What Are The Best FREE Online Business Simulation Games

In getting ready to post about JMOG (Johnny Money Online Game), I researched several other games to see if Johnny Money was really that great.  It was developed by the NFIB’s Young Entrepreneur Foundation and Wharton – but, I still wanted to look into it. Apparently, it actually is “all that.” It is free, online, credible and you don’ t have to download anything to your computer.

Here is the Johnny Money Site

Here is the Johnny Money Facebook Group

Earlier post announcing the game’s release (including You Tube demo)

As social media and technology continue to enter/infiltrate our lives, it is increasingly important that we are aware of the technology tools available to us.  Here are some links to other games I found categorized as “Boring/Make Me Slightly Nervous” and “Credible But Not Free.” Feel free to check them out for yourself.

Boring/Make Me Slightly Nervous.

http://www.informatist.net/ - This site incorrectly claims to be the only free online business simulation game, which is not a great start.  There is a place to enter your paypal account for a competition which is a HUGE RED FLAG. This does not seem to be in the spirit of education, but has another site MiniEconomy which is targeted to UK schools.

Tycoon Games – There are a number of games here ranging from running a lemonade stand, to a daycare center, to a chocolate factory. They seem suited to a very very young child, however, to teach basic concepts using a video game format.  You can download a free trial, then pay for a full version. They seem rather arcade game in nature.

Truveo - While the video presentation here looks decent enough, the “super happy shopper” intro and “download free trial” make me nervous.

I also found http://www.bushtarion.com/ and  http://www.RichMangame.com which looked promising until I saw reviewer  SamanthaShaw deemed them “boring.”

Credible, But Not Free.

Capitalism and Capitalism II appear to be legitimate, and have been reviewed by Business Week, but are not free. The game also needs to be downloaded.

Hollywood Mogul. On the site it states “In the 20th Anniversary Issue of Computer Gaming World magazine the original version of Hollywood Mogul was listed among the three greatest strategy games of all time.” The game seems interesting, but needs to be downloaded and only the trial is free.

Gazillionaire Deluxe. This game was a finalist in the Ziff-Davis Shareware of the Year Awards and rated one of the top 5 of all strategy games (by what entity, I am not sure). Again, you must download this and it is not free.

Capsim – This company is apparently the largest provider of business simulation games, but, it is clearly not free.

Please feel free to post comments on any games you’ve had experiences with. Specifically, we are looking for:

1. Credible,

2. Free,

3. FULL GAME available to play online (you don’t have to download it).