Zapitalism Deluxe
Hints & Strategies
Guide
ã Copyright 2003 LavaMind. All rights reserved.
Zapitalism Deluxe
Hints & Strategies
ã Copyright 2003 LavaMind. All rights reserved. |
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Welcome to the Zapitalism Hints & Strategies Guide.
Zapitalism appears simple at first, but there are a number of subtle strategies you can use to get the upper hand on your opponents.
After reading this, you should have no problem making zillions of zables and hopefully becoming an expert Zapitalist.
Pricing Your Products:
What products should you buy? When you start, it is difficult to tell what products are worth buying. This is because you don't yet know much about the products. Every game is different. Each time you begin a new game the underlying perceived value and quality of each product is randomly generated. Figuring out the true worth of each product is like solving a puzzle.
To start with, the best strategy is to buy a variety of products and sell them at the default price. If a product sells easily, you can raise the price, and if it doesn't sell, you should lower the price.
In the Tutorial, Novice and Beginner levels you can spy on the other players' stores and see their pricing. A good technique is to find out the highest possible price at which the product will sell and make a note of this. This serves as a good reference point. You now know the maximum amount you can charge for the product under ideal conditions.
Once you have a feel for the products, you should begin thinking of the competition. If you are the first one to the Royal Wholesaler, look at the supply/demand chart. If you find a good product, and nobody else has that product in their store already, then it is a good idea to buy up the entire supply. This will give you a virtual monopoly on this product and allow you to charge a good price. How high you price the product depends on how many tons you have and the current demand for the product.
Keep in mind that it's not always a good idea to buy up the entire supply of a product. If the demand for that product is low or if the perceived value of the product is low, you may not be able to sell the product for a good price even if there is no competition. It's only a good idea to buy up the entire supply if you're sure you can sell the units at a good price.
If you aren't the only one with the product, you have to gauge how much your competitors will be charging for the same item. If they undercut your price, you may not sell many units.
As a general
rule, it's a good idea to sell 70% or more of the products on your store shelves
every turn. The goal of pricing your products is to move merchandise. If a
product doesn't sell, then it's simply taking up valuable shelf space without
producing any revenue.
Buying Products:
Once you know the value of a product, when you go to the Royal Wholesaler, look at the ESTIMATED NET PROFIT PER UNIT. Pick the product with the highest value. If you have the pricing set correctly, this product should make the most money per unit sold.
Now how much should you buy? Look at the SUPPLY VS. DEMAND chart. If the demand is low and the supply is high, you shouldn't buy too many units. It's still a good idea to buy a few units. You can usually sell a few units of each product if your price isn't too high.
If the demand is high, then you might consider buying as many units as you can fit on your store shelves.
There are really two basic strategies. One is to spread out your risk and buy many different types of products. For beginning players, this works well. It means you won't make much money on any one product, but you also won't get stuck with something that's difficult to unload.
When you don't know much about the products, especially at the start of a new game, it is always good to spread out your risk and buy many different products. However, once you begin to get a feel for which products sell at what prices, you can gradually start being more selective.
That leads us to our second strategy. If you see an opportunity to buy out a product you know commands a high price on the market, you should do this. You can often make much more buying up a choice product and jacking up the price than buying many mediocre products. But this method only works when you know what products are truly worth buying.
Bidding for Building Permits:
If you're playing against human players, then you're on your own. There are no set rules to follow. However, there are a number of tricks you can use to outsmart the computer opponents.
As a rule of thumb, the more money the computer opponents have, the more they will bid. If the computer opponents are in debt, they will typically bid under 60,000 zables. However, as they emerge from debt, their bidding increases.
It is good to always have an extra building permit on hand. Ideally, your company should be continuously building larger stores. You will notice that if you get behind in store size, it's very difficult to catch up later in the game.
Hint: On the higher levels, your first bid should start around 65,000 zables because the computer opponents are likely to be in debt. If you can't afford this much, don't go too far into debt. It's not wise to exceed your 200,000 zable credit limit with Burch.
Your second bid should be at least 25% higher. A general rule of thumb is to keep increasing your bids by roughly 25% whenever a human player wins the bid. The computer players adjust their artificial intelligence according to whatever the last series of bids were. So if a human player breaks a new high and wins a bid, the computer players take note and increase their bidding amounts.
