First of all: Welcome to Miniconomy! Before you enter the virtual world of Miniconomy it is handy to know what Miniconomy is and what you can expect. This short manual will help you on your way! Good luck and have a lot of fun with Miniconomy!
Miniconomy is a game which simulates a real life economy. Many economic aspects of a ‘real life’ society are in Miniconomy such as trading of goods and stocks, banks, demand for products, etc. Miniconomy is a game which can be played in your web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, etc.). This means you can play it at school (if this is allowed by your teacher) and at home without having to install any extra software.
To play Miniconomy you need to create an account. Go to https://www.miniconomy.com and click on the ‘Register now’ button. Choose a ‘student account’ and fill in your information. You will receive the group code from your teacher, so if you have not received it yet, ask him or her. Your teacher has to activate your account before you start playing. When your account is activated you can log in on the front page of Miniconomy.
It’s possible that your teacher has given you a special assignment or tasks to fulfill. Either way the goal of the game is to make money. This can be done in various ways, but the best and most common way is through building a shop and selling goods in it. Click on Build in the menu on the left and check which products you need to build a shop. Go to Street and search the shops there for the right products (pay attention to the prices!). Buy these products and go to the Map, a good way to see an oversight of the city you live in. Zoom in on the map by clicking somewhere on it and click on a lot for details if it. Buy a lot next to a road, because only lots next to a road can be used to build a shop on. Once you have done this go to Build again and build your shop! You can also check the step plan above to make sure you are doing it the right way.
After you have built your shop, you will need to produce products. Choose a product and invest in skills to make the production of the products cheaper. You do this by clicking on the product on the right of your screen and raising your skills. Taking the maximum amount of skills on a product will also give you a 100 I-Shell bonus. Depending on the product you have chosen you might need raw materials which you need to buy in shops of other people (which you learned above), or you might need to dig your own. If you need to dig your own raw materials (for example for wood, iron, bricks, chips, or gas), don’t forget to put skills on the digging of these products as well. This can be done by clicking on Search for Resources and scrolling to the bottom. To dig products you might need a shovel, saw, wood, or pump. Buy these and go back to the Search for Resources screen. You can now dig your resources from a lot you buy which contains these materials. Once you have dug up your raw materials you can produce your products. You might have noticed that you got another 100 I-Shell bonus for producing your first products.
Once you have produced your products, you will need to set a price for them before you can move them from your warehouse to your shop. You can do this by clicking on the product on the right side of your screen and scrolling to the bottom. Here you can also set the price for exporting products, an easy way to make money. Some products can be exported to the Mayor of your city. These products are wood, iron, bricks, pumps, and trees. To check which products your Mayor needs, click on the Export and Import button. If you produce what they are asking for then you can export them, but if you don’t you can also export these products by first buying them from another player’s shop.
The goal is to make money. Like explained earlier, this can be done in many ways. Don’t be afraid to spend it, because it’s virtual money, so don’t spend it all at once, invest it wisely, but don’t hold back investing if your turnover and profit will increase from it in the long term. Make sure you get a steady income via selling products or via exporting goods. In the club Town Hall [name of your city] you can find a lot of information. Asking questions is a good way to understand the game better. You can also ask questions on the chat or in the club Assistance, Tips, and Tricks. There are people available that want to help you become the next big trader in the Federation of Miniconomy.
Your teacher doesn’t really play. He or she will give you instruction and give you an end goal which to work towards. This can for example be that you make a report or give a presentation about what your experience was and what you learned. You can of course ask your teacher questions in general or when you have problems. Your teacher also has contact information to contact us in case of problems that need to be solved.
We hope you will like Miniconomy and that you find it a fun and educational way to learn! If you have any suggestions of this manual, send an e-mail to feds@miniconomy.com.
1. Buy 6 bricks, 90 wood and 1 saw.
2. Buy a lot next to a road to place your shop on via the map.
3. Build a shed
4. Take skill on the products that you want to produce (more skills means less costs for producing)
5. Check if you can export products