Guides · · 4 min read
Life sim investing in Malta Living: property, cabs, land, businesses
By The Malta Living team · Updated
A wage pays the rent; owning things is how you get ahead. Malta Living is a free, Sims-like life sim set in real Malta, and its life sim investing goes from a €40 gumball machine to a pitch in front of investors. You do it from the 📈 Invest app on your in-game phone, and everything pays out on time even when you're not playing: the Bank shows what came in when you're back.
Invest has five tabs: Yours, Property, Land, Business and Cabs. At the top, today's earnings count up live, with what everything you own is worth and what it made this week.
Payday is 18:00
The game runs on Malta time, and investments pay at 18:00. Businesses and cabs pay every evening; rent and land once a week. A business you buy starts paying from its first payday.
A business sim, from €40
The Business tab is a ladder. The bottom rung is a gumball machine at a Ħamrun bus stop for €40, which takes about 21 days to pay for itself. Above it: a pastizzi stand (Malta's flaky ricotta or pea pastries) by the Mosta Rotunda for €220, the Imqaret stall at City Gate in Valletta for €435, and a share in a luzzu's catch in Marsaxlokk for €480. A luzzu is the brightly painted Maltese fishing boat, and Marsaxlokk's harbour is full of them (Wikipedia: Luzzu). You can own one of each.
Every card shows:
- what it makes in a summer week, and a day's range
- how many days it takes to pay back its price
- roughly what you keep after tax
- a chip: Steady, Seasonal or Risky
Risky ones have bad days that cost you (a storm keeps the luzzu in). Seasonal ones follow the tourists: from November to March they take 20% to 40% of their summer takings, and summer comes back in April.
A property investment game
The Property tab has listings from Frank Salt and Malta Sotheby's International Realty. One is a lock-up garage in Għajnsielem, Gozo, for €3,500, which lets for €245 a week. Tourists and permit holders can buy freely at Tigné Point and Portomaso; anywhere else takes a buyer's permit (AIP), for one home to live in.
Own a home you don't live in? Tap Rent it out in Invest, or in Homes under Homes you own, and tenants pay every week at 18:00. You can't let the home you live in, one bought with a buyer's permit, or one with a loan to live in until it's paid off. More on homes in renting a flat in Sliema.
Land is at game prices and anyone can buy it, up to three of each plot, from an allotment in Żebbuġ, Gozo, at €450. It grows every week and pays when you sell (selling costs 5%), and fields let to a farmer pay a little every seventh day.
Cabs: buy a car, tap Run it as a cab, and it earns every evening at 18:00 after the driver's share, with a repair now and then. The Island savings bond in the Bank is the no-risk rung: €50 to €5,000 earns 0.5% a week, €25 at most.
Investment income is taxed as it's paid, by the week: the first €300 is tax-free, then 15% to €1,000, 25% to €3,000 and 35% above. Those are Malta's own bands for resident income tax (Taxation in Malta), though the real bands are yearly. Wages, Earn and the bond are never taxed.
A startup pitch game at SOHO
The big money is at SOHO The Strand in Gżira, a co-working space among Malta's iGaming (online gaming) companies. Build a pitch deck on the co-working floor (an idea, then a card for each of five slides), polish a slide a day, and rehearse investor questions at SOHO, at home or with a friend. You can pitch any time, once a day: four live minutes on stage, your slides on the big screen, three investor questions to answer fast. Investors may put in €1,500, €5,000 or €15,000, or nothing, and others at SOHO can watch and cheer.
You can also apply for Business START, a grant of up to €10,000 in the game, and a SOHO win makes a yes much more likely. The real Business START is Malta Enterprise's early seed funding for small start-ups (Malta Enterprise).
Not sure where to start? Ask Marisa, your adviser at the Bank: she lists what your cash could buy today and always leaves €500 for food and fares. Short of cash, try jobs and careers or Earn's daily missions, and see the Malta life simulator guide for everything else. Ready? Play Malta Living free in your browser.
Questions people ask
What is the cheapest business to buy in Malta Living?
The gumball machine at a Ħamrun bus stop, for €40. It pays every evening at 18:00 and takes about 21 days to pay back its price.
Can you rent out property in Malta Living?
Yes. Tap Rent it out on a home you own in Invest or Homes, and tenants pay its rent every week at 18:00. You can't let the home you live in, one bought with a buyer's permit, or one with a loan to live in.
How does the SOHO pitch work in Malta Living?
At SOHO The Strand you build a five-slide deck, rehearse, then pitch on stage once a day, answering three investor questions in four live minutes. Investors may offer €1,500, €5,000 or €15,000, or nothing.
Is investment income taxed in Malta Living?
Yes, business, cab, rent and land income is taxed as it's paid, by the week. The first €300 a week is tax-free, then 15%, 25% and 35%; wages, Earn and the savings bond are never taxed.
