Remember the computer simulation game SimCity in the early 1990s? The objective of SimCity was  to build and design a city either without specific goals or towards certain scenarios.  The game allowed you to see what would happen in the future based on your specific choices and performance when playing. You also controlled the speed at which time passed.

For example, if as “mayor” you allowed a builder to construct a hospital in an earthquake zone using substandard materials you’d find your city in a state of emergency at some point along the city’s timeline.

The SimCity concept spawned  a game called Capitalism. According to reviewers, Capitalism is an tough strategy game, like chess, where players must constantly think ahead. It can easily overwhelm novices. “But by adjusting several factors — the competency and managerial style of the computer-controlled rivals, for example, can be varied from very aggressive to conservative — gameplay can be suited to various styles and speed. The game even allows a player to hire presidents to manage the day-to-day operations of different divisions so the player can concentrate on the big picture.”

The interesting thing about Capitalism is that it’s based on a real world model so you have to take into account land cost, overheads, demand for the products, and competition. You can then test different scenarios to see where they can lead. It’s an excellent way to test theories and practices in a safe environment. Star Trek fans might think of  it as a holodeck on the Starship Enterprise with the safety protocols turned on.

Before we let the government launch the great Nama experiment —allowing us to take all the risk —let’s lock them in a room and force them to play out all the possible risks and outcomes of Nama on a SimNama game. Any game developers out there who want to take up the challenge?

Popularity: 29% [?]