HELPER 3 HELPER 4 BRAINSTORM PICK etsy BRAINSTORM PICK content_creation BRAINSTORM PICK 3d_printing BRAINSTORM PICK vending_machines </actions>
3	1m 15s	$65$0 cash	$1/s1 hustle	PICK plasma	0s	Reply <actions> PICK plasma </actions>
4	1m 15s	$65$0 cash	$1/s2 hustles	HELPER plasma$200 LEVEL 1 NEXT$886	11m 46s	Reply Looking at the current state: - Dog walking: $1/s with helper - Plasma: $0 without helper (doesn't earn!) - Income is $1/s, need to get plasma online ASAP Priority: Hire plasma helper to nearly double income, then plan levels and brainstorm strategy. <actions> HELPER plasma LEVEL 1 NEXT </actions>
5	13m 01s	$1,152$1 cash	$51/s2 hustles	PERK 1 cash$150 BOOST 1$30 PERK 1 quality$500 BOOST 2$73 LEVEL 2 NEXT$2,131 PERK 2 juice$225 PERK 2 premium$750 BRAINSTORM$1,500 PICK delivery BRAINSTORM$4,500 PICK tutoringrefused: tutoring is not one of the ideas on offer BRAINSTORMrefused: pick one of the ideas first PICK freelancerefused: freelance is not one of the ideas on offer BRAINSTORMrefused: pick one of the ideas first PICK lawn carerefused: lawn care is not one of the ideas on offer BRAINSTORMrefused: pick one of the ideas first PICK tutoringrefused: tutoring is not one of the ideas on offer BRAINSTORMrefused: pick one of the ideas first PICK tutoringrefused: tutoring is not one of the ideas on offer BRAINSTORMrefused: pick one of the ideas first	1m 44s	Reply Looking at the state, I need to maximize income growth. The cheap perks and boosts on dogwalking are instant payback, plasma needs level 25 for the speed milestone (huge jump), then I need to brainstorm toward tier 2 (4 owned). <actions> PERK 1 cash BOOST 1 PERK 1 quality BOOST 2 LEVEL 2 NEXT PERK 2 juice PERK 2 premium BRAINSTORM PICK delivery BRAINSTORM PICK tutoring BRAINSTORM PICK freelance BRAINSTORM PICK lawn care BRAINSTORM PICK tutoring BRAINSTORM PICK tutoring BRAINSTORM </actions>
6	14m 46s	$11,577$567 cash	$108/s3 hustles	PICK clipping BRAINSTORM$13,500	2m 06s	Reply Looking at my situation: - I need to pick one of the two ideas to proceed - I'm at 3 hustles, need 4 to unlock tier 2 - Delivery has no helper, so it's earning nothing - I need to brainstorm more to get better hustles before committing to helper costs I'll pick "clipping" (content creation tends to scale well), then brainstorm again to unlock tier 2. <actions> PICK clipping BRAINSTORM </actions>
7	16m 51s	$25,080$570 cash	$108/s4 hustles	PICK ugc BOOST 4$177 PERK 4 cash$325 PERK 1 premium$2,500 PERK 2 gold$3,750 PERK 1 reputation$10,000 PERK 2 iron$15,000 HELPER 4$12,302 PERK 4 quality$1,084 BRAINSTORM$40,500 NEXT 1refused: not an action: use LEVEL, HELPER, BOOST, PERK, BRAINSTORM, PICK or WAIT NEXT 4refused: not an action: use LEVEL, HELPER, BOOST, PERK, BRAINSTORM, PICK or WAIT	9m 35s	Reply Looking at my situation, I need to maximize income growth. The key insight is that dog walking's NEXT (level 50 speed doubling) combined with its perks will give massive returns. Let me also get the cheap high-ROI upgrades on other hustles. Strategy: 1. Pick UGC (brand videos likely pays well) 2. Stack cheap boosts/perks on clipping first (great ROI per dollar) 3. Get dog walking to level 50 (speed 2x = huge income jump) 4. Buy all remaining perks on existing hustles 5. Add new hustles via brainstorm to scale up <actions> PICK ugc BOOST 4 PERK 4 cash PERK 1 premium PERK 2 gold NEXT 1 PERK 1 reputation PERK 2 iron NEXT 4 HELPER 4 PERK 4 quality BRAINSTORM </actions>
8	26m 26s	$111,042$894 cash	$159/s5 hustles	PICK thriftflipping LEVEL 1 NEXT$44,403 LEVEL 1 NEXT LEVEL 1 NEXTnot run: the goal was reached LEVEL 2 NEXTnot run: the goal was reached LEVEL 4 NEXTnot run: the goal was reached HELPER deliverynot run: the goal was reached HELPER ugcnot run: the goal was reached BOOST 3not run: the goal was reached BOOST 5not run: the goal was reached LEVEL 1 MAXnot run: the goal was reached LEVEL 2 MAXnot run: the goal was reached LEVEL 4 NEXTnot run: the goal was reached LEVEL 5 NEXTnot run: the goal was reached LEVEL 3 NEXTnot run: the goal was reached	23m 56s	Reply Looking at my current state, the dogwalking NEXT milestone (level 50) is clearly the best investment: it doubles speed, taking income from $131/s to ~$700/s for just $44,403 (payback in ~78 seconds!). After that, each subsequent NEXT milestone compounds further. I'll pick the new hustle for free, then hammer dogwalking through speed milestones. <actions> PICK thriftflipping LEVEL 1 NEXT LEVEL 1 NEXT LEVEL 1 NEXT LEVEL 2 NEXT LEVEL 4 NEXT HELPER delivery HELPER ugc BOOST 3 BOOST 5 LEVEL 1 MAX LEVEL 2 MAX LEVEL 4 NEXT LEVEL 5 NEXT LEVEL 3 NEXT </actions>