Keep a $1 million investment running in the research lab at all times, and spend any extra on more and better lab staff instead of a bigger investment. Each lab employee earns most of their research points just for being there; the amount you invest adds very little on top.
How Lab Investment Works
On the investment screen the amount starts at $1,000,000. The 1m, 5m and 10m buttons set how much the + and − buttons add or remove, and the amount can go from $1 million up to $25 million. You pay the whole amount when you invest, and the investment runs for 30 days.
Each day of the run, every lab employee who isn’t on vacation adds research points to the lab:
1.25 + (average skill × (1 + amount invested in millions) ÷ 1,000)
“Average skill” is the employee’s average across Design, Speed and Research. Average Income on the investment screen is the lab’s total for one day. One lab employee with an average skill of 50 and a $1 million investment earns 1.25 + (50 × 2 ÷ 1,000) = 1.35 points a day, which is what you’ll see with a single average lab employee.
The table shows daily points for one lab employee at different investment amounts.
| Average skill | $1M | $5M | $10M | $25M |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 | 1.30 | 1.40 | 1.53 | 1.90 |
| 50 | 1.35 | 1.55 | 1.80 | 2.55 |
| 80 | 1.41 | 1.73 | 2.13 | 3.33 |
Why $1 Million Is the Best Amount
The flat 1.25 points per employee doesn’t depend on the investment at all. The money only boosts the small skill-based part.
Take one employee with an average skill of 50. A $1 million run earns about 40 points over 30 days, roughly $25,000 per point. A $25 million run earns about 77 points, so the extra $24 million buys only 36 more points, about $667,000 each. That money does far more as new staff, office upgrades or marketing.
The same logic tells you how to grow your income: add lab employees. Each one brings at least 37 points per 30-day run, whatever you invest. Better staff help too, since all three of their skills count.
The Lab Limit
The lab stores points until you collect them, up to a limit:
| Lab level | Lab staff | Points the lab can hold |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 250 |
| 2 | 8 | 500 |
| 3 | 18 | 750 |
Level 3 is the highest lab level. When the lab is full, the investment pauses: the 30 days stop counting down until you collect, so you don’t lose the rest of the run. You only lose the few points that overflow on the day it fills.
A small lab rarely hits the limit. Ten lab employees with an average skill of 80 earn about 423 points per $1 million run, well under 750. A full lab of 18 such employees earns about 25 points a day and fills the lab in about 30 days, or in about 20 days at a $10 million investment. Once your lab is that big, collect during the run so it keeps going.
Tips
- Start a new $1 million run as soon as the last one ends, so the lab never sits idle.
- Fill the lab before raising the investment. Upgrade the lab for more staff room and a higher limit.
- Stagger lab vacations. Lab staff on vacation earn nothing for the lab.
- Turbo Laboratory makes the lab earn 15% more, and Average Income doesn’t show that bonus, so you’ll earn a little more than the screen says. Research Bank raises the lab limit by 300.
- The lab isn’t your only source of research points. Designers, programmers and engineers earn research points while they work (their Research skill sets how fast; see the employees guide), and your starting country’s Research Level sets how many points you begin with.