If a human player bids 500,000 zables or more for a permit, the
computer players switch their mode. They tend to bid between 500,000 and one
million zables depending on how much they need the permit.
Taking out a Loan from Burch:
It is never a good idea to exceed your credit limit. If you exceed your credit limit, Burch will usually raise your interest rates. This makes it all the more difficult to pay off your loan and get out of the red.
A good strategy is to borrow money at the beginning of the game to buy products and build larger stores. Just make sure you don't get too carried away and exceed your credit limit.
It's not a bad thing to borrow money. In fact, if you're going to win the game, you have to get a running start, and the only way to do that on the higher levels is to borrow enough to cover your initial expenses.
Exploring the Archipelago:
At the beginning of the game, the best places to visit are the Hermit Pit and the Mystic Figs.
If the grumpy old Hermit gives you a blessing, this can put you on a good luck streak. Having good fortune is important because it affects what special events come up at the end of each game turn. Once you have a blessing, you don't need to bother visiting the Hermit Pit again until you run into a streak of bad luck.
Traveling to the Mystic Figs is also vital. You need to make sure your employees are happy, and the best way to do this is by feeding them these magical figs. Whenever your employee morale falls below 60%, it's a good idea to head for the island of the Mystic Figs. As you will quickly learn, a strike can be devastating to your business. Another benefit of the Mystic Figs is that this delicious treat can help persuade your employees to lower their wages by up to 25%. But watch out, the figs sometimes backfire, and you can run into trouble.
Another good place to visit is The Lost City of Mermadan. Mermadan has a wealth of ancient relics, which you can display in your store to attract customers. In fact, displaying these relics in your store is equivalent to doubling or even tripling your advertising budget.
Outer Reboundrum ranks as one of the best places to visit throughout the entire game. It is an ideal place to find treasures. Some of these treasures are worth a great deal of money while others are more magical in nature. Later in the game, you'll discover that building a large store takes months. You can cut this time down to one week by simply obtaining a Wand of Haste or Ball of Building from Outer Reboundrum. This is one of the best ways to keep your store expanding at a rapid pace.
The Grand
Zubar will often help you with Building Permits or Import Rights by offering to
double your bid. The Grand Zubar can also get you a meeting with the Queen,
which may mean a boost in your reputation, lower insurance premiums, or if
you're very lucky, a free Building Permit.
The Mud Dogglers is the place to visit if your reputation is low. By helping these poor creatures, you can quickly boost your company's reputation, and you may even receive some valuable gifts.
Don't bother visiting Yapinalia until you have a good idea of what the various products are worth. Once you know the true value of each product, Yapinalia is a great spot for picking up products at bargain prices.
You should wait until later in the game, after the Import Rights have been introduced, before you visit the Hive and the Magma Zone. If you visit the Hive you can often persuade the Hive Master to change the demand or perceived value of a product by sending out a wave of potent pollen. This will basically make a product either more or less profitable for everyone. If another player owns the import rights to this product, you will want to lower the demand and perceived value of the product. If you own the import rights, then it's a good idea to raise the demand and perceived value of the product.
If you visit the Magma Zone, you can often convince the factory owners to either raise or lower the quality of a given product. Again, if you own the import rights, you'll want to raise the quality, and if someone else owns the import rights, you'll want to lower the quality.
When you have a lot of money saved up, it is time to consider going to the Zable Exchange. However, before you travel there, check the local branch office and see if the market is on an upward trend. If the market is moving up, it's a good time to invest. If the market is moving down, it's a good time to sell. This is because the market works according to trend lines. If there is a bear market, and the stock price is dropping each turn, chances are that the market will continue to fall until the trend is broken. The same holds true for a bull market.
Last but not least, there is Mount Bulbus. If you love games of chance, this is the place to go.
Hint: The odds on Mount Bulbus are stacked slightly in your favor. That means, over the course of the game, you should win more than you lose.
A good strategy is to almost never travel to a place that takes two or more weeks. Even if it costs more, it's usually better to travel to a one week destination. The only exceptions to this are if you absolutely have to get somewhere, such as The Zable Exchange to sell off your stocks. In this case, even if the travel time is 2 weeks, it's worth going. However, if the travel time is 3 weeks, it's debatable. You might want to wait.
