Strategic Management MGT306: Gazillionaire Interim Report Analysis

This report is an interim analysis of a Gazillionaire simulation game, a business-oriented game where players buy and sell alien commodities to maximize profits. The report details the game's mechanics, including demand and supply, competition, and random events. The student's gameplay strategy involved choosing a spaceship, taking loans, exploring planets, and trading various goods. The analysis covers the initial stages, including the selection of planets, competitors, and spaceships, and progresses through the game's weekly turns. The student's approach involved making decisions based on market prices, supply charts, and stock market trends. The report concludes with recommendations for improving trading strategies, such as considering supply charts, market exchange values, and risk assessment, and emphasizes the development of entrepreneur abilities and problem-solving skills through the simulation.

Statistics
MGT306 - Strategic Management
Simulation game of Gazillionaire
Interim Report
Student Name –
Student ID -

Executive Summary
Gazillionaire is a simulation game which is related to business in which the user buys the products at
low rates and sells at high rates. The user can run his own trading company, can work in a business
environment with various competitors. The game needs the development of a business strategy. To
become successful, a few skills are required and also guess work needs to be done to beat the
competitors. In order to win in the game of Gazillionaire, the alien commodities are bought and sold
and decisions are taken based on several factors like – demand and supply curve, monopoly,
exploring, random events and the strong competition. There is a trading competition between the
several players. By playing this game, a person can become a better strategic business thinker by
doing the business and analysing the profit potential and the risks. An active as well as dynamic
strategic mindset is developed, the recognition and capitalization of on demand – driven
opportunities is carried out, the problem solving skills are enhanced and the skills of looking forward
and reasoning back are developed. The strategies used are for the maximization of the profits.

Contents
Executive Summary...............................................................................................................................2
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Details of the game................................................................................................................................4
Conclusions..........................................................................................................................................10
Recommendations...............................................................................................................................16
References...........................................................................................................................................17

Introduction
Gazillionaire is a simulation flash game related to business which has won several awards. In this
game, the user buys at low rates and sells at high rates the made up products ( De Smale, 2015 ). The
user can run his own trading company, can work in a business environment with various
competitors. The game involves the development of a business strategy ( De Wildt, 2014 ). The
game designer asks what a person needs for his money. The game supports extra terrestrial
transactions ( Tragazikis, 2012 ). The game is quirky, friendly and runs smoothly. The game can
become an addiction as several planets are visited in the game. The game gives a very strong
experience educationally and helps one to develop the entrepreneur skills ( Proner, 2017 ). The
game is very adventurous with many graphics and online help sections and tutorials. To be
successful, some skills are needed and sometimes guess work needs to be done to beat the
competitors. It is a smart, challenging and whacky game ( Luna, 2013 ). The strategy is not ruined by
the marketing teams. The game does not have a lot of flash. In order to win in the game of
Gazillionaire, the alien commodities are bought and sold and decisions are taken based on several
factors like – demand and supply curve, monopoly, exploring, random events and the strong
competition ( Linneman, 2018 ). The game is sound financially and works on the principles of
demand and supply. The game based on business strategy was developed in the 1990s, where the
user acts as an entrepreneur, starts a small trading company and builds a business empire
( Łatuszyńska, 2016 ). The goal is to buy at low prices and sell at higher prices. There is a trading
competition between the various players. There are interesting items available for trading, the
graphics are strange and the names are bizarre ( Kim, 2018 ). By the help of this game, a person can
become a better strategic business thinker by doing the business and analysing the profit potential
and the risks. An active as well as dynamic strategic mindset is developed, the recognition and
capitalization of on demand – driven opportunities is carried out, the problem solving skills are
enhanced and the skills of looking forward and reasoning back are developed ( Karapetjan, 2015 ).

The recommendation is based on the strategies used for the maximization of the profits. The game
chosen here is a business simulation game – Gazillionaire. Here, the role chosen is of a space
shipping company’s leader. The strategic situation needs to be analysed and decisions must be made
to have an effect on the business. A user can play 20 turns in the free version.
Central Section - Details of the game
The aim of the game is becoming the richest business owner in the galaxy. It is a turn based game.
Each player gets a turn every week. The beginner level is chosen. There are 6 companies which
compete with the human players selected. Different planets can be selected like Vexx. The various
competitors are – Gizzy shipping ( freewheeling and chaotic ), Trading Corp. IV ( by the Book and
Neutral ), Vandergriff Ltd. ( Cautious Old guard ), Puffer Inc. ( Naïve Start – up ), Roke Transport ( Risk
Taker and Innovative ) and Hoff Meister ( Ruthless and Aggressive ). A spaceship can be chosen for
purchasing. An example is – The Globulizer ( which costs 120,000 kubars, has a light weight and is
fast , 7 – kuarp turbocharged engine is present and need 4 crew members for its operation, has 30 –
ton fuel tank and seating capacity for 7 passengers but 80 – ton cargo bay is a drawback ). Another
example is WormShuttle ( 12 crew members for operation , cargo bay small – 75 ton ) , Stinger XII
( fuel tank small – 20 tons ). We choose Kegger which has a cost of 120,000 Kubars and is a transport
vessel which is big, has a carrying capacity of 150 tons cargo and 35 tons fuel. It needs 2 crew
members for operation and has 3 – Kuarp engine but it can carry only 1 passenger. A loan of 120,000
kubars can be taken from Mr. Zinn but an interest of 4 % per week is required.
The various stages of the game are shown in the Figure 1 to Figure 12.

Figure 1
The Figure 1 shows the various levels at which a user can play. The various levels are – Tutorial,
Novice, Beginner, Intermediate, Expert and Master. We choose beginner initially.

Figure 2
The Figure 2 shows the various planets to which the user can travel to buy and sell goods. Each
planet has a different weather and environment and different business scenarios.

Figure 3
There are 6 competitors which are shown in Figure 3.
Figure 4

The various spaceships available are shown in the Figure 4. Each spaceship has different properties
based on fuel capacity, crew members, load capacity , cost etc. A spaceship is chosen as per the
requirement.
Figure 5

Figure 6
Figure 7

Figure 8
Figure 9

Figure 10
Figure 11