Space Bucks

Here comes Sierra again with another unique strategy offering in the form of Space Bucks. With only one spaceport, a single starship and 200,000 credits, the user is faced with the monumental challenge of building the greatest trading empire in the entire galaxy. There are three other companies seeking to profit from the same trade routes and commodities, creating a fiercely competitive atmosphere for even the savviest businessman.
The basic strategy behind building this great empire is renting land on other planets and erecting more spaceports that will grant the user exclusive trading rights to that area.

Next, starships must be produced to freighter goods along the newly created trading routes. Sometimes, as is true in modern big business models, small underdeveloped lands ask for a little more than monetary compensation to be granted access to their resources. If this is the case, you have to choose whether or not to oblige or abandon.
There are five races of beings scattered about the galaxy: Colikar, N’hads, Tesarians, Secanii, and humans. Each unique race has the ability to manufacture something that another race will practically kill for. For example, the Colikar manufacture a commodity termed Ambrosia, which is basically liquor, and humans will buy every drop they can afford. Learn about the laws of supply and demand in this system and set up trade routes to use them to your advantage.
To add complexity to this game, there are a dozen types of planets, each with its own resource structure. There are also natural disasters, toxic waste spills, space pirates and looters, and a fluctuating stock market to account for, not to mention rampant prejudices between the five sentient races.
The micromanagement level of this game is entertaining and the overall look of Space Bucks is colorful and pleasing. The user interface is somewhat clumsy and it requires some time to master all the controls and menus required to view trade routes and credit histories. Fumbling through the commodities lists for each planet and trying to sort trade routes is time consuming and somewhat frustrating, but is all part of the game’s lengthy learning curve. The game has superior replay ability and economical models that are manageable but still complex enough to remain interesting. In short, the game’s weaknesses are completely overshadowed by its strengths. I highly recommend downloading it.