Electronic Management Game

electronic management game, electronic game genre in which players run a business or an enterprise.

Unlike most electronic games, management games did not get their start in the arcades. With its characteristic requirement for slow meticulous planning, the genre first appeared for early home computers. One of the earliest examples was M.U.L.E. (1983), an addictive multiplayer game of exploration and trading developed by Ozark Softscape and released by Electronic Arts for the Atari 800 and Commodore 64 home computers. In Maxis Software’s SimCity (1989), the player handles the founding and growth of a city by laying out roads and utilities, setting up residential, commercial, and industrial zones, and building various civic improvements. Another example is Sid Meier’s Railroad Tycoon (1990), in which the player lays track, builds stations, purchases train engines and cars, devises passenger and cargo routes, and competes with computer-controlled train lines both directly and through a stock market. Numerous sequels of the latter two games have been produced for PCs and home video consoles, but the magic of M.U.L.E. has eluded attempts at replication. Other early games in this genre for video consoles, such as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) and the Sega Genesis, include Koei Company, Limited’s Aerobiz (1992) and Electronic Arts’ Theme Park (1994). Another popular title was Hasbro Interactive’s RollerCoaster Tycoon (1999) for PCs and the Microsoft Corporation’s Xbox console. Peter Molyneux’s The Movies (2005) gave Hollywood the tycoon treatment with a graphically rich simulation that allowed players to control every aspect of the moviemaking process.