Copyright: Copyright © 2AM Inc.


Balance Sheet

The Balance Sheet shows the costs, revenues and profit situation of a particular project for the previous month.

Details

In some balance sheet areas, there is a details button that allows access to a spreadsheet of detailed data on that project's operations for the previous month.


Billboard Display

You can view a billboard display of information on the map itself. This can show you, at a glance, relative property prices, rent/goods prices, happiness, population, for sale, ownership, etc.

How to View the Billboard Displays

How to View Display of Ownership


Central Control Area

In this area you can access many detailed aspects of the game.

Messages/No Messages

The message button allows you to access any messages that have arrived since you last played. See also How to Send Messages

Borough

The Borough icon allows you to access information about the Local Council in which the cursor has currently selected a tile. See Local Council Information

Owner

The Owner icon allows you to access information about the owner of the property which is currently selected. See Owner Information.

Property

The Property icon allows you to access information about the Property which is currently selected. See Property Information.

Hi Scores

The Hi-Scores button allows you to view how well all the players are doing.

Stock Mkt

The Stock Market button allows you to talk to other players, transfer money to them, set up billboards to easily identify their properties, and view, sell and buy company shares.

Shut Down

The Shut Down button shuts down the Project (Property) that is currently selected.


Chairman of Political Party

Important Note!! See Zoning Costs before starting out as Chairman of a Political Party.

As head of a local city council, you make your money from the taxes you levy. But if you overtax, you’ll be voted out of that borough in the periodic elections. The more boroughs your party controls, the more money you can make. You can build public services to make residents happy, but they make no money and have to be kept up. Your controls are limited. You get blamed for everything, from the high cost of housing, to high consumer prices, to the lack of public services. As for the other entrepreneurs, it is your job to make sure they do not exploit the local residents. You make the zoning rules, excluding the offenders from expanding, and levying punitive taxes. But you might also be quietly bribed. Don’t let the voters know.

You may not always have a Council to run, in which case you must invest in publicity campaigns in any of the Boroughs prior to elections. you may have to lobby for funds from some of the wealthier businesses to support your publicity campaigns. You may have to make them certain 'election promises'.

If you DO get elected:

zone and sell land for the development of your Borough

set taxes for Manufacturers and Property Dealers.

You must try to make sure that greedy businesses in your Borough do not make the population unhappy by using punitive taxes and selective zoning and selling of land to discourage them.

You can also deal in shares, playing with prices, buying and selling. Initially, you do not have your own shares to sell.

How to Play as the Chairman of a Political Party


Commercial Projects
Commercial Projects (stalls, shops and malls) are variable sized units that Commercial Retailers can build on areas zoned C (commerce). These projects buy the Consumer Good from the Industrialists and sell it to the local population.


Commercial Property Information

This display gives the basic information for a Commercial Property

View Balance Sheet

Click on this button to see details about the Property's financial transactions, income, outlay and profit. See Balance Sheet.

View Supplies

Click on this button to see details about a Commercial Property's supplies, suppliers, and supply costs.

Business

The business area shows the retail price being changed, the maximum sales ceiling (how much goods are on order every month) and the actual sales. The owner can adjust these values.

See:

How to Set the Quantity of Good that You Buy and Sell

How to Set the Retail Price

Property

The property area deals with the sale of this particular property.

See How to Sell Property.

Investment

Not implemented.


Commercial Retailer

As a commercial retailer, build shops and set the retail price of your consumer goods, but that will depend upon how much you paid for them, and on how wealthy the locals are. Shoppers tend to be loyal, and also shop where it is convenient. Here too you can compete with other retailers, or form a cartel. A monopoly would be best, at least locally, then you wouldn’t have to worry about competition. But those unhappy locals will blame the city council (don’t they always?). And the city council will come after you, with punitive taxes, and denying you more land. Problems...

You will be:

choosing from whom to buy your supply of the Consumer Good (a local industry or Overseas),

deciding on the quantity of the Consumer Good you want to buy and make available,

setting the retail price of the Consumer Good,

deciding when to develop the project.

You may have to negotiate these things with other players, to get a good wholesale price, to avoid a retail price war, etc.

You can also deal in shares, playing with prices, buying and selling.

How to Play as Commercial Retailer


Consumer Good

The economy of the game works around the manufacture, sale and consumption of a generic Consumer Good. Factories produce it and sell it to shops. Shops sell it to the local population. Or it can be imported from overseas.


Contents
Introduction

New Features!!

Dealing in Shares

Property Efficiency

Land Tax

Education Level

What You Do in "The Invisible Hand"

Decide on the kind of business (manufacturing, retail, property) you want to set up, or maybe you want to head a political party.

