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Comment by aasasd | Hacker News Reader

I keep wondering if there's a business simulation game, or a gamey simulation, that requires me to deal with the actual business side of things, instead of placing roads and snack stands. Like, to negotiate supply and demand (for b2b), build out relations in support of products, pay attention to marketing costs and otherwise flex the MBA and economic-theory muscles.

Because, dunno about SimCity, but Theme Hospital, RCT and TTD prepared me for running a business about as much as Q3 prepared me for commanding a SWAT team. And modern ‘business simulators’ that I see around look like shovelware variations on those three.

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That seems like one of those things that by their nature are extremely unlikely to come about, seeing as to have a decent "win" condition you'd have to be able to understand what makes a winning business in real life.

Either no one wants to out their trade secret sauce; or there really isn't anyone that knows how.

Now I bet you could maybe stealth it by pitching a business "failure" simulator. Even then Though you may run into the same issues.

I'd also play the hell out of it. No MBA, but I absolutely love unintuitive optimization problems, and playing with hypotheticals.

I just have the feeling that if we knew enough to convincingly gamify it, it may not necessarily be a game worth playing when you could be doing the real thing instead.

I'm laughing at the mental image of contests wherein people bring their pet company in for evaluation for entry into a business program or something.

Well conditions also aren't homogeneous, uniform, or exhaustively known which makes tbings better and worse.

For a real life vs simulation example: there isn't much practical use in knowing how to be successful in building the first rail lines for instance - they have been there for centuries now the conditions aren't the same at all.

I went through Capsim (https://www.capsim.com/) as a part of my MBA program. It covers the simulation of R&D, Marketing, Production, and Finance - not so much Economics.

I remember playing a game that for once simulated "business"

It was called "Executive Suite" by the amusingly named "Armonk Corporation" :)

"Executive Suite is a text-based business social simulation game" ... "The game is a prototypically self-aware humor-driven (yet with serious aspects)"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_Suite_(video_game)

EDIT: It appears you can play it directly from Archive.org. Click the link and press the power button.

https://archive.org/details/msdos_Executive_Suite_1982

EDIT2: I forgot how funny it was:

  As a new engineer, you are subject to the whims of
  unorganized project managers.

  A last minute assignment conflicts with a special
  seminar MMC has enrolled you in.

  Your project manager, Harriet Nance, tells you to
  handle the situation.

  What do you do?

    1 - Delay the work

    2 - Skip the seminar

    3 - Take the work to the seminar

  Press the number of your choice and press the Enter Key:

This sounds like it's cut from the same cloth as Wall Street Raider

Capitalism Plus is much more like that. It's still very, very idealized, but you are spending your time mostly managing supply lines and marketing over the physical placement of things...

That's a rare niche. I recall a very old game https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capitalism_(video_game) that attempted something like that, but becoming serious automatically limits your mass market appeal.

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