Oligopoly

Oligopoly is a turn based strategy game for two to six players which is similar to the board game Monopoly. The object of the game is to build up your business empire and become the richest player while other players are forced to either declare bankruptcy or resign. The game world consists of 52 different countries, each of which contains one company. You begin the game with 100 million dollars, and need to travel around the world to buy companies.

Each turn begins in the board room, and then you will be randomly sent to one of the countries. If the company there hasn't been bought yet, you have the option to purchase it, but if another player already owns it you will have pay them a profit for landing there. In addition to landing on a property, you also have other options on each turn: you can invest in companies you own (this increases their profits), borrow money, pay back money, sell companies, make deals with other players, or even resign if there is no hope of winning. Each turn is equivalent to roughly a months time.

Each of the companies available is part of a different industry (chemicals, manufacturing, electronics, and textiles). In addition to building plants, you may also increase your companies profits by building vertical monopolies. To obtain a vertical monopoly, you must own three companies, one in each area of a particular industry (for example, a vertical monopoly in the electronics industry requires that you own companies in copper mining, semiconductors, and computers). Their is also a fifth industry which is owned by the computer and cannot be bought by players: shipping. Since the companies owned are located in different countries, each player will need to pay shipping costs every quarter (every three turns). A players shipping costs are determined by the number of companies owned, their locations, and what industries they are a part of.

From time to time, a random event may occur on a players turn which can help or hinder progress. Natural disasters can destroy factories, workers may strike, you may have a chance to gamble at a casino, you may take a vacation (and lose a turn!), you may receive a grant from Washington D.C., or you may become ill are some of the events that can occur.