Another factor is the cost. It's generally not worth paying too much to travel. The location you travel to should be dictated primarily by the travel time and the cost. Then if all is equal, you can choose based upon whichever you feel is most attractive for your business at the time.
The Stock Market:
When buying and selling stock, it's good to look for bull and bear markets. In Zapitalism, a bull market is defined as when the stock market keeps going up for 4 or more consecutive turns. Every time the market goes up the chance that it will continue rising increases.
The same is true for a bear market. Once the stock market starts declining, the chance that it will go down further increases.
Hint: At the beginning of the game the market starts off at 50%. That means there is a 50% chance the market will go up or down. If the market rises, the chance of the market going up the next turn increases to 55%. If it goes up again, it increases to 60%. This holds true all the way up to 85%. That means, after 7 consecutive turns of market increases, there is an 85% chance the market will continue to rise. This trend will continue until the market takes a dip. When the market dips, the trend lines immediately jump back to 50%. The trend is broken and the market can go either way, up or down.
The same is true for a bear market. If you watch the market carefully, you can time your investments to maximize your chances of making money.
It's good to wait until you have enough money to make investing in stocks worthwhile. Generally, at the beginning of the game, it's not worth investing in stocks. Only after you have a few million in cash is it worth putting some of it in the stock market.
One reason for waiting is that you'll need your cash to buy products and expand the size of your store. If you put money into the market, you may miss out on some opportunities to expand your business, and this can be devastating at the beginning of the game. Once you get behind, it's tough to catch up.
Bonds:
In Zapitalism, bonds are a great investment. You can earn good money with minimal risk. Unlike stocks, bonds never drop in value. The only risk you have is that your money is tied up in the bond, and you cannot cash it in until the bond expires.
Don't buy bonds at the beginning of the game. It's good to wait until you have at least several hundred thousand zables in cash before buying a bond. It's never a good idea to take out a loan to buy a bond. This will most likely defeat any benefit you'll gain from the bond. It will also leave you cash poor. Without cash you can't expand the size of your store or buy products. For this reason, make sure you have at least 200,000 zables in cash after you pay for the bond. If you don't have this minimum amount, don't buy the bond no matter how good it appears.
Insurance:
As a general rule it's a good idea to buy insurance if it's a low enough price. If you're lazy and you don't want to check the price every turn, you can set the Auto-Buy Insurance button. Typically, a good place to set this to is Middle. This will ensure that you buy the insurance when it's cheap enough.
Another good time to buy insurance is when you have very valuable products in your store. The more valuable the products, the more it's worth paying for insurance. After all, if you're unlucky and your products are stolen, you stand to lose a great deal of money.
As you will quickly discover, luck runs in streaks. You can be on a good luck streak or a bad luck streak. If you are on a good luck streak, every time you have a good event, the chance of having more good luck increases. This goes on until the streak is broken by bad luck.
If you are on a bad luck streak, it's generally a good idea to purchase insurance. This will protect your company from lawsuits, theft, floods, fires, etc...
Hint: Speaking of fires and floods, if a news event warns you that a hurricane is going to hit the island or that Mount Kukubu is about to erupt, it's well worth your while to consider buying insurance. This is doubly true if you're already on a bad luck streak. That means it's almost certain you are going to get clobbered, and the only way to protect yourself is with Quagmire Insurance.
Import Rights:
Buying up the Import Rights is a great long term investment. It typically takes at least 50 turns for Import Rights to pay off, but when they do, they can pay off big. Later in the game you will also have the opportunity to change the perceived value, demand, and quality of the various products. This means you can increase the value of your Import Rights by simply visiting the Magma Zone or the Hive.
How much should you pay for the Import Rights? That's a tough question. The best answer is to keep notes on the product. If it seems like everyone is buying the product, it's a good bet you'll make money. If no one is interested in buying the product, then you should bid rather low.
As a reference point, we put in the LOWER, MIDDLE and UPPER buttons. If you consider a product to be valuable, bidding well above UPPER is not a bad idea. However, if you consider a product to be marginal at best, you may want to bid around MIDDLE.
