EMPIRE marketplace platform strategy simulation
The First Neighbourhood · Free Marketplace business simulation game
MARKETPLACE
You have $15.0K, 40 curious buyers and 8 sellers in one small area. Nothing is worth anything until the two sides actually transact with each other. Practise attracting buyers and sellers, balancing supply and demand, and setting fees without pushing people away. Choose a response or type your own business decision, then watch how trust, transactions, platform revenue and cash flow change.
Starting cash $15.0K · monthly costs $100 (overhead; your $300 owner salary starts after your first sale) · runway 150.0 months before any revenue.
Starting cash
$15.0K
Starting buyers
40
Starting sellers
8
Goal
$100,000,000 platform
How this business actually works
- Sign-ups are not liquidity. A transaction only happens when a buyer and a relevant, available seller meet in the same place at the same time.
- GMV is the value transacted through the platform. Your revenue is GMV × take rate: two very different numbers, shown separately on your dashboard.
- Too much demand and buyers wait and leave. Too much supply and sellers earn nothing and leave. Balance is the whole game.
- Raise fees too far and both sides meet through you then pay each other directly. Payments, guarantees and reputation are what keep the transaction on your platform.
Prefer other economics? Explore SaaS business games, Explore Service business games or Explore E-commerce business games , every mode saves its progress separately.