BUSINESS.GAME
Start with one shop. End up in orbit.
BUSINESS.GAME
A business simulator — seven days, real books
Pick a business. Survive the week. End it in the black — the board meets Sunday night.
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Days run on their own, Farmville-style — you set prices, stock up, staff up, buy attention.
Waiting is free. Speed costs money. Both are lessons. · your empire · design notes
Waiting is free. Speed costs money. Both are lessons. · your empire · design notes
A CORNER IN {{ siteCityName }}
Location is a price you pay every week whether anyone shows up or not. — Rae
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Rae: “{{ siteRae }}”
← different business
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NAME THE PLACE
It goes on the sign, the receipts and — if this works — the second location. {{ siteName }} is waiting.
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LAUNCH CHECKLIST
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CASH AFTER SETUP: {{ suCashAfter }}
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Rae: “{{ ss.rae }}”
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Setup total: {{ suTotal }} · weekly tools billed Monday
Design notes — for review
Assumptions
Elite HS audience → respect their intelligence: real accounting terms from minute one, defined just-in-time with their own live numbers (dotted-underlined terms are clickable everywhere). One game week ≈ 12–15 min. Solo sandbox, real bankruptcy.
Mechanic → skill map
· Price stepper + kinked elasticity curve → pricing power (the board later reveals the mathematically optimal price).· Three ad channels with measured CAC vs. gross-profit-per-visit → marketing.
· Candidates with wage/speed tradeoffs, utilization + labor % → hiring.
· Delivery lead times, bulk discounts flowing into moving-average COGS, rent paid up front → operations & working capital.
Farmville DNA, weaponized
Everything runs on timers: deliveries, ad ramps, hires starting tomorrow. You wait, or you pay to rush — and rush fees eat margin, which is itself the lesson about expedite costs.
Assessment
Sunday board meeting grades four skills from decision telemetry (not quiz questions) and shows the framework math with the player's numbers. Bankruptcy screen names the actual cash drain that killed you.
Cut from this prototype
District unlock map (teased), multi-week arc, competitors, saves, richer sound. Next steps: playtest pacing knobs (Tweaks panel has them), then Week 2 with the Uptown district + demand shocks.
BUSINESS.GAME
WEEK 1 · {{ dayLabel }}
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CASH
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RAE · your mentor, unfortunately
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BREAK-EVEN TODAY
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price per {{ unit }}
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Gross margin: {{ priceLabel }} − COGS {{ cogsUnitLabel }} = {{ marginUnitLabel }} per {{ unit }} ({{ marginPctLabel }})
Demand right now: {{ demandLabel }}{{ demandSuffix }} Elasticity {{ elastSuffix }}
{{ priceTip }}
on hand
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{{ unitsWord }} @ {{ avgCostLabel }} avg
days of cover
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burn ≈ {{ burnLabel }}/day
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Delivery takes {{ leadLabel }} of open hours. Ordering ties up working capital — cash leaves now, sells later. Bulk lowers your average COGS.
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in transit
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buzz — who's thinking of you
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■ organic (word of mouth, decays to a baseline) ■ paid (fades in hours)
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CAC so far: {{ cacLabel }} · gross profit per sale: {{ gpVisitLabel }}
{{ cacVerdict }} LTV is the number that decides if ads are an investment or a donation.
{{ cacVerdict }} LTV is the number that decides if ads are an investment or a donation.
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utilization
{{ utilLabel }}
labor % of revenue
{{ laborLabel }}
healthy ≈ 18–38%
your crew
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MORALE
candidates
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RESUME · {{ cd.exp }}
+ {{ cd.str }} · − {{ cd.wk }}
+ {{ cd.str }} · − {{ cd.wk }}
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{{ crw.name }} {{ crw.risk }}
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Retainers bill weekly and consume delivery hours. Keep utilization between 60–85% — past 100%, clients quietly start interviewing your competitors.
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Seats are inventory too — dwell time decides how hard they work. Furniture lands on your balance sheet, not your P&L — until you sell it back at half price.
income statement — week to date
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balance sheet — right now
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Change in equity since Monday = your net income. That is the whole scoreboard.
SUNDAY, 9:00 PM — {{ bizName }}
BOARD MEETING — WEEK 1
Revenue {{ bdRev }} · Net income {{ bdNet }} · Cash {{ bdCash }}
OVERALL{{ bdGrade }}
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Rae: “{{ bdVerdict }}”
BUSINESS.GAME
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WHAT YOU ARE WORTH
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DRAG TO SPIN · TAP A SITE
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NOTHING HERE YET
Open your first shop, or type anything you want to build and it gets priced honestly.
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REVENUE
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NET
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VALUE
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LAUNCH ANYTHING
Rae is offline right now, so she cannot price a new idea. The six trades below still open normally.
Anything you can describe. At your size that realistically means {{ eraCan }}.
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NOT YET
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NOT A BUSINESS
Rae: “{{ lVerdict }}”
CAPEX
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REVENUE
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NET
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RISK
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Lesson: {{ lLesson }}
OPEN A BUSINESS
Six hands-on businesses you can run yourself in {{ launchSiteName }}.
NEXT ERA · {{ nextEraName }}
{{ netWorth }} of {{ nextEraNeed }} net worth
THE LOG
Nothing has happened yet.
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THE PORTFOLIO
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REVENUE
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NET
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RISK
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THE CASE — {{ trophyCount }}
Every object here had to be earned by doing the thing.
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BUSINESS.GAME
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SITE NET
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DRAG TO PAN · TAP A PLOT
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REVENUE
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NET
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VALUE
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INSOLVENT.
{{ bustWhen }} — the till is empty and the obligations are not.
where the cash went
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Rae: “{{ bustLesson }}”
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computed live from your books
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Good copy multiplies this channel all week. Bad copy multiplies it too — downward.
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Rae: “{{ compVerdict }}” {{ compScore }}
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Fix first: {{ compTip }}
Effect: {{ compEffect }}
Effect: {{ compEffect }}
RETAINER AGREEMENT
weekly services · auto-renewing
Between: {{ bizName }} (“Agency”) and {{ agreeClient }} (“Client”).
Scope of work: {{ agreeScope }}
Service allocation: {{ agreeHrs }} hours per week of senior delivery time.
Fees: {{ agreeFee }} per week, billed daily pro-rata, collected each morning.
Term: renews weekly, automatically.
Termination: either party, any time, effective immediately. (This clause is why churn exists.)
Response SLA: Agency responds to Client messages within one business day.
Scope of work: {{ agreeScope }}
Service allocation: {{ agreeHrs }} hours per week of senior delivery time.
Fees: {{ agreeFee }} per week, billed daily pro-rata, collected each morning.
Term: renews weekly, automatically.
Termination: either party, any time, effective immediately. (This clause is why churn exists.)
Response SLA: Agency responds to Client messages within one business day.
signed — {{ bizName }}signed — {{ agreeClient }}
Rae: “Read the termination clause twice. Recurring revenue is rented, not owned — and the rent is called service quality.”
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SKILL CHECK
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Pass to unlock the upgrade for this run. Your real numbers, your real skill.
CORRECT — LICENSE EARNED
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NOT QUITE
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