Hovgaard Games · 1.0 Full Release
Big Ambitions Guide
Big Ambitions guide for the 1.0 release: all 21 businesses ranked, where to buy every fixture, store and factory layouts, suppliers and staffing.
Official Trailer THE TICKER
Patch Notes & Site Updates
- MAJOR Big Ambitions leaves Early Access. The 1.0 build adds The Hamptons as a seventh neighborhood, a private driver contract, Speedy Bites food delivery, a rebuilt banking system and a Pricing Manager employee.
- MAJOR Banking overhaul lands with 1.0: negative interest is removed entirely, loans need more income but allow larger maximums and partial payments, and investments support daily auto-investing.
- Hovgaard confirms the studio is continuing past 1.0 with patches, content updates and 'a couple of DLCs'.
- MINOR 1.0 beta testing branch opens to the community two weeks before release.
- MAJOR EA 0.11 'The Workshop Awakens' ships Steam Workshop support, followed by five patch builds through 7 July.
THE PITCH
What Is Big Ambitions?
Big Ambitions is a business simulation rpg by Hovgaard Games, available on PC (Steam) — Windows & macOS. You start broke in New York with a rented apartment and a phone, take a job to cover rent, then buy your first storefront and grow it into a corporation across seven neighborhoods. It left Early Access on 28 August 2026 after three and a half years, and the 1.0 build added The Hamptons, a private driver, food delivery, a rebuilt banking system and a Pricing Manager employee — all covered on the 1.0 update page.
There are 21 business types across retail, office, warehouse and factory, and 126 Steam achievements to chase. This site ranks every business on the business tier list, tracks which shop sells each fixture on the where to buy page, explains blueprints and store layouts, maps the supplier and importer network, and walks through running factories once retail stops being enough.
ON THE FLOOR
Inside the Game
DAY ONE
Your First Five Moves
- Take a job first. Rent eats your starting cash, so clock in somewhere before you shop for a storefront — see jobs and courses.
- Pick a cheap, low-staff first store. The best first business breakdown explains why the popular picks are popular.
- Rent an M1 unit in a high-traffic block. Location drives customer count — the neighborhood guide covers what each district is good for.
- Fit the shop out in one trip. Use the where to buy list so you are not driving back across town for a cash register.
- Set up supply before you open. Wire a wholesaler or importer to the store — the supplier guide shows how orders and the import price index work.
THE BOARDROOM
Data Desks & Rankings
Business Tier List
All 21 businesses ranked by profit ceiling, staffing load and startup friction.
LOOKUPWhere to Buy
Which store sells the fixture you are missing — registers, stalls, lockers, shelving.
BUILDBlueprints & Layouts
How blueprints work and how to lay out cinemas, fast food and factory floors.
SUPPLYSuppliers & Importers
Who stocks clothing, electronics and gifts, plus how the import price index moves.
DATAPlayer Count
Steam player numbers and review score after the 1.0 launch.
SPECSSystem Requirements
Minimum and recommended specs for Windows and macOS.
THE FILING CABINET
Every Guide on This Site
Guides
- All 126 Big Ambitions Achievements and How to Get Them — Complete Big Ambitions achievement list with every bronze, silver and gold threshold — plus the three hidden achievements and the new 1.0 additions.
- Big Ambitions Banking, Loans and Investments After 1.0 — Big Ambitions 1.0 banking: negative interest is gone, loans need more income but allow larger maximums and partial payments, investments auto-invest daily.
- Big Ambitions Best First Business to Open — Which business to open first in Big Ambitions: the community top four earners are jewelry, clothing, electronics and hairdressing — only one suits day one.
- Big Ambitions Blueprints and Store Layouts Explained — How blueprints work in Big Ambitions, why cinema and fast food layouts are the hardest to plan, and the capacity rules that decide whether a floorplan works.
- Big Ambitions Beginner Guide: Your First Week in New York — A first-week plan for Big Ambitions 1.0: take a job, pick a cheap storefront, read the traffic index before you sign, and set up supply before opening day.
- All 21 Big Ambitions Business Types Explained — Every business type in Big Ambitions 1.0: 14 retail lines, 3 office lines and the 4 entertainment and service businesses added in the EA 0.10 update.
- Big Ambitions Casino Boat: Where It Is and Is It Worth It — The Big Ambitions casino boat explained: how to reach it, what the achievements ask for, and why gambling is a happiness tool rather than an income strategy.
- Big Ambitions Employee Happiness and Poaching — How employee satisfaction works in Big Ambitions, why rivals poach unhappy staff, and how your own happiness, energy and hunger changed in the 1.0 update.
- Big Ambitions Employees Guide: Roles, Hiring and Skill Caps — Every employee type in Big Ambitions, which agency hires them, where they are assigned, and why HR and logistics managers have skill-based capacity caps.
- Big Ambitions Factory Guide: Are Factories Worth It? — How factories work in Big Ambitions: the staff and stations you need, what every machine costs, and when manufacturing actually beats buying from a wholesaler.
- Big Ambitions Factory Recipes and Production Chains — How production chains work in Big Ambitions: which machine makes what, processing times, and the clothing, baking and jewelry chains explained step by step.
- Games Like Big Ambitions: 6 Business Sims Worth Playing — The closest alternatives to Big Ambitions: Supermarket Simulator, TCG Card Shop Simulator, GearCity, Project Hospital, Capitalism Lab and Startup Company.
