Once upon a time there was a computer game called Empire. Empire was an addictive game that I found in the early 1990’s which ran on my 286. It was a turned based strategy game where you played a ruler who had several other neighbouring hostile kingdoms. Each round you could enlarge your army, set your income tax, invest in infrastructure and generally wreak havoc on your enemies with your army. They in turn would do the same thing and attack you. If you managed well, you would gain vast wealth and power and destroy all those who would oppose you. Manage poorly and a half-crazed mother would stab you on your throne with her dead malnourished enfant in her arms.
Fast forward to 2007 where the text based game Empire still remains essentially text based. But instead of armies you command vast legions (<50) of soccer players (though they call it football players for some reason). And instead of investing in Marketplaces and Shipyards you invest in coaches and train players to become divine. Not really, they’re just really, really good at playing soccer.
Hattrick bills itself as an online, browser-based, football management game (MMOG) developed and based in Sweden. You have players who vary in regards to skill, age, agreeability, and stamina. And just like their army counterparts in Empire, your armies are sent onto the field to score the most goals. New users begin with about 20 wretched players and a coach and it is up to the GM to manage the team to professional quality greatness. Money comes from ticket sales but also from training these players in a specific skill to be sold to your fellow General Managers who train alternative skills. You in turn purchase their players on a free-market Transfer Listing where you and other GMs can place bids.
[Editor: This article will hopefully commence soon... Joel is probably playing Hattrick.]