Negotiate deals with other players.

Make choices about sale prices, purchases, sales, salaries, taxes and more! Try to undercut rivals, or get better workers from them!

New Feature!! Deal in the stock market. Sell shares in your company and gain ready cash, or buy shares in other players' companies and share in their profits.

Make political alliances. Parties can band together with businesses or business sectors and try to outdo their rivals by getting greater financial support.

Businesses can buy favors from politicians, guaranteeing preferential treatment in the establishment of new projects, and screwing their rivals.

Everyone must note carefully how happy the population is. An unhappy population will vote out of office parties that have made their lives misery.

Find out why there are no friendships in business!!

Getting Started

To start playing The Invisible Hand:

1.	Click on the Join Game button the in the Tool bar

2.	In the next dialog box, select the role you would like to play. Choose between:

Manufacturing Industrialist

Commercial Retailer

Residential Property Dealer

Chairman of Political Party

Select the name of your organization (company or political party) and your email address.

You can only choose one role!

You are in!

Now find out

How to Read the Display.

Playing the Game

How to Succeed


Control Bar

The area at the top of the screen is the Control Bar.

It is divided into five areas:

Central Control Area

Identification Area

Personal Info Area

Property Control Area

News and General Info Area


Dealing in Shares

All players, no matter what roles they play, can deal in the shares of other companies and can make ready cash by selling shares of their own company. (A Chairman of a Political Party does not originally have a company and therefore has no shares to sell until he buys shares.)

Every month, each player will receive a proportion of the profits made by all companies in which he owns shares. If he owns ten percent of a company's shares, he will take ten percent of that company's profits, and so on.

How to View Share Ownership and Prices

How to Sell Shares

How to Buy Shares

Seizing Control of a Company


Development Notes

If you are developing property from level 0 to level 1, ensure that you develop the closest tile only of any block, if you want that property to expand into the block.

For example, say you have bought four tiles of Light Industry in 2x2 configuration, and you are planning to build a workshop that will cover all four tiles. You must develop only the closest tile. As the property develops the other tiles will be filled by it.


Dezoning
De-zoning

You may de-zone a tile that you have not yet sold. This removes the zoning from that tile.

To De-zone

1.	Click on the tile you want to de-zone.

2.	Click on the "De-zone" button in the Tool bar.


Education Level

New Features!!

The smaller the town, the less people there are available to work, the less often a person of high educational level will arrive in town. If you start a business in a sparsely-populated Borough you would be well-advised to keep the initial education level low, so as to get workers into your factory. The greater the population in a project's immediate vicinity, the more likely you will net workers with a higher education level.

Additionally, workers with education level above 5 will only live in Quality Residential properties. Make sure that the Head of the Local Council has zoned such tiles, and that the Residential Property Dealers are developing them.


Factories
Factories are large production units that Manufacturing Industrialists can build on areas zoned H (heavy industry). People work in them and goods produced can be bought from them.


Getting information on existing properties

To find out about any property on the view:

1.	Click on the property that interests you. Already you will see information appear in the Property Control Area at the top right. If you own the property, you will be able to perform basic actions

2.	Click on a button in the tool bar:

"Property" gives details about that particular property - how well it is doing, if it is for sale, its price, etc.

"Owner" gives details about the company or organization that owns the property - how much money they have, what their transactions have been, etc.

"Borough" gives information about the activities of the Local Council, the state of affairs in the Borough and the City as a whole, and the Political Situation.

If you are the owner of a property, selecting "Property" allows you to perform actions at that property.

See also

Billboard Display


How To Set the Salary You Pay Your Workers

The more you pay your workers, the more quickly your factory will be producing at full capacity, and the less likely your workers will abandon you to a rival.

To Set the Salary

1.	Click on the property

2.	Click on the "Property" button in the Tool bar. The "View of.." dialog box appears.

3.	Click on "View Production Statistics". The Production Statistics dialog box appears.

4.	Click on the "Adjust" button by "Salary". A dialog box appears.

5.	Enter the new salary in the dialog box and click OK.


How to Adjust the Number of Workers

When you increase the development level of an Industrial property (see Developing a Property), the number of jobs available is always set to the new maximum for that level.

However, there may be times when you want to reduce the number of workers and then perhaps increase the number at a later time.

To Adjust the Number of Workers

1.	Click on the property

2.	Click on the "Property" button in the Tool bar. The "View of.." dialog box appears.

3.	Click on "View Production Statistics". The Production Statistics dialog box appears.

4.	Click on the "Adjust" button by "Number of Jobs Available". A dialog box appears.

5.	Enter the new number of workers in the dialog box and click OK.

Another way of adjusting the number of workers in your factory is by Setting the Minimum Educational Level.


