You may not know of one of the earliest books on how to design and use these games - Management Games, by Joel Kibbee, Clifford J. Craft and Burt Nanus, Reinhold Publishing company, 1961. It was based on work at Remington Rand UNIVAC Division.
I think I came across a mention of that one in research, but haven't read it. Rand did a ton of cool early work: in 1955 they did a game called Monopologs, which was a spin-off from their wargames where you played the role of an inventory manager in a simulated Air Force supply system. So many interesting corners of this history!
I played one form of this game as a senior at Clarkson College of Technology (now Clarkson University) in 1966. You might try their library (if it still exists) or the Business Department for an admistrators manual.
How cool, Robert! I'm too young to have gotten to play any of the mainframe-era games in their original form. I'm sure there are copies of the Admin manual floating around out there somewhere, in an attic or trunk maybe... but there many not have been very many printed, since I know a lot of schools preferred to spin off their own variants with their own administration procedures...
Another version of this was a Management Block Program at the School of Business at Fresno State College in the mid 1960s. Now C.S.U., Fresno, the program has many Alumni who fondly remember this “game” and the obstacles thrown at various teams complements of a computer that occupied almost a whole floor of the Business Building. One of the earliest and best learning opportunities for Management students and their professors!
You may not know of one of the earliest books on how to design and use these games - Management Games, by Joel Kibbee, Clifford J. Craft and Burt Nanus, Reinhold Publishing company, 1961. It was based on work at Remington Rand UNIVAC Division.
I think I came across a mention of that one in research, but haven't read it. Rand did a ton of cool early work: in 1955 they did a game called Monopologs, which was a spin-off from their wargames where you played the role of an inventory manager in a simulated Air Force supply system. So many interesting corners of this history!
I played one form of this game as a senior at Clarkson College of Technology (now Clarkson University) in 1966. You might try their library (if it still exists) or the Business Department for an admistrators manual.
How cool, Robert! I'm too young to have gotten to play any of the mainframe-era games in their original form. I'm sure there are copies of the Admin manual floating around out there somewhere, in an attic or trunk maybe... but there many not have been very many printed, since I know a lot of schools preferred to spin off their own variants with their own administration procedures...
This would be a fascinating premise for a LARP!
More LARPs with enormous early computer vibes, please! Check out Jason Morningstar's Juggernaut if you're into that kind of thing: https://bullypulpitgames.com/games/juggernaut/
Thanks for sharing this. Sounds awesome! I love a tabletop / LARP game with an audio element.
Another version of this was a Management Block Program at the School of Business at Fresno State College in the mid 1960s. Now C.S.U., Fresno, the program has many Alumni who fondly remember this “game” and the obstacles thrown at various teams complements of a computer that occupied almost a whole floor of the Business Building. One of the earliest and best learning opportunities for Management students and their professors!