Lemonade Stand

Lemonade Stand is a faithful PC remake (coded in BASIC!) of a classic game of economics that pioneered the genre of business sims when Apple first included it for free with its first computers - way back in late 1970s.

The game itself is based on a common real-life part-time job many kids do (although probably not anymore). Although the official PC version was never made, the game continues to inspire countless clones and, in today?s Internet age, many online variants. For anyone too young to remember the Apple II or never sold lemonade in real life, the goal is simple: make as much money as you can within 30 days by selling lemonade. You'll be in charge of every facet of the business, including pricing, quality control, inventory control, and purchasing supplies. You'll also have to deal with the weather, which affects your business (e.g. when it is sunny and hot, people would be willing to pay a higher price for a glass of lemonade).

What makes the game challenging is that you have upfront costs to consider ? costs that won?t be recovered unless your pricing is correct and your forecast of demand is reasonable. Before you can sell anything, you need to build up inventory: decide how many paper cups, ice, sugar, and lemons to buy. A little math is required here, since the number of cups a pitcher can serve depends on how much ice you put in. Putting more ice in the pitcher means you can serve more cups, although of course customers may complain about your ?diluted lemonade? ;) And to add to complication, different inventory items have different lifespans. Cups, for example, will never go bad (so you should always have them on hand), while ice will melt at the end of the day, and lemons and sugar are subject to bugs and spoilage. Once you make all the decisions, the day will begin, and you will be able to see how many customers buy your lemonade and what their impressions are via thought bubbles. At the end of the day, you will see how much profit or loss you made, and then it?s time to plan for the next day.

This version of Lemonade Stand is a very faithful remake that should bring tears to anyone old enough to know the Apple II. As in that classic, prudent inventory planning, correct pricing (largely a function of the weather), making high quality lemonade, and accurate estimate of customers are all prerequisites to making big bucks. This version lacks some finesse of the better-known online-only version at Littlejason.com (for example, you can?t select a starting city, and weather forecast is given without probability value), but it?s still a lot of fun after all these years. Two thumbs up, way up!

Review By HOTUD