Trust Me! An Economics Game

Do you want to turn your classroom into a laissez-faire capitalist wonderland where students learn about the finer points of vertical and horizontal integration while having a good time? You've come to the right place!

With Trust Me! The Game, students simulate Gilded Age economics by owning a company in either the railroad, oil, timber, coal, or steel industry. Through shrewd business negotiations and a dash of good luck, students can grow their business empire to take over an entire industry. By the end of four rounds, every student in the classroom will be working for one company.

It's not all fun and games, though. Mano Koa Enterprises has designed each round to include high level academic language including...

The geographical locations of raw material resources during the 19th Century such as timber, coal, steel, and oil.
Social Darwinism
Laissez-Faire Capitalism
Big Industry
Vertical v. Horizontal Integration
Unions
Strikes (Pullman and Homestead Strikes)
Trusts
Sherman Anti-Trust Act

To make things interesting, students choose the terms of their business transactions, provided they are class appropriate. Will a student sell his/her/their horizontally integrated company to a small time railroad company for a chocolate chip cookie? Will a student refuse to sell his/her/company to the biggest company in the class because their founders dressed up as French Fries for Halloween in Third Grade? These kinds of negotiations have actually happened over the course of this game.

Like this product? We got plenty more!
Trust Me! The Game is included in the Gilded Age APUSH Unit and the APUSH Total Course Omnibus from Mano Koa Enterprises. Mano Koa Enterprises is also happy to offer Cold War Commander: a table top strategy game where students interact with the finer points of Cold War foreign policy.

Good luck!

Mano Koa Enterprises