How to Buy Goods from a Local Industry

Each Commercial project you have must buy goods from some source in order to sell them. By default, each project will buy from overseas. But you will probably find that players who are playing Manufacturing Industrialists will offer more attractive prices.

To Buy Goods from a Local Factory

There are two ways to buy goods from a factory

A. Via the Control Bar

1.	Click on the commercial property to which you want the goods supplied.

2.	Click on the Buy Goods button in the Control Bar. A list of factories appears.

3.	Either click on one of the factories form the list or click on the "Choose a factory from the map" button then click on a factory on the map with the cross-hair cursor.

B. Via the Property Information Display

1.	Click on the Factory from where you want to buy the goods

2.	Click on the "Property" Button in the Tool bar. The "View of.." dialog box appears

3.	If the factory has supply available, you will see a "Buy Goods" button on the dialog box. Click it. The cursor changes to a cross hair.

4.	Take the cross hair and click it on your Commercial project to where you want the goods supplied.

Note: You must have a Max Sales greater than zero for any goods to be delivered. See How to Set the Quantity of Goods you Buy and Sell


How to Buy Property

To buy property

1.	Click on the property.

2.	Click on the Buy button that appears in the Control Bar.

If there is no Buy button you cannot buy the property. The Control Bar tell you why.

New Feature!!

See:

Land Tax


How to Buy Shares

There are two ways you can buy shares.

1.	If a player has offered to sell shares you will see the offer listed in the Stock Market Dialog Box. You can then respond to the offer by accepting it, thus buying directly at the sale price.

2.	You can at all times offer to buy shares (Bid), whether or not a seller has offered to sell them (if he has offered to sell them you can offer to buy them at a different price!). Players viewing the Stock Market will see your offer and could then sell at the price you have offered.

To Buy Shares that are on Offer

1.	Click on the Stock Mkt button in the Control Area. The Stock Market Dialog Box appears.

2.	In the Stock Market Dialog Box, click on the line of the company from whom you wish to buy. Ensure that company has shares on offer. The company will be highlighted.

3. 	Click on the Buy button. The Offer to Sell Shares Dialog Box appears. This dialog box lists all the offers put in by players who want to sell shares.

4.	Click on the offer you would like to accept to highlight it. Then click on the Sell Shares button. The sale will be made.

To Offer to Buy Shares (Bid)

1.	Click on the Stock Mkt button in the Control Area. The Stock Market Dialog Box appears.

2.	Click on on the line of the company from whom you wish to buy.

3. 	Click on the Offer to Buy button. You will be asked to enter how many shares you want to buy, and at what price.

4.	Enter these values and your offer (Bid) will be listed in the Offer to Sell Dialog Box, for players looking to sell shares.


How to Demolish a Project

You might have a project that is losing you money and that you cannot sell. You can demolish it simply.

To Demolish a Project

1.	Click on the property you want to demolish.

2.	Click on the "Shut Down" button in the Control Bar.


How to Develop Property

By developing property you will improve its money-making capability for you.

To develop property you must first ensure that you have sufficient land in which it can expand.

New Feature! It gets progressively much more expensive to go from one level to the next. Plan your growth with care.

See:

Development Notes - Important!!

Project Efficiency

Zoning Notes

To Develop Property

There are two ways to develop property.

A. Via the Control Bar

1.	Click on the property.

2.	Click on the Build or Improve button that appears.

If you cannot build or improve, the Control Bar tells you why.

B. Via the Property Information Display

1.	Click on the Property

2.	Click on the "Property" button in the Tool bar. The "View of.." dialog box appears.

3.	Click on the "Level" button at the top of the dialog box. The Levels dialog box appears.

4.	Click "Adjust" to raise the property to the new level.


How to Donate Money to Another Player

You may want to help out a business partner in time of need, or make a political contribution to a party.

To Donate Money to Another Player

There are two ways to donate money to another player.

A. Via the Stock Market List

1.	Click on the Stock Mkt button in the Control Bar.

2.	Click on the player to whom you want to donate money.

3.	Click on the "Transfer $" button.

4.	Enter the amount of money you wish to donate and click OK.

B. Via the Property Information Display

1.	Click on any property owned by that player.

2.	Click on the "Owner" button on the Tool bar. The "Owner" dialog box appears.

3.	Click on the "Transfer $" button. A dialog box appears.

4.	Enter the amount of money you wish to donate and click OK.


How to File Chapter 11

At any time you may despair of your failing business attempts and may want to close down your company, vacating its land and ending its operations, thereby allowing to start again with a new enterprise.

