''Business Games'' is a collection of two

business simulation game Business simulation games, also known as tycoon games or economic simulation games,< ...

s for the

BBC Micro The BBC Microcomputer System, or BBC Micro, is a family of microcomputers developed and manufactured by Acorn Computers in the early 1980s as part of the BBC's Computer Literacy Project. Launched in December 1981, it was showcased across severa ...

published in 1983 by

Acornsoft Acornsoft was the software arm of Acorn Computers, and a major publisher of software for the BBC Micro and Acorn Electron. As well as games, it also produced a large number of educational titles, extra computer languages and business and util ...

. An

Acorn Electron The Acorn Electron (nicknamed the Elk inside Acorn and beyond) was introduced as a lower-cost alternative to the BBC Micro educational/home computer, also developed by Acorn Computers, to provide many of the features of that more expensive mach ...

version followed in 1984. The included games are Stokmark and Telemark.

Gameplay

''Stokmark''

''Stokmark'' is a simulation of the

stock market A stock market, equity market, or share market is the aggregation of buyers and sellers of stocks (also called shares), which represent ownership claims on businesses; these may include ''securities'' listed on a public stock exchange a ...

. Up to eight players take turns to either buy or sell shares in a choice of four companies. As well as the price, players are given the price-to-earnings ratio and

dividend yield The dividend yield or dividend–price ratio of a share is the dividend per share divided by the price per share. It is also a company's total annual dividend payments divided by its market capitalization, assuming the number of shares is constan ...

. Prices change instantly when transactions are made (usually based on the standard

supply and demand In microeconomics, supply and demand is an economic model of price determination in a Market (economics), market. It postulates that, Ceteris_paribus#Applications, holding all else equal, the unit price for a particular Good (economics), good ...

principle although there is a random element). After each round a news story is displayed which affects the value of certain shares. After every four rounds, players are awarded

dividends A dividend is a distribution of profits by a corporation to its shareholders, after which the stock exchange decreases the price of the stock by the dividend to remove volatility. The market has no control over the stock price on open on the ex ...

on the shares they hold and are ranked on their total current value (of both cash and shares). The object of the game is to make the largest amount of profit.Original instructions
reproduced at 8bs.com (cited 2011-11-07)

''Telemark''

''Telemark'' is a four player game where each player has to make decisions based on the manufacturing of televisions. This includes whether to build or extend factories, spend on improving management or marketing, and setting the price. When the player enters their price, it is not displayed on the screen so other players do not know what their competitors are charging until the end of each round. The game introduces terms and reports such as

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a Market (economics), market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those ...

overheads In business, an overhead or overhead expense is an ongoing expense of operating a business. Overheads are the expenditure which cannot be conveniently traced to or identified with any particular revenue unit, unlike operating expenses such as raw m ...

, profit and loss accounts and

balance sheet In financial accounting, a balance sheet (also known as statement of financial position or statement of financial condition) is a summary of the financial balances of an individual or organization, whether it be a sole proprietorship, a business ...

s. The instruction booklet provides detailed instructions on working out the

break-even Break-even (or break even), often abbreviated as B/E in finance (sometimes called point of equilibrium), is the point of balance making neither a Profit (economics), profit nor a loss. It involves a situation when a business makes just enough reve ...

point as well as blank worksheets to be filled out by the players. The winner is the player who has made the most profit after a set number of rounds or the first player to gain more than half the market share for televisions.

Release

''Business Games'' was released in 1983 as part of Acornsoft's Education range which was aimed at schools as well as home users. As it only requires 16k

RAM Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

, it runs on the

Model A as well as the Model B. It was also released for the

in 1984. The instructions recommend the games for teaching business and economic studies but the Acorn Electron version in particular was well known among home users, as it was often included with the Acornsoft software packs bundled with Electrons in 1984 and 1985."What's It Worth"
Dave E, EUG #66, Electron User Group "Most Electrons came bundled with five Acornsoft games (Typically Arcadians, Boxer, Business Games, Chess and Hopper)"

Reception

The package was reviewed by Ken Garrett for

The Micro User ''The Micro User'' (titled ''BBC Micro User'' in the first three issues) was a British specialist magazine catering to users of the BBC Microcomputer series, Acorn Electron, Acorn Archimedes and, to a limited extent, the Cambridge Z88. It had a ...

which was largely positive. ''Stokmark'' was described as "a well-presented and useful introduction to some investment terms" but also "rather repetitive"."Business Games"
The Micro User, Database Publications, Vol 2 No 1, March 1984 He claimed ''Telemark'' is "a good game and to be properly appreciated must be played seriously".

References

{{Acornsoft Acornsoft games Business simulation games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron games BBC Micro and Acorn Electron-only games Video games developed in the United Kingdom 1983 video games