Tycoon: The Commodity Market Simulation is as much of a mouthful to say as it is to play. As you can probably guess by the name of the game, Tycoon: The Commodity Market Simulation involves trading stocks on the market and trying to make money. You will play the part of a wanna-be big-wig commodities trader who is buying and selling futures (a specific financial derivative) for a career. Some of the commodities’ futures that you will be dealing with include: gold, coffee, soybeans and pork bellies.
There are a total of ten vastly varied commodities, but that is not all. The commodities trader is also able to trade financial futures, such as the S&P stock index, the Japanese Yen, and One-Year T-Bills. There are about 20 total tradable items. All come with sets of fairly realistic risks and payouts and you will have to do your homework if you want to make your fortune and not lose everything you have worked so hard for.
Tycoon: The Commodity Market Simulation is a turn based game that progresses at a fairly leisurely pace. Each turn represents one full week of real time. At the beginning of each turn you (after
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hopefully doing a bit of studying) will select your future and take a stand on it. Like the real world, you will be able to take either a long or short stand, which determines if you are in a position to buy or sell. There are a lot of tools available to help you with your studies. You can read the news on each of the futures available. There is a graph that shows what the future has done over time, which can give you an idea about coming trends. There are also just plain informative descriptions of each commodity which you can return to and read when you become uncertain. Sometimes there are clues in the descriptions that can sway your position on buying or selling. Of course, the other thing you can do during the turn is liquidate your position or holdings because there is a large profit to be made or because you are broke and need some moveable funds. Naturally, you prefer for the former to be the case.
This is a strictly text based game, but you don’t see fancy animated graphics running around the boards on Wall Street Either. This is a good game, but the nature of it is just not for everyone. It is more of a cerebral adventure than an actual one. It is a good market simulation, and will provide a great experience in the right hands.