To File Chapter 11

1.	Click on the "File Chapter 11.." button on the Tool bar.

2.	Read the warning then, if you are sure that is what you want to do, click OK.


How to Invest in Election Campaigns

Any Political Party Chairman can invest in an Election Campaign in any Borough on the Display. The more you invest, the greater the likelihood of you winning that Borough in the next local election.

To Invest in an Election Campaign

1.	Click on the Town Hall of the Borough where you want to campaign

2.	Click on the "Property" button in the Tool bar. The "View of.." dialog box appears.

3.	Click on "Political Situation". The Political Situation dialog box appears.

4.	Click on the "Adjust" button by "Publicity Campaign". A dialog box appears.

5.	Enter the new Amount Invested in the Publicity Campaign in the dialog box and click OK.


How to Play as Chairman of a Political Party

As Chairman of a Political Party you really act in two separate but related roles.

On the one hand you are the Chairman of the Party. You must do whatever you can to ensure your party's success in the biannual local elections and gain control of as many boroughs as possible.

You do this by Investing in Election Campaigns.

On the other hand you start as the Head of a Local Council. Hopefully you will remain so for more than your first term. As such you must ensure that you have a thriving Borough full of growing businesses and, to ensure reelection, a happy population.

This you do by Zoning Land, selling zoned properties, and setting taxes.

You can also deal in shares of other players, although you do not own a company so you initially have no shares to sell.

Important Note!! See Zoning Costs.


How to Play as Commercial Retailer

As Commercial Retailer you have to build stalls that will develop into shops and then malls, and each of these must purchase the Consumer Good from one of the local factories or workshops, then sell the goods they produce at a price that will cover your costs.

You must make sure the supply you order is keeping pace with the demand, but not overly exceeding it.

Besides buying property, and developing property, you need to do the following things:

Buy Goods from a Local Industry

Set the Quantity of Goods you Buy and Sell

Set the Consumer Price

Deal in Shares


How to Play as Manufacturing Industrialist

As Manufacturing Industrialist you have to build workshops and factories, hire workers and pay them, then sell the goods they produce at a price that will cover your costs.

Besides buying property, and developing property, you need to do the following things:

Adjust the Number of Workers

Set the Salary You Pay Your Workers

Set the Minimum Education Level of Your Workers

Set the Wholesale Price of Goods

Deal in Shares


How to Play as Residential Property Dealer

As Residential Property Dealer you have to build houses and apartments and try to get them filled with tenants - people who are working in the factories.

In order to do so you must make sure that there is enough space and that you are offering an attractive rent

Besides buying property, and developing property, you need to Set the Rent Price.

You can also deal in shares.


How to Read the Display

The Display consists of an aerial view of the city and a Control Bar.

The city is divided into four Boroughs. Each Borough has at its center the Town Hall [image].

The entire view is divided into several hundred tiles, which the Head of the Local Council may Zone and other players may then buy and develop.

The Control Bar has buttons which allow players to access information about properties and other players, and allow various actions to be performed.

See also:

Getting information on existing properties

Zones and Zoning

The Control Bar


How to Sell Property

You can put any of your properties up for sale. Whether or not anyone comes along a buys it another matter. You must make the price attractive and there must be demand for your kind of property.

To Make Property for Sale

1.	Click on the property you want to sell

2.	Click on the "Property" button in the Tool bar. The Property dialog box appears.

3.	Find the For Sale line. Click "Adjust" to change the For Sale status.

To remove a property from sale just repeat this process.

To Change the Sale Price

1.	Click on the property you want to sell

2.	Click on the "Property" button in the Tool bar. The Property dialog box appears.

3.	Find the Sale Price line. Click "Adjust" to bring up the Sale Price Adjustment Window.

4.	Enter the new price and click OK.


How to Sell Shares

There are two ways you can sell shares that you own.

1.	If a player has put in an Offer for your shares (a bid) you will see the bid listed in the Stock Market Dialog Box. You can then respond to the bid by accepting it, thus selling directly to the bidder.

2.	You can at all times Offer to sell your shares, by deciding how many shares you would like to sell at what price. Other players viewing the Stock Market will see your offer and could then buy at the price you have set.

To Sell Shares to a Bidder

1.	Click on the Stock Mkt button in the Control Area. The Stock Market Dialog Box appears.

2.	Click on your own line in the Stock Market Dialog Box, ensuring that a Bid is registered under the Bid column. Your own company will be highlighted.

3. 	Click on the Sell Shares button. The Offer to Buy Shares Dialog Box appears. This dialog box lists all the offers put in by players to buy your shares.

4.	Click on the offer you would like to accept to highlight it. Then click on the Sell Shares button. The sale will be made.

