data/claims/sumerian-game.yamlThe Sumerian Game (BOCES and IBM)
Game: The Sumerian Game.
The Sumerian Game came out of a partnership between the Board of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) of Northern Westchester County, New York, and IBM, and was begun in Cooperative Research Project 1948, which ran from February 1963 to August 1964. sumerian-game/project
p. ii, PrefaceResearch Project 1948, which lasted from February 1963 to August '64.The Production and Evaluation of Three Computer-Based Economics Games for the Sixth Grade: Final Report · p. 12The Sumerian Game (already begun in the preceding project), The Sierra Leone Game, and The Free Enterprise Game.Checked by claude, 2026-10-20 — read the preface (p. ii) and the opening of Part II (p. 12)Cited by: Hamurabi, The Sumerian Game
Mabel Addis, a fourth-grade teacher, wrote the instructional version, and William McKay of IBM programmed it. sumerian-game/credits
p. 13, note 1The instructional version of the game was written by Mrs. Mabel Addis, a fourth grade teacher at the Katonah Elementary School. William McKay of IBM programed the game for the computer.Checked by claude, 2026-10-20 — read p. 13 and its footnoteThe report credits the idea to Bruse Moncreiff of IBM.
Cited by: Hamurabi, The Sumerian Game
Students played on IBM 1050 terminals linked by Dataphone to a special-purpose IBM 7090 under a time-sharing monitor at IBM's Yorktown Heights division, and the game was about 15,000 lines of Fortran Assembly Program code. sumerian-game/hardware
p. 60The terminals located at the BOCES Research Center were connected by Dataphone to a special-purpose 7090 Computer, which was under supervision of a Time Sharing Monitor system (TSM)The Production and Evaluation of Three Computer-Based Economics Games for the Sixth Grade: Final Report · p. 60The Sumerian Game used about 15,000 lines of instructionsChecked by claude, 2026-10-20 — read Chapter 7, Equipment (p. 60)Cited by: The Sumerian Game
The student rules Lagash in Sumer, about 3500 B.C., as Luduga I, and each season divides the grain among food, seed, and storage. sumerian-game/role
pp. 13–14He then assumes the role of Luduga I, priest-ruler of LagashThe Production and Evaluation of Three Computer-Based Economics Games for the Sixth Grade: Final Report · p. 14(1) food for the people, (2) seed for next season's planting, (3) inventory for future needs.Checked by claude, 2026-10-20 — read pp. 13-15Two later rulers, Luduga II and III, add crafts and then trade (p. 14).
Cited by: Commodity trading, The Sumerian Game
The first problem reads: "We have harvested 5,000 bushels of grain to take care of 500 people." sumerian-game/first-report
p. 14We have harvested 5,000 bushels of grain to take care of 500 people.Checked by claude, 2026-10-20 — read p. 14Cited by: The Sumerian Game
The report's population model makes 18 bushels per person the best ration. sumerian-game/food-best
Value: 18 bushels per person
PaperThe Production and Evaluation of Three Computer-Based Economics Games for the Sixth Grade: Final Report ·p. 14the "best" amount of grain to use for food is 18 bushels per personChecked by claude, 2026-10-20 — read p. 14, which gives the figure from its Figure 3Cited by: The Sumerian Game
Grain left in inventory can rot, and the game reports the loss as grain that has "rotted or been eaten by rats". sumerian-game/rot
p. 15, Grain Rotting"Sir: I am sorry to report that bushels of grain have rotted or been eaten by rats this past seasonChecked by claude, 2026-10-20 — read p. 15Cited by: The Sumerian Game
Floods and fires strike in 5 seasons out of 16 overall, cutting the harvest by 10% to 40%. sumerian-game/disasters
Value: 0.3125
PaperThe Production and Evaluation of Three Computer-Based Economics Games for the Sixth Grade: Final Report ·p. 15The procedure, repeated a number of times will show disasters occurring 5/16 of the time overall.Checked by claude, 2026-10-20 — read p. 15When a disaster strikes, its cut is 10%, 20%, 30%, or 40%, chosen 9, 4, 2, and 1 times in 16 (p. 15: "these percentages are chosen 9/16 of the time, 4/16 of the time, 2/16 of the time and 1/16 of the time, respectively").
Cited by: The Sumerian Game
The Strong's Sumerian Game collection holds a teletype printout of play, titled "Sumerian Economic Model", dated 18 September 1964. sumerian-game/printout-1964
Series I, Object 3“Sumerian Economic Model” game teletype printout, September 18, 1964The finding aid dates the collection's slides from August 1962 to June 1965.
Cited by: Hamurabi, The Sumerian Game
From October 1965 to March 1966, 26 sixth graders from the Mohansic School in Yorktown Heights played it and the Sierra Leone Game in the project's experiment. sumerian-game/playtest
p. 65From October 1965 to March 1966, twenty-six sixth-grade students from the Mohansic School in Yorktown Heights, New York, played the two gamesChecked by claude, 2026-10-20 — read Part III, