New Online Business Game Launched By County & City Enterprise Boards


A new online business simulation game aimed at Junior Cycle students has been launched by the County and City Enterprise Boards of Ireland. Sponsored by Microsoft, www.businessgame.ie is available free of charge for 1st, 2nd and 3rd year students to play online.

The new web based business game allows students to run their own online GAA Sports Store. The aim of the new game is to help students understand the various aspects of running a small business. Students get to make all the day-to-day decisions in the business such as ordering stock, hiring staff and managing the finances in a fun, interactive and stimulating environment.

How It Works

• Students run the online GAA Store just like any business, with key activities needing to be carried out each week such as ordering stock, managing finances and keeping an eye on the general running of the business.

• There are 5 main areas in the store where students can make decisions and manage the business – the store room, the office, the shop floor, the staff room and the board room.

• By clicking into any of these 5 areas of the business on the screen students can check progress and make decisions to manage the business. For example, ordering and pricing stock, hiring staff and holding sales.

• Students will also be shown their progress via a number of indicators in the lower corner of the screen. These include their current score, cash available to the business, hours spent working in any week, personal health and social status.

• During the Game virtual customers come in to the shop, make comments and buy products.

• Virtual business mentors, accountants, bank managers and lawyers also appear periodically to provide advice to students on how to manage the business.

• The game runs for 52 virtual weeks, however students can play a game in a shorter time frame. Students can leave the game at any time and their score from the previous game will be saved for when they return.

• Students’ score from each game is stored online and placed on a Leader Board where they can see how they perform in comparison to other schools around the country.

The new site will feature full instructions for teachers to download that explain clearly how the game should be played. Teachers will have access to view their students’ Profit and Loss Accounts and other financial records to assess how the business performing.

Requirements
• Flash Player 8 or higher
• Broadband internet connection
• Internet Explorer 6 or Mozilla Firefox 2

START PLAYING GAME NOW