To Offer to Sell Shares

1.	Click on the Stock Mkt button in the Control Area. The Stock Market Dialog Box appears.

2.	Click on your own line in the Stock Market Dialog Box. Your own company will be highlighted.

3. 	Click on the Offer to Sell button. You will be asked to enter how many shares, and at what price, you want to sell.

4.	Enter these values and your sale offer will be listed in the Offer to Sell Dialog Box, for players looking to buy shares.


How to Send Messages

In order to communicate with players who are not currently logged on (very important in the Slow Game) you must send messages. This way you can offer players deals, send them threats, try to persuade them and basically communicate with them to achieve your aims.

There are two modes of messages: messages alone, and messages that are accompanied by a map pointer showing the property being discussed.

To Send a Message

1.	Click on the Stock Mkt button the the Control Bar. The Stock Market Dialog Box appears.

2.	Select the Player you want to message by clicking on the name.

3.	Click on the Talk to... button. If the player is logged on you will be directed to the Chat. Otherwise you will be asked if you want to continue. Click "Yes" and the User Dialog Box appears.

4.	Type in your message and click OK.

Note You can also send a message to a player when you have selected that player's property and have called up the Owner display.

To Send a Message with a Map Reference

1.	Click on the Players button the the Control Bar. The Players Dialog Box appears.

2.	Select the Player you want to message by clicking on the name.

3.	Click on the Talk to & Show Map button. The User Dialog Box appears.

4.	Type in your message and click OK. The cursor changes to a small cross. Click on the property to which you are referring in your message. When the recipient receives the message it will be accompanied by a pointer to the selected property.


How to Set Taxes

Your income is based on the taxes you levy from the other businesses in your Borough. High taxes give you high income but such taxes may stunt growth and may well be dumped by the businesses onto the population, making them unhappy.

New Feature!! Taxes are now set on a Project-by-Project basis. You can therefore give tax relief to players who are your favorites, and levy punitive taxes from the businesses of players you dislike. The mean tax rate for all Projects in your Borough may never exceed 50%.

To Set Taxes

1.	Click on the Property  whose Taxes you want to set.

2.	Click on the "Property" button in the Tool bar. The "View of.." dialog box appears.

4.	Click on the "Adjust" button by the "Taxes" that you want to set. A dialog box appears.

5.	Enter the new Tax rate in the dialog box and click OK.


How to Set the Minimum Education Level of Your Workers

The higher the Minimum Education Level of the workers in you factory, the more efficiently the factory will produce. However, the factory will also grow to full capacity more slowly, as less of the incoming population will qualify for work in your factory.

To Set the Minimum Education Level

1.	Click on the property

2.	Click on the "Property" button in the Tool bar. The "View of.." dialog box appears.

3.	Click on "View Production Statistics". The Production Statistics dialog box appears.

4.	Click on the "Adjust" button by "Minimum Education Level". A dialog box appears.

5.	Enter the new Education Level in the dialog box and click OK.

Note: Raising the Minimum Education Level will almost certainly result in the firing of some workers, with subsequent loss of production in the short term until better qualified workers arrive at the factory.

See

Education Level.


How to Set the Quantity of Goods you Buy and Sell

It is important that you control the amount of goods you are stocking in your inventory. Stocking insufficient goods means that you are missing out on potential revenues. Stocking too much goods means you are ordering more than you can sell and this reduces your profit.

You do this by setting the Max Sales value for a Commercial project. The Maximum Sales represents the maximum amount of goods you buy, and therefore the maximum you have available to sell.

To Set the Max Sales

1.	Click on the property

2.	Click on the "Property" button in the Tool bar. The View of.. dialog box appears.

3.	Click on the "Adjust" button by "Max Sales". A dialog box appears.

4.	Enter the new Max Sales in the dialog box and click OK.


How to Set the Rent Price

You should make sure that you have an attractive Rent Price so that people will move into your properties and make you rich.

To Set the Rent Price

1.	Click on the property

2.	Click on the "Property" button in the Tool bar. The "View of.." dialog box appears.

3.	Click on the "Adjust" button by "Rent Price". A dialog box appears.

4.	Enter the new Rent Price in the dialog box and click OK.


How to Set the Retail Price

The higher the Retail Price the bigger profit you can make, but the more likely the local population will buy from cheaper rivals.

To Set the Retail Price

1.	Click on the property

2.	Click on the "Property" button in the Tool bar. The "View of.." dialog box appears.

3.	Click on the "Adjust" button by "Retail Price". A dialog box appears.

4.	Enter the new Retail Price in the dialog box and click OK.


How to Set the Wholesale Price of Goods

The purchasers of your goods are other players, the Commercial Retailers. To ensure that they buy off you, you must price your goods attractively.

