Business simulation
You run a company or business: setting prices, hiring, investing and competing for customers. The challenge is reading numbers and trends so the books close in profit.
Also known as: business sim, tycoon game, economic simulation
This is a basic entry: it has the definition and the classification. Full entries add history, games and a demo.
History
- 1964Origin
The Sumerian Game (1964), by Mabel Addis, is considered the first economic simulation game.
Simulation video game (Wikipedia) - 1983
Danielle Bunten Berry's M.U.L.E. turns a colony's economy into a four-player game.
M.U.L.E. (Wikipedia) - 1995
Trevor Chan's Capitalism comes to be described as the best business simulation game.
Business simulation game (Wikipedia) - 1999RollerCoaster Tycoon
Chris Sawyer's RollerCoaster Tycoon has you build and manage an amusement park.
RollerCoaster Tycoon (video game) (Wikipedia)
Reference games
1999
RollerCoaster Tycoon
You run an amusement park, build rides and your own roller coasters, hire staff and look after guests' needs to meet each scenario's goals. It was the best-selling PC game of 1999.
2014
AdVenture Capitalist
You start with a lemonade stand and buy ever larger businesses. Hiring managers makes them run on their own and keep earning even when the game is closed; resetting gives you "angel investors" that multiply your income.
2022
PlateUp!
One to four players run a restaurant (taking orders, cooking, serving, washing dishes) over 15-day runs, choosing random upgrades and difficulty modifiers between days.