City Management Games That Can Help In Trading

Who says that video games can’t help you with your development as a trader? Don’t get me wrong, the beginning of your trading journey you will be immersed in charts but as time goes by you’ll get to appreciate this business.

If you get this right in the long run, you’ll realize that the beauty of trading is that you don’t need to look at the screen all day once you already know what to look for.

If you’re that trader who’s having a losing streak, you shouldn’t be discouraged. In fact, you should be happy because the market doesn’t really scold you if you don’t trade but she does give you a beating in your trading account if you do things wrong. 😅

It’s just going to be there for a long time and you can go back once you’re prepared again to face the trading field.

Without further ado, here are my go-to city-building games that helped me as a trader.

Cities: Skylines

Originally I would prefer SimCity but in this day and age especially with the advancement of graphics, this game should suffice. What this game will teach you is actually the dynamics of supply and demand and this game gives it clearly.

As you build your city over time, you will observe that your citizens will want certain facilities such as residential, commercial, or industrial zones. Create too much zones in any of those 3 areas, you will observe that there won’t be any development going on plus you will also lose money in the process. Not to mention you also have to pay attention to what the citizens need (e.g. Healthcare, Transportation, Parks and Recreation) if you want them to be happy with living in your city.

Just like in trading, you must know when the stock that you are looking at is currently in demand. A stock that has high demand usually has a bullish rally but at the same time too much demand can cause it to fall as well so on that note, you should know when to get out.

Maybe you can read about the 2008 Financial Crisis if you want a deeper understanding on why these things happen or better yet watch The Big Short on Netflix and you’ll understand what I’m talking about.

Dawn of Man

This is a game set in the stone age where you have a tribe and your objective is to create a sustainable civilization for them to live in.

If you want those casual management games, this one might be for you. The game currently has a few modes but if you want to challenge yourself, you can try out the ice age.

A trading trait that you can probably acquire with playing this game is survival aside from the game focuses on the stone age this game will also teach you how to unconsciously take care of your capital just like taking care of your tribe. 😂

Surviving The Aftermath

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Compared to Dawn of Man this game is a bit more complex. Think of Fallout Shelter with a mix of Civilization in terms of gameplay. If you like both of those games, this is definitely worth the try. The game sets in a post-apocalyptic era where you have a group of survivors and your goal is to survive as long as you can by creating a town with the given resources that you can find.

Prepare to face yourselves with challenges that can threaten your existence, be it a heat wave, to meteors falling down from the sky, you name it!

But wait, where’s the lesson in trading that you can apply when playing this game? One word, RESILIENCE.

Without this quality, I doubt that you can survive in trading especially if you plan on doing this full-time. You will learn what to prioritize whenever you trade just like in this game, you will be faced with decisions that can save or kill your colony.

Tropico 6

I have been a huge fan of the series since the first one came out and I must say, this is the game that taught me a lot of things especially when handling money in this game. I’m such a fanboy, that I influenced one of my trader friends to play this instead of Anno (although I like the visuals there as well 😂)

Compared to the other games I mentioned, this showed me how trading is done in a whole new level! Although the learning curve for this game can somewhat be overwhelming, trust me once you get through the tutorial, you’ll get the feel of being a ruler and you will appreciate the visuals this game has to offer. You would even feel like spending your summer vacation in the island, especially if you’re into beaches.

Basically, you’re a dictator running an island off the Caribbean and the game includes a Campaign and a sandbox mode where you can decide what goals you want to achieve with your island.

Do you want to rule for 20+ years? Do want to be a master trader in the island by relying on exports as your main source of income? Want to create a militarist state in your island by keeping it protected from rebels? How about making your island a tourist destination? Or making your island the greatest place to live in by making your citizens happy? The possibilities with this game are endless.

Since game is focused in a Caribbean setting before the World War, what you’ll actually learn here is more about earning money through different ways, with imports and exports as the main method of generating income.

Sounds like trading if you ask me and if you are a beginner and you want to try out this game, I suggest focusing on building raw resource buildings to get a feel on how to generate income for your island. Along the way, you’ll learn how to efficiently spend your money on other matters.

This game has everything you can ask for from a trader’s perspective. You can learn how to deal with economic (and mostly political) situations especially if you want your island to be profitable and sustainable at the same time.

If you relate this game to trading, you will also learn that technicals, along with fundamentals, can drive the price to go up and down; you just need to consult the right news sources.

Whether you’re a fundamentalist, a technician or a hybrid in the financial markets, it doesn’t matter. I think you would get to appreciate the games that I mentioned.

So there you have it! I hope this game guide helps you and always remember, there is more to life than trading.

Head off to Steam and buy these precious gems (and if you’re getting Surviving The Aftermath, you can buy it here)

Now go out there and play! ✌