Nowhere to go but up
Ternox has released their ‘80s immersed finance sim, Stonks-9800, today on Early Access.
You’ll probably need a deep breath after groaning and/or sighing at that meme-inspired name. After your lungs reinflate, take a look, because Stonks-9800 is a pretty neat-looking concept.
Economic sims aren’t necessarily a new thing, with the earliest titles dating back to the days of mainframe computers. However, we’ve recently been receiving some interesting new twists, like Space Warlord Organ Trading Simulator. Stonks-9800 takes the concept back to Japan’s economic bubble of the 1980s. It’s presented sort of as a menu-driven interactive fiction game where you buy and sell things like real estate and cars. The goal of the game is to improve your own standard of living while also not dying of overwork.
Ternox suggests that the game is going for a chill vibe, and while talk of finances tends to trigger my anxiety, I can see what they mean. If nothing else, you can unwind and play Pachinko or bet on horse races.
I think it looks pretty great. I assume the latter half of the name, Stonks-9800, is a reference to the NEC PC-9800, which was a ubiquitous computer throughout the 1980s in Japan. However, I could do without the meme interest. How about “Super Zaibatsu 9800” or “The Death and Return of Wallstreet Kid.” Maybe I’m the uncool one here.
Stonks-9800 is available right now via Steam Early Access. The full release should launch in 2024 and will appear on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch.
