Games developed by Greystone Software
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International Bridge Contractors
International Bridge Contractors is a great version of the 1979 BASIC games coded by Philip Case for the TRS-80 computer. The game was recompiled and expanded with more features by William Hileman and distributed as freeware in 1984, and again in 1986 as version 1. 1.
IBC is basically a simulation of an engineering company for 1 to 4 players. Starting as the office manager with $40 million in cash, your goal is to bid on bridges. The first player to accumulate $500 million wins the game. The game is turn-based: each player's turn comprises up to 6 phases. The first phase is the company status display, which requires no intervention on your part, but displays all pertinent information about your business, including the number of bridges built (sorted by cost per foot), available work crews, R&D investments, materials and, most importantly, cash.
The second phase is the company's purchasing screen, where you can hire work crews, purchase materials and/or invest in R&D. The third phase is the so-called 'secretary's report'. This is where random events occur (there are 65 possible events) that help or hurt your business. I don't like the fact that some events can immediately make you lose the game (reminds me of the bankruptcy card in Monopoly), but at least the chance of getting them is rare.
The fourth phase is the R&D phase, which will only be active if you have spent any R&D investment in the second phase. Here you will be informed of any new breakthroughs, which will reduce your costs of building the bridges. Your incremental R&D investment will also decrease, which will encourage you to invest more. The fifth phase is the bridge specifications screen. This screen shows the six bridges, their traffic types, their costs per 100 feet, and their maximum and safety clearances. This phase is essential because it shows you the cost information you will need to make better bids in the next and final phase: the crucial contract bidding phase. Here each of the 6 types of bridges will be selected at random, with a random-controlled length. Your bridge construction cost (materials, labor, etc. ) will be shown. If you do not have enough labor or materials to build this bridge, you will be notified and your turn will end.
IBC is a lot of fun if you like business simulations; especially one that represents a service industry that not many other games focus on. Your success depends on a careful balance between bid price and construction costs. Naturally, if you bid too high, you won't get the contract. If you bid too low, you may run out of money when you discover that your costs are much higher. The 'right' bid amount seems somewhat random, as sometimes you could make hundreds of millions of dollars in profit that you would not be able to replicate. R&D is a big advantage, as lower costs allow you to bid lower.
Overall, I had a great time with this game that should appeal to all diehard fans of business simulators. Recommended.
