Industryplayer 4

• Quick specs
• Price: Free to try (See description); $19.99 to buy
• Operating system: Windows Vista, Windows 95, Windows Me, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows 98
• Date added: July 11, 2006
• Total Downloads: 98,364
• Downloads last week: 45
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• Average user rating: 3.0 stars out of 37 votes
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User reviews of Industryplayer 4

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• 4 stars

  3 out of 3 people found this review helpful

  Version: Industryplayer 4

  "A Superior Macro Economic Sim With Great Potential"

  by TheLibra on July 12, 2006

  Pros: Industry Player is fantastic as a macro-economic simulator with a strong player base. The economy is a fine balance between player and server controls, and does not fall into the trap of using the simple Keynesian economic model of supply and demand. Instead market forces are generated by a series of extremely complicated formulas that, luckily, result in very easy to understand datum for the player.

  Gameplay is as simple or complex as the player desires. Each Player creates a Holding company, which may then purchase up to five Licenses (businesses) over the course of their allotted turns, and may upgrade them to become more profitable. There are several industry sectors to choose from (eg. Textiles), and within each sector there are several licenses to choose from (eg. Dyes are a license of the Textile sector), and each license qualifies as either a Raw, Intermediate, or Consumer product.

  Each Product both creates and affects the lateral and horizontal markets, as well as market index for related products. For instance, Dyes require X quantity of Raw and Intermediate materials (each of which are their own buyable licenses, some of which are in different sectors). However, Dyes are then used as a material to create other Intermediate and Consumer products. In other words, the integration of these licenses is so incredibly in depth as to allow the serious micro-manager the ability to number crunch to their hearts content, but are dynamic enough to simulate the true volatility of a real, self-correcting economy.

  So, if you are looking for a macro business sim, this is absolutely the game for you.

  Cons: Now, for all the praise, there are a few points the game falls short of excelling at. Chief amongst them is a very demanding minimum play per cycle. Currently it is at 60 hours, after which you are penalized a turn every 2 hours. Considering the target demographic for this game (adults), it leaves very little leeway for those of us who unexpectedly must go an entire weekend without playing the game. This has already caused me to use up one of my 3 free resets (resets thereafter cost gameplay credits).

  Secondly, the ability to perform a hostile takeover of your competition needs some work. Not only is the act of attempting a takeover very unintuitive and quirky, but the act of having a license taken over by your competition will completely wipe out your chances of winning. However, this aspect may soon be corrected. Either that or walk into this game never letting your credit rating drop below "A-".

  Lastly, the game lacks in the "Tycoon" aspect of an individual business. Your interaction with your employees is limited to a slider-bar of how much they are paid. Your quality control and insurance are similarly notched. Other than that, the only thing distinguishing one license from another is the materials they require in order to be produced, and the profit that can be achieved from them. However, I can also see where this would slow gameplay down interminably.

  While these three problems may seem a harsh criticism, it is a mark of how fine a game and how admirable I find the formulas behind it that, despite these problems, I give it a very well deserved 4/5 and a hearty recommendation to anyone looking for a macro-economic multi-business multi-player simulator.

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• 5 stars

  Version: Industryplayer 4

  "Fun and exciting to run your own corporation!"

  by v ceo on August 3, 2006

  Pros: It is fun and exciting to run your own corporation and maximize your market share and wealth. You start with ten million dollars, and buy and run up to five companies.

  As a CEO you have to manage raw materials, intermediate products, and finished goods. You learn to deal with takeovers, labour strikes, supply shortages, disasters, insurance, and credit ratings, or get beaten by your competition. Level 1 game play is easy, with complexity increasing as you move up in wealth and power.

  Plenty of strategies to think about make this business simulation game a unique experience and one you will come back to again and again - very addictive and mega fun. The most intelligent online game I ever played!

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