Manager

About this board game

Manager is an economic strategy game for 3–6 players, with sessions lasting about 60 minutes. First released in 1979, it casts each player as the manager of one of six companies producing identical products in the same market, with computers strongly hinted at as the theme.

Each turn, players secretly set the selling price for their product. The player charging the least sells first, while other companies can also sell if their prices remain within 1,000 DM of the next-lowest bid. A player priced more than 1,000 DM above the competitor below them is locked out of the market, along with everyone who priced even higher.

The central challenge is to charge as much as possible without setting a price that is too high compared with the competition. Selling companies improve their stock-market position, with the company achieving the highest successful price gaining the most. Companies shut out of the market lose ground instead.

• Set prices secretly and judge how far rivals may go.
• Buy machines to automate production.
• Buy or sell stock in any of the six companies.
• Exploit changing stock values as market fortunes shift.

Manager offers room for deliberate maneuvering beyond simply running a profitable company. After the first few rounds, the stock market can generate more money than company operations, allowing you to drive your own company into the ground while advancing another and still come out ahead. The result is a deceptively simple contest of pricing, timing, and economic manipulation.