You will notice that if the computer opponents have enough money, they tend to bid well over a million zables for products they feel are valuable. If you think a product is really good, don't hesitate to bid a million zables for it if you have the excess cash. But don't get carried away, especially at the beginning of the game. It's never a good idea to go into debt just to buy the Import Rights to a valuable product.
As a general rule, good products make a lot of money, while marginal and poor products have a hard time earning even 10,000 zables.
Hint: The computer opponents will never spend more than 50% of their cash on Import Rights. They will also never spend more than 3 million zables for any Import Rights. The only exception to this rule is when you are playing the Master Level, where the computer players will bid up to 6 million zables for the Import Rights.
Exploring Zapinalia:
You will notice that the majority of hot spots on the Zapinalia map are informational in nature. Their only purpose is to give you a sense of the world and the characters which inhabit it. These hot spots will not affect your business in any way.
The hot spots, which make a difference in your game, are the following:
The Catacombs
The Smuggler's Hole
The Druid's Den
Pirates Peak
The Furnace
The Zubar Mines
The Wuzzie Tunnels
The Hungry Forest
The Insultant
The Catacombs are those strange geared-shaped pieces of earth East of the Volcano (Mount Kukubu). They are just above Jab Hoig's Country Estate, and just to the right of The Wizer Research Center. It's a pretty large clickable area. Just go to the right-hand (East) side of the island and start clicking. You can't miss it. The Catacombs are a good place to boost your company's reputation and find valuable alien relics.
The Smuggler's Hole is located in the South-West corner of the island. It’s at the base of the mountains to the left (West) of the metropolis. It's the cave at the base of those hills attached to the Gomiglodyte Beaches. See the light brown colored earth that looks like a beach, that is the Gomiglodyte Beaches. Just above the beach is a cave called the Smuggler's Hole. Plain and simple, it's not a good idea to visit the Smuggler's Hole. The bad events outweigh the good events by 3 to 2. On average, you'll end up worse off by hanging around there.
The Druid's Den is a little cave in the mountains just North of the Hungry Forest. It's also West of the Lake District. Look for the little mountain range North of the Volcano (Mount Kukubu), North of the Giant Borpises and South of Lord Uplinton's Manor. The Druid's Den is a nice place to get blessed and increase your luck.
Pirates Peak is a cluster of mountains poking up on the far North portion of the island. Go all the way to the top of the island. It is right below Smuggler's Point and above the Earth Tumors and Cudder Country. Pirates Peak is full of buried pirate treasure.
The Furnace is located on the far right-hand (East) side of the metropolis. It's hard to find because it's that gray building just to the right of the Digging Grounds (those brown mounds of dirt). It's not actually connected to the rest of the metropolis. It's separated from the metropolis by the Digging Grounds. Look for the lowest Digging Grounds on the far right-hand (East) side of the metropolis, then look for the building to the right of that Digging Ground. The Furnace is where you go to play games of chance. You should be aware that your odds of winning are 50%. This is as fair as it gets.
The Zubar Mines is the tunnel entrance located at the base of the Volcano (Mount Kukubu) in the center (South) side. The Zubar Mines still contain plenty of gold and gems.
The Wuzzie Tunnels is the tunnel entrance located at the base of the Volcano (Mount Kukubu) on the left-hand (West) side. The Wuzzie Tunnels are filled with strange items, some of which are valuable. Only Dr. Wuzzie really knows what goes on inside these tunnels.
The Hungry Forest is North-East of the volcano. It's that clump of green, which looks like a forest. It's just South-West of the Lake District (that cluster of small lakes). If your employee morale is low, you should head for the Hungry Forest. There is a chance you will find some Mystic Figs and other exotic items.
The Psychotic Soothsayer is located inside the Zapinalian Mental Institution building. The Zapinalian Mental Institution is in the small cluster of buildings all by themselves to the left (West) of the metropolis. It's West of the Royal Palace. It's also just South of the Mangolay Meadows. Look for the buildings located in the patch of green to the left of the metropolis. There you can find the Zapinalian Mental Institution. The Psychotic Soothsayer is a mystery--even to us.
The Insultant is located in the building on the South side of the metropolis along the edge of the ocean. It's that building poking out into the water. It’s the building sticking furthest out into the water on the South side of the metropolis. The only reason to go to the Insultant is to get insulted.
