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Speculator is a decent, tongue-in-cheek game of real estate acquisition. In this turn-based game, your goal is to end up with a higher asset value at the end of the game than your 3 competitors. You do this by purchasing plots of land in the city, and profit from their rising value and monthly income (rent, etc.). As in real life, the kinds of land adjacent to your holdings will determine its value (after all, land next to a trash heap isn't really prime office space...), and you can buy and sell shares in various land holding companies. Since you have limited funds and the locations of land plots vary each turn, much of your time will be spent in choosing land that is most valuable among the lot. You can also prevent computer players from succeeding by "reserving" land (i.e. take it out of the game permanently) next to their holdings so they cannot expand, but this option costs more than 3 times the normal price, and your opponents can do the same to you. The game is pretty decent as far as "real estate acquisition" goes, but it's a long way from providing an in-depth or accurate simulation of the industry (no REITs to buy, for instance). If you are in the mood for a light business sim that depicts one of the more esoteric industries, Speculator might fit the bill. Otherwise, just stick to Capitalism Plus or even the real estate component of A-Train and Railroad Tycoon II :) Reviewed by: Underdogs | 
