Both developed and published by Ascaron Entertainment, the Patrician is a business simulation that became available for play on the personal computer in the early nineties. Also ported to the Amiga and Atari ST, the Patrician is a historically based game that was made for both single and multiplayer formats. The Patrician is one of the more complex business simulations available, standing even today as an overwhelming wealth of information.
In the Patrician, the player will be in charge of a rising merchant who can set up business in one of several different cities in the Hanseatic League.
He will have to do everything possible to become successful, ranging from buying and selling real estate and dealing in consumer goods to accumulating capital and money. By doing these things, he can further his career and expand his estate. His reputation will grow, both in his home area and abroad.
The player will primarily use a ship or fleet of ships to make trades. This will be his initial way of acquiring wealth. He will have trading offices to help him keep track of all the business dealings he will undertake. The beginnings of the game are heavily influenced by the standard marketing idea of supply and demand and the user will
have to be careful to buy when the market is down and sell when it is high in order to amass his fortune. The player can also participate in other, more subtle, adventures, such as building industries and public works, as well as individual houses. He can pursue a career in politics, which is not a far stretch for many modern businessmen. There will also be seedier characters, such as burglars and pirates that may plague the player or befriend him, depending on some of your gaming choices.
Both the human players and the artificial intelligence will have an impact on the dynamic economy of the game. The tricks of the trade that may make the businessman get rich may also break the town when other businesses have to absorb the profit losses. If the user intends on taking up a political career, he will have to sacrifice some of his wealth for popularity in the various towns. This is an example of how the choices the user makes in the game can affect him directly.
The Patrician is a very deep and innovative business simulation that is not recommended for the lemonade salesman. This is a hardcore venture that is for the lion of the business world. Give it a try if you have the stamina and the guts to play hardball with the big boys.