Store Image, Maintenance and Public Service:
Having a good reputation is vital to winning the game. Hardly anyone will come to your store to buy your products if you have a terrible reputation.
Your reputation is affected by a number of things, primarily your Store Image, Maintenance and Public Service.
It's a good idea to keep your reputation as close to 100% as possible without wasting a lot of money. This will not only bring you more customers, but it will help you to impress the Royal Wholesaler and gain access to all the best products before your competitors.
The fastest way to do this is to set your Store Image to FANCY, your Maintenance to TIP TOP SHAPE, and your Public Service to GREAT PHILANTHROPIST.
Once you've achieved a reputation of 100%, you have a choice. If you want to save money, it's a good idea to set your Store Image to FANCY, your Maintenance to TIP TOP SHAPE, and your Public Service to NOTHING AT ALL.
If it's later in the game, and money is not your primary concern, it is a good idea to set your Store Image to FANCY, your Maintenance to TIP TOP SHAPE, and your Public Service to GREAT PHILANTHROPIST. This may waste some money, but it will help insure that you are one of the first ones to visit the Royal Wholesaler. Remember, you can make far more money by being the first one to buy up all the best products on the market than you will save buy cutting down on these expenses.
Hint: If you want to know a subtle way to get ahead, always have your Store Image, Maintenance and Public Service either set to the maximum or the minimum values. If you're playing a competitive game and you don't have these set to their maximum values, you'll probably be the last one to the Royal Wholesaler no matter what. As a general rule keep in mind ALL or NOTHING. If you want to get recognized by the Royal Wholesaler, you need ALL. If not, save some money and set it to nothing. That's the best way to get ahead.
Keep in mind that if your MAINTENANCE is set to less than SATISFACTORY, you stand a chance of suffering from various maintenance problems, such as a leaky roof, water pipes breaking, shelves collapsing and other troubles.
Another situation you may face is that if your PUBLIC SERVICE falls below BARELY ENOUGH, there is a chance someone may publicly criticize your company for not giving much back to the community. As a result, your store's reputation could drop considerably.
An advantage of having your PUBLIC SERVICE set to GREAT PHILANTHROPIST is that you are then eligible to receive the prestigious Unglar Tuflin Good Citizenship Award. If you are fortunate enough to receive this honor, it will further boost your company's reputation.
Advertising:
If you have the money, then it pays to advertise. When a customer has to make the decision where to shop, they will typically go to the store with the most advertising.
Generally, the more you advertise, the more market share you will have. However, it's not a good idea to spend exorbitant amounts of money on advertising unless you have good products to sell. If you don't have good products at a good price on your store shelves, no amount of advertising will help.
You need to look for the right combination of advertising and products. As a rule of thumb, it's good to spend on advertising roughly what your competitors are spending. This will insure that you get your fair share of customers, and they don't squeeze you out of the market.
Another advantage of advertising is that the Royal Wholesaler takes this into account when choosing which company gets to go first. The more you advertise, the more likely you are to be able to purchase the best products, and in turn the more you will be able to justify spending on advertising. You see, it's a vicious circle.
Employees:
When dealing with your employees, it's always a good idea to keep them happy. One of the most devastating events in the game is a strike. This can take you from first place to last place in a matter of weeks.
The only way to reduce your chances of having to face a strike is to keep your employee morale high. Even with a morale of 100%, there is still a chance of a strike, but it is a much smaller chance than if the morale is 30%.
Hint: When setting your employee salary, you should check out the PAY SCALE shown on the right side of the screen. The employees don't look at the actual amount of money you are paying them. All they care about is the pay scale. You can save some money by just paying enough so that you jump to a higher pay scale. For example, a few zables may jump you from RESPECTABLE to GENEROUS. Keep in mind that once you reach EXTRAVAGANT, this is the maximum benefit you can attain. You won't gain any more good will from your employees by further raising their pay. You simply have to pay your employees well and watch as their morale gradually rises. Your employee morale will never increase by 25% in one week unless you have some sort of special event.
Taxes:
Nobody likes paying taxes, but that's a part of running a business. You will notice that when you make a profit you are taxed, and when you lose money, you receive some financial aid from the Queen.
There is no way to avoid paying your fair share of taxes. If you make a profit, then you will pay.
