Free Market Video Games

Here is a list of computer games (and console games and downloads as well) that promote business principles in a fun way. They teach largely free market principles in that the goals are creation or accumulation of products, services, goods, or lands and selling them at a profit. These are all child-friendly business-educational games.

Theme Hospital


Theme Hospital is just a fun, wacky game where the goal is to run a hospital and meet certain objectives before moving on to bigger hospitals. You build your hospital with many kinds of different rooms and machinery. You hire doctors, nurses, receptionists, and handymen to manage your hospital and diagnose and cure diseases. You must make sure that your design is patient-friendly and able to handle emergencies as you decide which items and machines to place in rooms, regulate prices, train doctors, and control research. Cure imaginary fun diseases such as Bloated Head, Invisibility, Slack Tongue, Uncommon Cold, Heaped Piles, etc.

This is good for a child but also very fun for adults who enjoy micromanagement. You can control the price of your operations and there are competing hospitals. The objectives are based mostly on performance and not necessarily receiving a % of market share. This becomes a challenging game as you progress.

Capitalism 2



This is probably the most realistic business building game I've played so far. Make billions of dollars as you create factories, farms, stores, mining and lumber yards, advertising buildings, and apartment investment properties. There are over 60 products to create, from bread to automobiles. You can control the whole distribution process, or you can grow, mine, and sell your raw materials to your competitors. Each product sells differently based on quality, price, and brand (quality is more important when producing wine, brand is more important when selling cola). There is also a live stock market to invest money as well.

This is a great game but less for its graphics and navigation, and more for its options. You can control as much or as little of a products manufacturing, marketing, and distribution as you want. You toggle between a few different cities in the world and can place your businesses wherever you'd like in the city. Tutorial walks you through how to play and there's different difficulty settings as well. Great all around game, especially for young adults and adults. The closest to a real free market game that I've played.

Monopoly 3

This is exactly like the classic board game Monopoly, but with many rule change options and different map themes which are Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York City, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, Washington D.C., and of course the Classic Monopoly board. You can also choose your computer's negotiating skill levels, First Time Buyer, Entrepreneur, or Tycoon.

Monopoly of course is not a true free market game, as you're forced to pay rent to others based on pure chance, but this game has taught the very basics of rental properties to millions of people. There is a good deal of luck involved but still some skill when negotiating deals. Perfect for kids or for anyone who loves Monopoly but doesn't have multiple players to spend hours at one time (of course the Save Game function solves the time issue). Not the best of business-minded games, but a classic.

Roller Coaster Tycoon



Roller Coaster Tycoon is another very fun game where you design your own theme park. Choose from thrill rides, mild rides, water rides, food vendors, and souvenir stands. The roller coasters are of course the most fun to build but remember to design safely (you can kill your customers!) and economically, as sections of track cost money. It costs money to hire employees (handymen, security, and entertainers), build rides, build kiosks and bathrooms, change the terrain, destroy buildings, and build queuing areas for the rides. You will also invest in future rides and technologies and basic marketing efforts. You can charge people per ride, an admission to the whole park, or both. The more fun your rides, the more you can charge. Game objectives are based on attendance and profit.

Roller Coaster Tycoon is great for kids and also adults. Designing roller coasters and amusement parks is a fun way to learn basic principles of making money, and even if you already have the basics down, it's still fun to emulate Walt Disney for a few hours.

Note: I have not yet played Roller Coaster Tycoon 2 but the reviews of it are very good, so I added a link to the RCT 2 Triple Pack above because there looks like more theme park options. Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 does not have very good ratings, though, so I'd probably just stick with part 1 or 2.