All surplus not sold locally is exported but at very low profit (and possibly at a loss if your salaries are high).

To Set the Wholesale Price of Goods

1.	Click on the property

2.	Click on the "Property" button in the Tool bar. The "View of.." dialog box appears.

3.	Click on the "Adjust" button by "Wholesale Price". A dialog box appears.

4.	Enter the new Wholesale Price in the dialog box and click OK.


How to Succeed

Success at the beginning of a game depends upon your ability to build businesses that can survive and make a profit.

However, later in the game you will realize that you will need to enlist the support of a political party that will favor your company's efforts. Such a party, when in power, can be a powerful ally by selling property exclusively to you, not zoning for rivals, and zoning complementary businesses close to your own projects.

The price you will have to pay for such favors may be contributing money to that Party's election campaigns, and conducting business in line the party's view of the world.

As a party, you can elicit contributions by making election promises that will benefit your greatest contributors.

Thus business partnerships will spring up between the political and the business sectors.


How to View Share Ownership and Prices

By viewing Ownership and Prices of Shares, you can see which shares companies own, which they have for sale, and the prices of these shares.

To view Share Ownership and Prices, you will need to open the Stock Market Dialog Box.

To Open the Stock Market Dialog Box

Click on the Stock Mkt button in the Central Control Area.


How to View the Billboard Displays

To View the Billboard Displays

1.	Select the statistic that you want to view. You may only view one at a time. The billboards will appear.

2.	 Pressing a different statistic or pressing the cancel button cancels the previous statistic's display.

The for sale billboards are easy to read. The key for the other statistics is at the right hand side.

Special The ownership billboards can be set up to display the properties owned by any four players. See How to View the Ownership Display.


How to View the Ownership Display

You can see at a glance the properties owned by any four different players.

When you select the Ownership statistic from the Billboard Display billboards of four colors appear beside the properties owned by the fours designated players. You may want to change the players represented by these colored billboards.

To Assign a Colored Billboard to a Player

There are three ways of doing this:

A. Via the Billboard Display

1.	Click on the Ownership Statistic button. On the right you will see four different colored billboards with a Change button underneath.

2.	Click on the Change button of the color you want to assign. A list of players appears

3.	Click on the player you want to assign from that color.

B. Via the Stock Market List

1.	Click on the Stock Mkt button in the Control Bar.

2.	Click on the Player you want to assign

3.	Click on the colored billboard you want to assign to that player.

C. Via the Owner Information display

1.	Select a property by clicking on it.

2.	Click on the Owner button in the Control Area.

3.	Click on the Set Color button.

4.	Click on the colored billboard you want to assign to the owner of that property.


How to Zone (for Heads of Local Councils)

As Head of the Local Council, you are free to zone as you choose.

To zone a tile, click on the appropriate zone type in the Mayor Tool bar, then click on the tile on the map that you want to zone. As you move your mouse, the cost of zoning that tile appears at the bottom of the Mayor Toolbar.

You cannot zone a tile if you have insufficient funds.

Note that you can also zone for specific players, or for New Players only. Use the appropriate buttons in the Mayor's tool bar.

Important Note!! See Zoning Costs

See also:

Zoning Notes

De-zoning

Property Types


Identification Area

The Identification Area displays your role and the name of your organization.


Industrial Property Information

This display gives the basic information for a Commercial Property

View Balance Sheet

Click on this button to see details about the Property's financial transactions, income, outlay and profit. See Balance Sheet.

View Production Stats

Click on this button to see details about the workers, their education level and salary, and the quantity they produce each month.

See:

How to Adjust the Number of Workers

How to Set the Minimum Education Level of your Workers

How to Set the Salary of Your Workers

View Supplies

Click on this button to see details about a raw material supplies.

Business

The business area shows the wholesale price being changed, and the actual sales being made. The owner can adjust the price.

See:

How to Set the Wholesale Price of Goods.

Property

The property area deals with the sale of this particular property.

See How to Sell Property.

Investment

Not implemented.


Introduction to Entrepreneur
Introduction to The Invisible Hand

The Invisible Hand is a real-time, multi-player city development game in which players are the entrepreneurs trying to develop their businesses in a city.

This is a multi-player game. You play with other players who are also online trying to make their businesses succeed.

Sometimes success in business  goes to the player who can cooperate with other players: the manufacturer who can secure buyers for his products; the property dealer who can persuade manufacturers to expand and thus have more residents renting his property; etc.

And sometimes it goes to the player who is best at cut-throat competition.

There are four entrepreneurial classes for players to choose from:

Manufacturing Industrialist

Commercial Retailer

Residential Property Dealer

Chairman of Political Party


Land Tax

For each tile a player owns, he/she pays Land Tax. Land Tax increases almost exponentially in relation to the number of tiles a player has.

