14 DAY TRIAL // Ice Cream Empire is a new game from Bocconi University, Milan, which challenges users to test their managerial skills by selling ice-cream in the fashion district of Milan.
Ice Cream Empire is a strategic simulation game for Java phones that mimics the management of an ice-cream stand and aims at stimulating the young to interpret the competitive environment, read a balance sheet and understand accountancy reports.
The game was developed with the Italian mobile operator Tim and the developer Impressionware and it can be played free of charge - the users just need to register at http://www.unibocconi.it/engice.
The fashion district and the piazzas of Milan are reproduced in an amusing graphic design, in which the player can choose to place his stand in six well known locations from Milan. The game starts with the player having to select his stand location based on news about the weather forecast and events that influence the flow of people.
In the first stage the player must choose the tools to buy, the employees to hire, whether to spend money in the promotion, the recipe of the ice-cream, which can vary from cheap to expensive. In the second stage, the player watches the people walking by his stand, buying or moving along depending on the decisions made in stage 1. Stage 3 presents economic and financial reports to the player so that the next day he can change his strategies to increase his profit.
The players may compete, sending their results to an Ice Cream Stock Exchange, which compares them, making the youngsters understand how good they are in selling ice cream.