Hint: The way to avoid paying taxes is to keep your profit low by making long term strategic investments. This actually doesn't eliminate any taxes. It merely defers payment by shifting your money from cash to other investments. For example, you may invest your cash in stocks, bonds or larger stores. Any of these investments will lower your cash value, thus enabling you to pay less taxes. However, once you cash in your bonds or sell your stock, you will be forced to pay taxes on that money unless you can find another place to shelter the income.
Vandalism:
If a gang of teenagers vandalizes your store, what should you do?
Hint: If you press charges, the parents will protest, claiming their children are innocent. Ultimately, they will pay for the damaged property, but your reputation may suffer. If you have insurance, you may just want to forget the entire incident.
Dappo Lungooni:
If your old high school pal, Dappo Lungooni, begs you to lend him some money, should you do it?
Hint: Don't give Dappo a single zable. He's a flake, and he'll never pay you back.
A Shortfall in Tax Revenues:
Because of a shortfall in tax revenues, Queen Keshi Keshi Gomu may personally ask you to donate some money to the royal treasury. What should you do?
Hint: Give the Queen the money. If you don't give her the money, she will publicly criticize you, and your company's reputation will suffer. On the other hand, if you give her what she asks for, she will praise your company, and your reputation will rise accordingly.
Customer Sues Your Store:
What do you do if a customer sues your store?
Hint: There is basically a 50% chance you can win the case. If you win, you don't have to pay anything and the bad luck streak you are on will be broken. If you lose, you must pay the settlement plus legal fees and your reputation will plummet. If you opt to settle out of court, you'll only have to pay 1/3 of the amount, and your reputation will go down slightly due to the implied negligence on your part. There is no easy answer to this situation. If you have insurance, your best bet is to fight it out in court. That way, even if you lose, you don't have to pay anything. Insurance covers this type of situation. If you don't have insurance, it's up to you.
An Employee Sues Your Company:
If a disgruntled employee sues you for discriminating at the workplace, what should you do?
Hint: There is basically a 50% chance you can win the case. If you win, you don't have to pay anything and the bad luck streak you are on will be broken. If you lose, you must pay the settlement plus legal fees. In addition to this, your reputation will plummet, and your employee morale will suffer. If you opt to settle out of court, you'll only have to pay 1/3 of the amount, and your reputation will go down slightly due to the implied negligence on your part. There is no easy answer to this situation. If you have insurance, your best bet is to fight it out in court. That way, even if you lose, you don't have to pay anything. Insurance covers this type of situation. If you don't have insurance, it's up to you.
An Employee Steals Money:
What should you do if you catch one of your employees taking a little extra from the till?
Hint: If you insist on pressing charges and the employee raises a fuss proclaiming his innocence, your employee morale will fall. However, in the end, you will recover the money. If you decide to do nothing, then you are basically letting the employee get away with stealing in exchange for preserving the employee harmony. Either way, it's going to cost you something.
Employees Fighting:
What should you do if your employees are constantly fighting?
Hint: It may cost some money, but it's wise to send your employees to counseling. If you continue to let them fight, it will affect your overall employee morale, and that could lead to other more serious problems.
An Employee Becomes Ill:
If an employee becomes ill and can no longer work, should you help?
Hint: Pay for your poor employee's health care. You wouldn't want your employee to get sick and die because you are too cheap to cover the medical bills. If this happens, the employee morale will fall, and this may lead to more serious situations.
Bad Manager:
If all of your employees keep complaining about one of your store managers, should you pay to replace the manager?
Hint: It costs money to replace a manager, but if it is disrupting your entire work force, you've got to do it. If you don't replace the manager, your employee morale will suffer.
Religious Holidays:
If your employees, who are followers of the Humungist Faith, ask if they can take the rest of the week off, what should you do?
Hint: Nobody likes to give employees extra holidays, but sometimes you have to make exceptions. If you don't respect the beliefs of your employees, you will wind up with workers who resent you. It only takes a few disgruntled employees to bring down the morale of everyone at the store. Your company will also earn a reputation as being insensitive to other religious beliefs. In other words, it's probably a good idea to give those employees their holiday.
Office Party:
If your employees bring up the idea of throwing an office party, what should you do?