When you buy a tile, you will be told how much Land Tax you will be paying for that tile.

Land Tax does not go into the local economy, but is collected to the coffers of the (invisible) central government for public spending at a higher level than that of the city.


Local Council Information

The Local Council Display shows the financial position of the selected Local Council and the political situation in that Borough.

Political Situation

This button brings up a display showing the relative support for political parties who have invested in Election Campaigns in the upcoming election in this Borough. It enables Heads of Political Parties to commence/adjust their Election Campaigns.

See How to Invest in Election Campaigns.

Borough/City Information

This button brings up a display showing average values in various areas of interest for the Borough, and for the entire City.

Taxes

This area shows the taxes that are being levied on income from rent and income from manufacturer's profits in that Borough.

Balance Sheet

This area shows the financial activity of the Borough Council in the last month.


Local Elections

Every two years there are elections in all Boroughs which have a population of at least 10.

Any Political Party Chairman may compete in the elections of any Borough by Investing in an Election Campaign in that Borough.

If the population of a Borough is happy, they are likely to favor the incumbent. Otherwise they will favor an opposition party.

By investing more in a campaign in a Borough, both incumbent and opposition improve their chances of victory.

Should a party win the election in a borough that player now controls the zoning and taxation for that Borough.

Should a party lose elections in all boroughs it contested, it is not out of the game. It still exists in the Players List.  It can be given donations by other players and invest in publicity campaigns. Players can find out about it via the Players List. See Central Control Area.


Manufacturing Industrialist

As an industrialist, build workshops and factories and manufacture consumer goods. Decide on the price for those goods. Undercut your rival’s prices, and you can attract the retailers. But perhaps it might be better to form a cartel to keep prices high and make you ALL nice and rich. But what about those Johnny-come-latelies who ignore the cartel? And what about playing the different commercial retailers? Closer ones keep transport costs low, but they might like to put on a higher markup. You’ve got some thinking to do.

You will be:

creating jobs that workers might take,

deciding the minimum education level you want your workers to have,

setting their salary,

setting the wholesale price of your goods.

You may have to negotiate these things with other players to secure deals, to avoid competition over wages, etc.

You can also deal in shares, playing with prices, buying and selling.

How to Play as Manufacturing Industrialist


Mass Residential
Mass Residential estates are areas of apartments designed for a high population density.


News and General Info Area

The News and General Info Area keeps you in touch with what is going on in the city as a whole.

Economic information moves across the screen.

The buttons at the bottom allow you to view billboards giving a general view of different variables.

See Billboard Display


Owner Information

The Owner Information display shows information about the owner of the currently selected property.

Transfer $

Click on this button to transfer money to the owner of the selected property. See How to Transfer Money.

Set Color

Click on this button to select a color for this player in the Billboard Display.

More

Click on this button to see information on Loans (currently not implemented).

Send mail

Click on this button to send the owner a message.


Personal Info Area

The Personal Info Area shows the current date, the date of the next municipal Elections, how much money you currently have, and a button that allows you to File Chapter 11 - to close down your company entirely.


Playing the Game

How to Read the Display

How to Buy Property

How to Develop Property

How to Sell Property

How to Demolish a Project

How to Play as Manufacturing Industrialist

How to Play as Commercial Retailer

How to Play as Residential Property Dealer

How to Play as Chairman of a Political Party

How to Donate Money to Another Player

How to File Chapter 11

How to Send Messages to Other Players


Project Efficiency

As a project grows, it will produce more, naturally, due to the increased resources it uses. But it will produce with reduced efficiency, due to bureaucratic overhead. The law of diminishing returns applies here. Bear this in mind as you plan your growth.


Property Control Area

The Property Control Area changes according to which ever property is currently selected.

You are told the type, owner, and name of the property.

You are also told whether or not you can Buy the property, Build on it or Improve it, and if not, why not. The price of the activity is also given.

If you can act on the selected property, an appropriate button is displayed.


Property Information

The Property Information Display is different for the different types of properties.

Commercial Property Information

Residential Property Information

Industrial Property Information

Borough Council Information


Property Types

There are six types of Property in the game.

Mass Residential - large apartment blocks in which workers with an Education Level of  5 or less will live. These are cheaper to build, develop and maintain than quality residential, and should be the first type of residential property built in any area. See Education Level.

Quality Residential - smart houses where anyone would be happy to live. These buildings have less capacity than Mass Residential, but usually make for happier tenants.

Commercial - projects set up to buy the consumer good from the factory, and sell it to the population. The levels represent projects of varying size, from a small market stall at the lowest level, to a large mall at the highest level. These should be set up close to supplier factories and close to the customer population.

