AP Microeconomics

7.2 Economic Concepts in Games

You might not think about it, but many of the games that you have played probably incorporate
economic concepts. Think of the game Monopoly and the concept of Opportunity Cost - a player
is constantly having to make decisions - should I invest in hotels? Should I use all my money to
buy Boardwalk? Should I trade my railroads for the two orange properties that would complete
a monopoly? Ultimately, these sorts of questions get answered by a player weighing their
benefits and costs. Hopefully the potential benefits of a decision will help a player win the
game.

Even video games contain economic concepts. Watch this video to see how some economic
students related the market in World of Warcraft with a perfectly competitive market.

Assignment: Identify three games that you have played that contain an economic concept that
you have learned about this semester. You can choose board games, video games, sports,
etc... but do NOT choose Monopoly (be creative). For each game you will:

1) Identify the game

2) Provide a brief summary (2-5 sentences) of how the game is played and its rules.
3) Provide a picture or screenshot that represents the game.
4) Write a paragraph that describes how the game incorporates the economic concept you
identified (you should have different economic concept for each game).

Grading: This assignment will be graded out of 12 points. For each game you will receive 1
point for an appropriate summary (2-5 sentences), 1 point for an appropriate picture, and 2
points for identifying an economic concept and providing an appropriate explanation of how it is
seen in the game.

Complete the assignment by filling in the tables below.

Game 1 Title:
Game 1 Summary:
Game 1 Picture:
Game 1 Economic
Concept and
Explanation:

Game 2 Title:
Game 2 Summary:
Game 2 Picture:
Game 2 Economic
Concept and
Explanation:
Game 3 Title:
Game 3 Summary:
Game 3 Picture:
Game 3 Economic
Concept and
Explanation: