The Planet Management Game Players have a high paying job with University Planet Management Associates. This team has been given the task of managing the planet Clarion for the next 50 years. Note that a Clarion year is much shorter than our own. A brief history of Clarion (from the game manual) The plant Clarion is much like the Earth in size, climate, and geography. However, the land area is smaller than the Earth s. The living things on the planet are similar to plants and animals on Earth with one exception – there is no native animal like man. About 10 years ago the Council of Civilized Planets transported 100,000 colonists to Clarion from the planet Rasmuss. These colonists are similar to people, but are smaller. They have shorter life spans than people and look a little different, too. You could call them humanoids. Their food is similar to ours. The natural state of Clarion is like Earth s before man began to change it. Some of the land is flat and has a mild climate that is good for farming. There are some deserts of purple sand. They are fiery hot during the day and cold at night. There are other regions of bare rock that separate the fertile areas. All the land is on one continent. The rest of the planet is a blue-green ocean much less salty than Earth s. There seems to be only one major threat to life on Clarion – the disease Holobinkitis. It attacks both plants and animals, Clarionmen included. No one knows the cause of the disease or a cure for it. It is almost always fatal if you catch it. Clarion has one large and unusual mineral deposit. The mineral is Walterite ore. In fact, Clarion is the only known planet with such large deposits. Several scientists say that the metal obtained from the ore is superior to iron or steel for most uses. However, Walterite is usually found under a thick layer of hard rock. Thus, it is often difficult to mine. In comparison to Earth, Clarion has a low standard of living. The Clarionmen don t produce all the things need and want. As a result, they are thrifty. They don t like to spend money unless it s absolutely necessary. Then they want to get a good deal: for every bit of money they spend. They have some of the same problems the Pilgrims had when they first settled in North America. Food sometimes becomes scarce, and it is expensive to import food from other planets. One of the big problems with raising crops is that the insects on Clarion really like to eat them. Therefore, a large part of every crop is lost to insects. Most of the Clarionmen say they will stay on in spite of the hardships. They believe Clarion has a bright future once things get going. The Clarionmen usually give three reasons for leaving their home planet of Rasmuss: 1: It was getting too crowded there. 2. There was a promise of a better life on Clarion. 3, Clarion is a beautiful place to live. Most Clarionmen have a strong appreciation for beauty, and they enjoy nature. They look forward to more leisure time outdoors. End quote from game manual As manager of Clarion, the players will keep track of four variables: population, income, food, and environment. They are given a budget of 10 bux (a Clarion buc is equivalent to about one million U.S. dollars) to fund planetary project for the next five years. Each budget will determine which projects Clarion will fund for the following five years. In the course of the complete game ten 5-year budgets will be prepared. On turn one Clarion s population index is at 100, each unit representing 1000 Clarion citizens. The income index and the food index also start at 100. When the population index equals income index, citizens have enough money to buy basic necessities. If income exceeds population, Clarion citizen s standard of living will have improved. When the population index equals the food index there is enough food to provide each citizen with a well-balanced but simple diet. If food index fall

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