Capitalism (video game)

Lore & Background

Capitalism is a simulation game which can be played in two different ways: the player may start their own business or play a scenario with a pre-made business with a set goal. In a new game, the player begins with a maximum of $200,000,000 initial capital. Each store can be stocked with up to four different items. As a real world model it is necessary to take into account land cost, overhead, demand for the products, and competition. The player can build several types of firms including department stores, factories, research and development centers, farms, mines, oil wells, and logging camps. The most common business model to pursue in Capitalism is retail by running a chain of department stores, but the player can venture into any market segment including manufacturing, which involves considerations such as suppliers and raw material shortages. The player can also choose to run research and development (R&D) operations, which ultimately improves product quality by increasing technology gain; R&D for any product can last from 6 months to 10 years in the game. Capitalism includes seventeen scenarios with pre-made situations and businesses and a certain goal. The scenarios are generally more difficult to succeed as competitors often have the starting advantage. Each scenario has a different goal and different environment and competitor situation. For example, the Alternative Challenge scenario restricts the market to two cities while in 'D' for Diversification the player must manage a profitable broad-based corporation and manage a large number of firms at the same time. Some scenarios require the player to dominate a particular market in terms of market share, such as Food Dominance which sets a goal of dominating the food industry within 50 years while earning an annual operating profit of no less than $20 million. Most scenario games disable the stock market option to make the player focus on completing the scenario goals. The game includes features such as 'Quick Start' with eight instructional games and a layout plan library to store and reuse building plans.

Reader's Guide

Capitalism and its Capitalism Plus SKU together sold 150,000 copies by 2000. Shortly after the release of Capitalism in 1995, a review in Next Generation commented, 'The game is complex, but don't let the novel-sized manual fool you. It may be daunting at first, but this is one of those sims that you'll play for hours without even noticing.' The reviewer scored it four out of five stars. Capitalism also made appearances on The Discovery Channel, and CNBC-TV Cable. In 1996, Harvard University and Stanford University began using Capitalism for educational purposes. Professor Tom Kosnik said, 'Capitalism is a world-class, hands-on learning experience I've used at Stanford School of Engineering and Harvard Business School. Gamers not only learn the subtleties of growing an entrepreneurial business but also learn about leadership and team building necessary in any business situation.' On October 21, 1996, BusinessWeek reviewed Capitalism, noting it can be a fun and useful exercise for anyone who wants to test their entrepreneurial mettle without taking any risk, and that with so many possibilities, Capitalism is an intense strategy game, much like chess, where players must constantly think ahead. In 1996, Computer Gaming World ranked Capitalism as the 6th most difficult game ever, calling its economy simulation 'so thorough it should include a free MBA in every box.' The magazine also praised the game as highly enjoyable and addictive. PC Gamer nominated Capitalism as the best simulation of 1995, although it lost to Apache.

Did You Know?

• Capitalism was designed by Trevor Chan and first published in 1995 by Interactive Magic.
• A more advanced version, Capitalism Plus, was released on January 1, 1996, and published by Broderbund for Windows 95 only.