United States of LOL is a bidding game. There are 50 states. You claim a state by placing the highest bid on it. That is the whole thing.
1. Every state starts at $1
When nobody has claimed a state, its price is $1. That is the amount the first bidder pays to take it.
2. Placing a bid
A bid is a whole dollar amount that is at least $1 higher than the state’s current price. The minimum increase is always $1. You can bid more than the minimum if you want to make it harder to be outbid.
You pay your bid at the moment you place it. All amounts are in US dollars.
3. Winning a state
The highest bid holds the state. Once your payment goes through, that state shows your @handle, your company name, your logo and your link, on the map and in the landholders ledger. A little confetti happens. The newsfeed announces it.
4. Getting outbid
Anyone can take a state from its current holder by bidding the next whole dollar higher. When that happens the state is theirs: your name, logo and link are replaced by the new holder’s, and the newsfeed and ledger update to the new owner only.
Being outbid is a normal part of the game, not a mistake. Bids are final and are not refunded when you are outbid.
5. The price after a bid
Once a state is taken, its current price becomes the winning bid. The next person who wants it needs to bid at least that price plus $1.
6. There is no timer
States never “close”. A state can change hands at any time, forever, as long as someone is willing to bid higher.
7. What you can put on a state
A company name, a logo image, and one link. Keep it real and keep it clean. Nothing illegal, deceptive, phishing, malware, sexually explicit, hateful or abusive. Don’t claim to be a company you are not.
We can remove or refuse any name, logo or link that breaks this, and that bid is not refunded.
8. Demo content
Before real bidders arrive, some states show a placeholder company, a well-known business based in that state, purely so the map does not look empty and grey. Placeholders are not real holders: they never appear in the landholders ledger, and they disappear the instant someone places a real bid on that state.
9. Payments
Bids are charged at the time you place them through our third-party payment processor. You authorise that charge when you submit the bid form. Any taxes are your responsibility.
10. The important disclaimer
This is a novelty website. Placing a bid buys your spot on this map under these rules and nothing else. It gives you no ownership, rights, title or claim to any actual US state, any land, or anything in the real world. United States of LOL is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to any government or any company shown on the map.
These rules are a draft and may change before launch. See the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.