Orangeade Stall A trading game for youngsters I read "Parents, Kids and Computers" by Lynne Alper and Meg Holmberg, and they described "Lemonade", many versions of which I am told exist - almost as many as there are micros to run it on. It sounded a simple and attractive idea and obviously offered scope for plenty of "local colour", so I set down to write my own version. The "Scenario" calls for the player to run a roadside Saturday morning stall, selling orange drinks to the passers-by "to earn pocket money". A kindly parent provides a stake to start with, enough to purchase initial supplies, and the player then has to try and make money over a series of "weekends". Prices of drink crystals and paper cups are given (these can easily be adjusted to the local rates) and the "ground rules" state that a decision must be made on each day as to how many drinks to prepare, as (a) no further drinks can be made up once the day has started; and (b) any drinks left over at the end of the day must be thrown away. In addition to this decision, the player has to decide what price to charge for each drink (high prices will definitely suppress sales!!). Of course the player must also decide how much supplies to buy, and how much to spend on "advertising" (posters in local shop windows, at a small charge by the shopkeeper). A whole range of random factors decide how may people will come down the street on the day, and some of these will affect the proportion who are willing to stop and buy a drink. An attempt has been made to make this model behave in a reasonably lifelike way (e.g. while the weather will vary from day to day, there will be a "bias" in any one season towards generally-better or generally-worse than average). After the decisions have been made for each "trading day", the results both financial and in terms of weather conditions, unexpected events etc. are displayed, and then the pattern is repeated for the "next weekend". After ten "selling days", the overall results for the season are displayed. I would not pretend that the program can't be improved, functionally it works fine, but it could have much better sound effects and graphic displays if you work it up. I work with a green screen myself, so have not attempted fancy colour effects. My granddaughter and a friend of hers (ages 8 and 9) play the game with pleasure, but 10-12 would probably be a better age range. The player needs to have some appreciation of money values, and to be able to work out the implications of costs and selling prices at a simple level. Those willing to experiment and "see what happens - " will have the most fun, and also leam the most. TAU |