Hint: If you throw a successful office party, you will make your employees happy. If you don't sponsor the party, your company will be perceived as tight fisted, and the general morale will suffer. However, you should be aware that even if you throw an office party, there is always a chance things will go wrong, and the party will not be a success. This will wind up doing more harm than good. The choice basically comes down to whether or not you want to spend the money to make your employees happy. If it's not worth it to you, an office party is not a necessity. In other words, your employees can live without it.
Employee Demands:
If your employees demand that you provide things like new uniforms, new office equipment or new desks, what should you do?
Hint: It is generally a good idea to listen to your employees. They wouldn't be asking you for these if they didn't feel it was important. Even if you don't think their requests are vital to running your business, you may want to purchase the items anyway. It will boost your employees' morale and make them feel that you take their demands seriously.
Travel Troubles:
What should you do if the owner of your store is away exploring other islands and runs into trouble?
Hint: Basically, if the owner of your store is kidnapped, runs out of money, or winds up in the hospital, it is wise for you to help. You may not want to spend the money, but if you don't, it could have grave consequences. It's far better to fork out the money than to leave the owner in a dangerous situation.
Lady Mareeka Papageeka:
If Lady Mareeka Papageeka, a very rich and compulsive shopper, offers to purchase half of the goods in your store, should you sell them to her?
Hint: It depends upon what you have. If you feel you can sell off most of the goods in your store the next week for a substantial profit, you may not want to sell them to Lady Mareeka Papageeka. However, if you have either low priced goods or an oversupply of goods, then it might be worth your while.
Artist Asks for Money:
If you are approached by Gamallion, a well-respected artist, should you sponsor his next project?
Hint: By all means, you should support the arts. You are a rich business person, and you should give something back to the community. This is not only a charitable contribution, but 2 out of 3 times you will be rewarded for your generosity.
The Merchant of Chabo:
If you are approached by the Merchant of Chabo, should you sell half of your goods to him?
Hint: This depends on what products you have. If you feel you can sell the products in your store for a healthy profit, then it's probably not wise to sell them to Chabo. However, if the products in your store are of questionable value, then it is most likely to your advantage to sell them at the price Chabo is offering.
O.P.:
If O.P. offers to buy half of the products in your store, should you sell them to her?
Hint: This is generally not a good idea. It might pay off once or twice, but eventually (25% chance) you'll pay for it, and your reputation will suffer.
Tangle:
If you encounter Tangle, should you buy his goods at a bargain price?
Hint: You may make some money in the short run, but it's not worth the price. It might pay off once or twice, but eventually (25% chance) you'll pay for it, and your reputation will suffer.
Jab Hoig:
If Jab Hoig offers to sell you a building permit, should you buy the permit?
Hint: If you value your reputation, avoid Jab Hoig. There is a 33% chance you'll not only lose the money you paid but also damage your reputation.
Refugees:
If a group of refugees asks to borrow some money to start a new life in Zapinalia, should you lend them the money?
Hint: It is generally to your advantage to help others in need. If you give them money, you can expect that over the course of the game you will receive more than you give. Keep this in mind when it comes to situations like these.
Queen Offers You a Building Permit:
If the Queen visits your store and offers to sell you a building permit, should you buy the permit?
Hint: If you need a permit, buy it! It's a great deal.
Scholarship Program:
If you are asked to donate money towards a much-needed scholarship, should you donate the money?
Hint: If you feel in a generous mood, then donate the money. It will help to boost your standing in the community. However, if you choose not to give the money, there is no penalty. It's your choice.
Gambling:
If you enjoy games of chance, this can be a fun diversion.
Hint: There is a 50% chance of winning.
Wilbujon:
If Wilbujon offers to meddle with your competitors, should you accept this offer?
Hint: If you want to make your competitors suffer, this is one way. But there's a 20% chance it will backfire.
Hog the Headhunter:
If Hog, an executive head hunter, offers to get the top manager from one of your competitors to leave and come to work for you, should you accept this offer?
Hint: If you hire a top manager from another company, it will boost your company's image while hurting the morale of your competitors. If you have the money to pay Hog, this isn't a bad idea.
B.G. the Robotics Wizard:
If B.G. offers to replace two of your workers with machines, should you accept this offer?
