Gold Mine

Gold Mine is a business strategy game in which you take the part of the owner of a mining company. It is your job to see that the company prospers as well as possible. During the course of the game you are constantly presented with a series of choices - and it's on your ability to make sensible and imaginative decisions that the company fortunes depend.

What The Game Involves

At the start of the game, you have two assets - the mining company and $2 million in cash. It is your job to invest this wisely in the exploration for the precious metal. The object of the game is to make as much money as possible within 30 turns. You can either play alone, or against an opponent who takes control of a rival concern.

At each turn you are presented with a number of choices. Before you can start mining, you must find a suitable site, so you need to invest in a prospector's report. This will assess your chances of finding gold, its likely depth and the expected amount. It is your job to decide whether the mine is worth exploiting.

Mining is expensive, so you may decide to invest in research and development of new equipment that will lower your costs. Or it may be better to go straight into digging - only you can decide.

If you do start excavations, a graphic display will show you the progress of the mine. If no gold is found, you can elect to continue to dig, or to abandon the mine and start a new working.

During the course of the game two other factors will come into play. When you have found gold, you can store it in your own strongroom, or sell it on the bullion market. It can make sense to keep it, for if you do not need ready cash, it is sensible to keep the gold until the exchange rate is favourable - and the exchange rate fluctuates throughout the game. But be careful, because there are gold robbers about, and the more you have in store, the more tempting the prize.

Originally published in Input #27, page 830