- Big Ambitions Interior Design Score and Removing Walls — How the interior score works in Big Ambitions, how to reach 100% with walls and flooring, how to hide or remove walls, and what installation firms do.
- How to Make Money Fast in Big Ambitions — The four levers that move income in Big Ambitions: traffic index over ad spend, pricing against MarketInsider, shortage windows, and vertical integration.
- Big Ambitions Map and Neighborhoods Guide — All seven Big Ambitions neighborhoods including the 1.0 additions, what each district is good for, and how traffic index decides your lease.
- Big Ambitions Marketing Guide: Is It Worth It? — What marketing actually does in Big Ambitions, the full price list for McCain's eMarketing and CityAds, and when a billboard beats a cheaper lease.
- Big Ambitions Jobs, Courses and How to Get Hired — How to get a job in Big Ambitions, why El Gato Foods is the scripted first employer, and what the job board and Manhattan Business School courses are for.
- Is Big Ambitions Multiplayer? The Honest Answer — Big Ambitions is single-player only — Steam lists no co-op or multiplayer, and 1.0 did not change it. What the multiplayer mod is and what it is not.
- Big Ambitions Mods and Steam Workshop Guide — How mods work in Big Ambitions: Steam Workshop arrived in EA 0.11, what community content covers, and why the multiplayer mod is not official.
- How to Play Music in Your Store in Big Ambitions — Why music matters for customer satisfaction in Big Ambitions, what speaker furniture is available, and how custom music and radio work.
- Big Ambitions Real Estate: Buying Buildings vs Renting — Whether to buy buildings in Big Ambitions or keep leasing, how apartments and Hamptons mansions work, and what MarketInsider says about property prices.
- Big Ambitions Pricing Guide: MarketInsider and Demand — How to price in Big Ambitions using MarketInsider demand and lowest market price, and how the new 1.0 Pricing Manager reprices a whole neighborhood at once.
- Big Ambitions Rivals: How to Beat Them and End a Rivalry — How rivals work in Big Ambitions: the four special rivals and their neighborhoods, what a rivalry does to your business, and how to stop poaching.
- Big Ambitions Security and Cleaning Guide — How theft works in Big Ambitions, what security panels, cameras, signs and guards each cost, and why cleaning affects both customers and employees.
- Big Ambitions Story Mode and Uncle Fred Objectives — How story mode works in Big Ambitions, what Uncle Fred asks you to do, how objectives differ from personal goals, and how deep the objective chain runs.
- Big Ambitions Suppliers and Importers Guide — How wholesalers, importers and purchasing agents work in Big Ambitions: contract setup, weekly delivery limits, shortages and the import price index.
- Big Ambitions Taxes: Deductions and Late Fees — How taxes work in Big Ambitions after the 1.0 rebalance: more deductions, a 10% late fee, partial payments, and tax estimates in the EconoView panel.
- Big Ambitions 1.0: Everything the Full Release Changed — Big Ambitions left Early Access on 28 August 2026. What 1.0 added: The Hamptons, private driver, food delivery, banking overhaul and the Pricing Manager.
- Big Ambitions Vehicles: Full Price and Cargo List — Every purchasable vehicle in Big Ambitions with cargo capacity, top speed, auto-park support and price, plus the three dealerships and the 1.0 private driver.
- Big Ambitions Warehouse and Delivery Guide — Why stock never arrives in Big Ambitions: warehouse vehicle limits, logistics manager skill caps, delivery driver setup and the auto-restock chain explained.
- Big Ambitions: What to Sell in Each Business — What to stock in a supermarket, gift shop, clothing store and more in Big Ambitions — and how fixtures and customer capacity decide what actually fits.
- Big Ambitions Where to Buy Guide: Which Store Sells What — Which shop sells cash registers, security cameras, lockers, pizza ovens and shelving in Big Ambitions — with prices and the neighborhood each supplier is in.
Front Desk Questions
Is it called Big Ambitions or Big Ambition?
The game is Big Ambitions, plural, by Hovgaard Games. 'Big Ambition' is the most common misspelling and it pulls up an unrelated mix of results, so search with the S if you want game pages.
Is Big Ambitions multiplayer or co-op?
No. Steam lists Big Ambitions as single-player only, and 1.0 did not change that. Every 'Big Ambitions multiplayer' result you will find points at an unofficial community mod, not a supported feature — it is not made or maintained by Hovgaard Games.
What is the most profitable business in Big Ambitions?
Hovgaard has never published profit figures, so there is no official answer. The community consistently names four earners — jewelry, clothing, electronics and hairdressing — with jewelry and clothing at the top because of how much revenue each customer carries. Our business tier list explains what each of those demands in staff and stock before it pays out.
House Rules
Big Ambitions Wiki is an independent, unofficial fan resource for Big Ambitions players — not affiliated with Hovgaard Games.
- How we verify: Mechanics are checked against Hovgaard Games' own patch notes first and the community wiki second. Where the two disagree, the patch note wins and the page says which one it followed.
- Update cadence: Every page is re-read within 48 hours of a Steam build going live, and the 1.0 pages get a second pass on each hotfix while the launch patches are still landing.
- What we don't do: No trainer links, no cheat-engine tables, no pirated-copy workarounds. If Hovgaard has never published a number, this site writes "not published" instead of guessing one.