Capitalism Plus

From the Database of Home of the Underdogs

GAME DESIGNER:Trevor Chan
GAME DEVELOPER:Enlight Software
GAME PUBLISHER:Interactive Magic
Copyright 1995, Enlight Software

The best business simulation ever made– period. Definitely THE game to get if you were to buy only one business sim in your lifetime. You can control every aspect of your company, from building internal linkages (production to marketing to sales), to engaging in price wars, hostile takeovers, and beyond. There are almost unlimited strategies you can use, from focusing on being agricultural product producer, a savvy retailer, or a stock market wiz.

The AI in the game is excellent: your silicon competitors make astute pricing decisions– even engaging in cutthroat pricing wars from time to time to corner the market where he/she is the price leader. The interface for setting up your virtual company is by far the best of its kind I have ever seen: it is intuitive, easy to use, and very flexible. When you start a new company, you will see a 2D grid of boxes, each representing a division. You then start filling the boxes with division types, e.g. production, sales, and so on. The more complicated and “full-cycle” you want your company to be (e.g. a retailer as opposed to farmer), the more boxes you need to use, and more lines you need to connect one division to another. The game’s economic variables are somewhat simplified, but still quite realistic, and there is a wide variety of “exceptional events” (e.g. natural disasters, recessions, etc.) to keep the game interesting. Add to this a full-fledged stock market model (where you can win billions in personal net worth without running your company at all), strong personnel management (you can hire a computer manager to manage certain facets of your company for you), and excellent graphics, Capitalism Plus is simply the best business simulation there is. Two thumbs up!

Note: Great news! WarCry.com has informed us that they have acquired the rights to re-publish this classic game. For only $9.95 plus shipping, this is one of the best buys you will ever make. And by the way, the full CD features digitized voices and very helpful tutorial scenarios that aren’t available in CD-rip versions that you may be able to find on the Internet (which is most likely from this site, anyway ;))