Widgetworks
Five years. Zero dollars. One factory to build.
Market outlook
Forecast demand for the coming year. Actual demand varies.
Bank
Borrow to fund machines. 5% interest is charged on the outstanding balance at the end of every year. Credit limit $150,000.
Machine shop
Every product needs both stages: widgets are pressed, then assembled into finished goods. Presses run flat out — you pay materials for every widget pressed. Assembling costs an extra 15% of the unit's material cost. Basic machines are cheaper but locked to one product forever; Flex machines can be retooled between years for $1,000. Each machine costs $300/year to operate. Machines bought now run this year.
Your factory
No machines yet. Borrow from the bank and buy your first machines to start producing.
When you're happy with the factory and the books, run the year to simulate demand and sales.
Annual reports
Reports appear here after each year.
How to win
- The game lasts 5 years (one turn = one year).
- You start with $0 — take a loan at 5% interest to buy machines.
- Each product needs widget capacity and assembly capacity. Presses always run at full capacity and you pay materials for every widget pressed; assembly then adds 15% of the material cost per unit assembled.
- Widgets that can't be assembled this year carry over (their materials are already paid), and finished goods that don't sell carry over too (materials + assembly paid) — but leftover stock has no scrap value at the end of the game.
- Demand you can't supply is a lost sale and drags your star rating down.
- Stars per product: >50% lost = ★, 20–50% = ★★, 10–20% = ★★★, 2–10% = ★★★★, <2% = ★★★★★, weighted across all products by demand.
- Rumour has it a big new product may land partway through the game…
- Win: after year 5, net worth above $0 and overall satisfaction above 4 stars.