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Industries for an Atlas Shrugged game

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Mon, 03/28/2011 - 21:10
sir_schwick
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Joined: 03/12/2011

For those of you who have not read Atlas Shrugged, I will quickly summarize. For those of you who are reading it
Spoiler Alert

It follows a fictional US in the 1940s(I think no WWII) which is last bastion of free enterprise. Most of the rest of the world has turned into Soviet-esque socialist states. The story follows the "movers", the people motivated by greed and the desire to be masters of their creation in excellence, has they start to disappear. As centralized socialist economic policies start advancing in severity, the economy begins to suffer as more productive leaders disappear.

So the game you ask?
Everyone plays as one of the industrialists at the start of this process. There will be some kind of abstract economic system involving heavy industries splayed across the US. Each turn players will score for getting richer. They will also be forced to take actions that will ultimately degrade the strength of the economy. When a player sets it up correctly(or is forced into it), they will disappear to Atlantis where they score points, but on an increasing scale that is small at first but eventually competitive.

What I am curious about at this moment is the heavy industries to make up the main economy. Here are my initial ideas, but further ones are welcome:
Railroads
Copper
Coal
Oil
Vehicles
Machine Tools

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Mon, 03/28/2011 - 21:56
#1
Traz
Traz's picture
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Joined: 04/06/2009
yo!

Dude - here's a gnarly list I came across. Hope it helps! [don't forget steel]

Basic Materials
As the name suggests, the basic materials sector is composed of companies that provide commodities and raw materials for business. This includes metals, from aluminum and copper to gold and silver, as well as oil, natural gas, chemicals, synthetics and more.

Conglomerates
Conglomerates are diversified companies that transcend traditional sector comparisons. Because they don't neatly fall into any individual category, they are grouped separately.

Consumer Staples
Consumer staples are retail products that are more or less essential for modern life. These include food, clothing, beverages and hygiene products. While companies in this sector do not typically grow quickly, they are often believed to be the best positioned in economic recession because consumers do not significantly reduce their purchases of staple products.

Financial
The financial sector is made up of investment and commercial banks as well as real estate trusts and credit card services companies. From regional banks to money center banks, companies that function in the financial sector are grouped together in this category of stocks.

Healthcare
The healthcare sector is very diverse. It includes medical service providers as well as insurance companies, equipment manufacturers and biotech companies. Within the healthcare sector you will find stocks of companies that own and run hospitals or long-term care facilities, as well as the companies that produce and deliver the drugs, equipment and products used in those facilities.

Industrial Goods
The industrial goods sector is where you'll find the stocks of heavy industry. Everything from cement to lumber, waste management to equipment manufacturing is included here. If it involves a factory or a hardhat, chances are it's in this sector.

Services
The services sector is one of the broadest of all. Most companies whose profits depend on providing a service rather than making a product are grouped into the services sector. This includes providers of cable TV and Internet, as well as trucking, airlines, publishing and auto repair.

Technology
The tech sector is one of the most exciting. This is where you'll find the stocks of household names like Microsoft, Apple and Google. It's also where you'll find stocks of companies that supply these bigger name stocks or produce hardware used in communications technology in general.

Utilities
Gas, water and electricity companies are heavily regulated, but are for-profit corporations nonetheless. Because profits are usually capped by state or federal regulations, growth in the utility sector is often muted, but predictable.

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Wed, 04/06/2011 - 18:27
#2
heavydisking
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Joined: 01/06/2011
I really like this idea for a

I really like this idea for a game! Atlas Shrugged was a tremendous book that had a huge impact on my worldview as a teenager. Great idea :)

I think the industries cited in the book work just fine. You don't really need too many, basically = max # players. Looks like you have many of those listed already.

Have you thought of any mechanics for this game yet? Any representation of forced nationalization, etc? Figuring out some way to mechanically tell the story of Steel > Reardon Metal > Miracle Metal (i think that's what it was called) would be really cool. There could be different ways to deal with this based on the way you choose to approach the game.

Have you given any thought to someone representing John Galt? Or perhaps even Toohey or any of the other leeches (i forget Rand's word for them)? There's a lot of fun possibilities here.

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Thu, 04/07/2011 - 14:12
#3
sir_schwick
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Joined: 03/12/2011
Nationalization and John Galt

I want enough of an industrial variety that certain things happen:

1) A simple production chain exists so that disruptions to this chain are felt.
2) Enough industries that players can vertically and horizontally integrate.

The Nationalization Narrative will not be as strict as in the book. However there will be a system in place that reflects how the world was dropped.

Along with resources to buy the initial industries/links, each player will have a hand of cards. These cards represent the "good" people who are not the players. You place down all your effective people in conjunction with your industries/links. Their presence provides bonuses of some kind(scientists for rearden steel, operators for carrying load, etc.).

After that everyone gets another hand of similair cards. Each turn every player can play one card of similar type to make a "mover" disappear from the game board. Also each turn players have to invest "doom chips" on one or more of the nationalization tracks. These are in order of severity:

Anti-dog-eat-dog - Each industry would have a track. Once it reaches a certain level, then whoever built in a particular spot for that industry first gets to stay. Also you can no longer try to compete in any area with that industry that is already occupied.

Fair Competition Act - Once two ADEDs are enacted, investment can begin. This act keeps any player from being invested in more than one type of industry. All current assessts outside this must be sold to other players, or to "movers" in their employ for free(you move the card).

Economic Freeze - Once the FCA is declared, investment can begin. This act blocks any expansion.

Nationalization - Once the FCA is declared, investment can begin. This is industry specific, once nationalized all "movers" in the industry disappear and no changes can be made(besides forced changes).

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