Capitalize - a game of trade Players: minimum 3, best with more than 5, no upper limit Game time: 45-65 minutes Genre: strategy/economic Compatibility: cross-platform (Perl 5 required) License: GNU GPL v.2 (see file COPYING) Capitalize is a simple game based on material production and trading. While traditional strategy games require intrigue as the way to achieve victory, Capitalize prohibits private deals. All inter-player trade is made through a centralized auction system, which works the same way that today's real-world material exchanges. Victory goes to the player who is best market manipulator, who buys low and sells high. Background An exploration vessel has landed on a new planet, and the crew is busily setting up a base. Prospector teams are sent to explore the planet, and they return with valuable raw materials. The players are part of the base-side crew, each representing a different galactic corporation wanting a foothold on the planet. They build factories, refine materials, finally to produce Droids which are sold for money. As resources are limited, no one can build up a complete chain of production on their own. Cooperation of some sort is necessary for success. Objective The player to first buy 2000 Victory Points (Global Corp stocks) wins the game. Materials Prospector teams return to base with four different types of base materials: Metals [a], Minerals [b], Oil [c] and Water [d]. They are sold by the base each round. Players can build two types of factories to refine the raw materials: an Electronics Factory [ab], producing Components [E] out of Metals [a] and Minerals [b], and an Oil Refinery [cd], producing Plastics [F] out of Oil [c] and Water [d]. Finally, a Droid Assembly Plant [EF] is used to convert Components [E] and Plastics [F] into Droids (money). Improvement Modules [im] are bought from the base to build new factories and decrease the operating costs of existing ones. Victory points [vp] are sold by the base. They are useless during the game, but they determine the winner in the end. The Dutch Auction System The Dutch Auction System is used in the Material Exchange of Amsterdam. In Capitalize, a slightly varied system is used. During each game round, an auction cycle is held in the Material Exchange of the base. The market information screen displays, for each sellable material, the quantity of the material being sold this turn. During the turn, players may make bids on the material. For each bid, the bidder must specify the amount of the material they want, and the price they are willing to pay for it. At end of turn, the material is sold to the highest bidders. All sales are at the same price, which is the lowest of the highest bids. Example 1: There are 15 Metals for sale. Player A bids 10 for units 10 credits each. Player B bids for 10 units only 9 credits each. Player A gets 10 units for 9 credits each, player B gets 5 units for 9 credits each. Example 2: There are 10 Minerals for sale. Player A bids for 9 units 10 credits each. Players B and C bid for 6 and 5 units respectively, 5 credits each. Player D bids for 10 units 1 credit each. Player A gets 9 units for 5 credits. Player B gets 1 unit for 6 credits, because he bid for more units than Player C. Players C and D get nitchevo. For reasons of simplicity, the money required for making a bid is immediately deducted from the bidder's bank account when making a bid (excess is returned at the end of turn, of course.) Only one bid is allowed from one player for one material during one turn. Players may also sell their materials in the auction. The sold materials appear at the next turn's auction. Unlike traditional Dutch Auction, there is no way for a player to secure a minimum price for their own materials for sale, other than bidding for them by themselves.