Hint: It might cost a bit of money to replace your workers with robots, but in the long run it will wind up saving you money. The only thing you may want to consider is how your work force feels about this. If their morale is already low and they are ready to strike, this might not be such a good idea. However, if your employee morale is high, the chance of a strike is minimal.
Spying Opportunity:
If a disgruntled employee of one of your competitors offers to get you some inside information, should you accept this offer?
Hint: If you feel that knowing what your competitors are charging for specific products this week is helpful, then it's worth it. If you don't need this information, then it's not worth paying for it.
Snide the Handyman:
If Snide, a local handyman, offers to fix up your store, should you accept?
Hint: Snide is a fickle guy. Sometimes he can help improve your store's image or your employee morale, and other times he won't do much at all. If your employee morale and reputation are hurting, it's not a bad idea to hire Snide and see what he does.
Lady Tiff:
If Lady Tiff offers to redecorate your store, should you accept her offer?
Hint: If your reputation is sagging, Lady Tiff is the perfect cure. She can boost your company's reputation in less than a week. However, if you already have a great reputation, there is no reason to hire Lady Tiff. In fact, there is a chance she may even mess up your store and wind up doing more harm than good.
Be Kind to Animals:
If one of your employees finds an injured animal wandering around outside your store, should you take this injured animal to the veterinarian?
Hint: The moral of this game is to always be kind to animals.
Be Kind to Strangers:
If you come across a beggar, who asks you for money to buy food, clothing and a ticket home, should you help this poor person?
Hint: Remember the saying, "No kind deed goes unrewarded." Well, this tends to be true in Zapinalia more than in the real world.
Investments:
If Diggly, Ms. Dreeper, Sir Ovo Hormal, Young Amorata, Mr. Mosbee, Kakabi Lumpar, The Rand Man, Sleek Motion, Hunch or The Fuz approaches you with an investment opportunity, should you do it?
Hint: If you can afford to make the investment without borrowing money from Burch, it's not a bad idea. There is risk in all the investments, but the pay off can be substantial. You can make anywhere from 200% to 500% of your original investment.
Employee Strike:
What do you do if your employees go on strike?
Hint: If your store shelves are nearly empty, and you don't expect to
sell many products this week, then you have nothing to lose and might as well
try to break the strike by not agreeing to their demands. However, if your
store shelves are loaded with products, and you stand to lose a considerable
amount of money, then it may be to your advantage to meet your employees'
demands. It really comes down to how much they are asking for. If they want a
40% pay raise, that's a huge amount of money you will have to pay each week for
the rest of the game. However, if they only want a 3% raise, it's definitely
worthwhile raising their wages and settling the strike. For your information,
if you refuse to give in to their demands, there is a 40% chance they will
continue the strike and a 60% chance they will give up and come back to work
without a raise.
Bonus Keys (Cheats):
We don't like the idea of simply allowing players to increase their cash to astronomical amounts with the press of a button, so don't expect this kind of help. Instead, we've added bonus keys that if used properly will give you an edge over your competitors. However, they are not so powerful as to completely warp the game-play.
Quagmire Bonus Key:
While inside the Quagmire Insurance menu, you can press Ctrl-Q. This will randomly generate a new price. We recommend using this bonus key if the original insurance price is high. In this case, there is a high probability that you will save some zables. However, if the price of insurance is already low, we don't recommend using this. It just may backfire on you.
Travelers Bonus Key:
While inside the Travel Options menu, you can press Ctrl-T to randomly generate a new selection of travel times and costs. This may allow you to travel to a better location at a lower price. However, it's a gamble because by pressing Ctrl-T, you are committing yourself to a journey, and if you don't like the new travel times and costs, you're stuck.
Construction Bonus Key:
While inside the Edifice Construction menu, you can press Ctrl-C. This will randomly generate a new construction cost. We recommend using this bonus key if the original cost of construction is high. In this case, there is a high probability that you will save some zables. However, if the cost of construction is already low, we don't recommend using this. It just may backfire on you.
Royal Bonus Key:
While inside the Royal Wholesaler menu, you can press Ctrl-B to buy a random product. You should only use this bonus key if there is nothing else to buy and you want to try your luck at purchasing a completely random product. Sometimes this will pay off and other times you'll get stuck with worthless goods.
THE END