M*U*L*E* ....the story so far....

**MULE ....the story so far....**

Marketed in 1983, the Electronic Arts game MULE places four players in the

role of settlers of a new planet. The game contains:

   * resources in the form of plots of land that are developed by placing

     production units (MULE's) upon them,

   * which units produce one of several commodities (food, energy, or raw

     material units) according to rules of diminishing returns,

   * the commodities are sold at auctions,

   * producing funds that players use to purchase more land, commodities

     and production units

   * the commodities are used in further production


MULE also includes a central store that acts as buyer and seller of last

resort, keeping a stock of commodities that act as a damper on price

volatility - a feature that MarketPlace skips. The central store also acts

as the agent that turns raw material into new production units.