Light Industrial - small to medium sized factories/workshops. These produce the consumer good that is sold to the commercial projects, which in turn sell to the consumer population.

Heavy Industrial - Large factories. These can only be built by the largest Manufacturing businesses. They produce the greatest amount of goods.

Municipality - These buildings are fixtures in every Borough and cannot be built, developed, sold or demolished. They are the locus of information on that Borough.


Quality Residential
Quality Residential estates are areas of good housing with a low number of people per square yard of land.


Residential Property Dealer

As the residential property dealer, bump up the property prices, and pocket a bundle. But watch out! High prices will drive away residents and other investors, and will make the local city council unpopular. They might prefer to sell undeveloped real-estate to your rival. Now, you can’t let that happen, can you?

You will be:

setting the rent,

deciding when to develop the project.

You may have to negotiate these things with other players, as they may feel that too high a rent is preventing people form moving in to the city.

You can also deal in shares, playing with prices, buying and selling.

How to Play as Residential Property Dealer.


Residential Property Information

This display gives the basic information for a Residential Property

Property

The residents area deals with the sale of this particular property.

See How to Sell Property.

Happiness Info

Clicking on the Happiness Info button brings up information on the happiness of one of the residents of the selected property.

This information shows the reasons for the level of happiness of that individual.

View Balance Sheet

Click on this button to see details about the Property's financial transactions, income, outlay and profit. See Balance Sheet.

Business

The business area shows the rent price being changed, and the number of residents. The owner can adjust these values.

See:

How to Set the Rent Price

Residents

The residents area displays information on the property's residents.

Investment

Not implemented.


Seizing Control of a Company

When a player who was not the original founder of a company (the player who first started in the game as that company) buys shares so that he has more than 50% of that company's shares, he is the Controlling Shareholder of that company.

The Company's founder still controls the company in all ways except for two. He may no longer sell projects, nor may he demolish them.

Conversely, the Controlling Shareholder can do nothing with the company, except sell projects or demolish them.

These functions are accessed in the normal ways. The buttons will be available to players on the basis of the above description.

See

How to Sell Property

How to Demolish a Project


Selected Property

To select a property or tile, click on it. It will remain selected until you click on another property.


Workshops
Workshops are small production units that Manufacturing Industrialists can build on areas zoned L (light industry). People work in them and goods produced can be bought from them.


Zone Codes

Code on Map	Meaning

Q	Quality Residential (low density housing)

M	Mass Residential (high density apartments)

C	Commercial Projects (stalls, shops and malls)

L	Light Industry (workshops)

H	Heavy Industry (factories)

See also:

Property Types


Zones and Zoning

In any Borough, the Head of the Local Council decides on what types of properties are zoned where, and the other players can but property that is zoned for their type of business and is for sale. His decisions are represented by the zone markers on the Display.

See also:

Zone Codes

How to Zone (for Heads of Local Councils)

How to Develop Properties

Property Types


Zoning Costs

Zoning costs increase more or less exponentially in proportion to the number of tiles you have already zoned in your Borough. When you have dicided to zone a particlar Property Type, as you move your mouse, the cost of zoning that tile appears at the bottom of the Mayor Toolbar.

Note: At the beginning of play, be very careful with your zoning. You may very quickly run out of money without having zoned at least one of the three types of property that will enable the economy in your Borough to get started. Initially, zone just one tile of Mass Residential property, one tile for Commerce, and one tile for Light Industry. Then see how it goes from there.


Zoning Notes

The different types of properties develop in different ways, in the way they take up land. Heads of Local Councils should take great care to zone areas so that maximum development is possible.

Each zone has six levels of development. Each level requires a certain configuration of tiles.

Quality Residential - all six levels use a single tile.

Mass Residential - levels 1-3 use a single tile, levels 4-6 use four tiles (2x2).

Commercial - levels 1-2 use a single tile, levels 3-4 use four tiles (2x2), and levels 5-6 use nine tiles (3x3).

Light Industrial - levels 1-3 use a single tile, levels 4-6 use four tiles (2x2).

Heavy Industrial - all six levels use nine tiles (3x3).

Players will only be able to develop their property to the maximum if they own sufficient land with the correct zoning. For example, if a player buys Commercial land which is zoned only 2x2, then he can develop up to level 4 only. And there is no point in zoning Heavy Industry less than 3x3 because that is the minimum size for any factory.

See also:

Zoning Roads

Property Types


Zoning Roads

Roads are zoned by the Head of the Local Council in exactly the same way as other property. See How to Zone.

All roads must link up.

No property may be zoned more than three tiles away from a road.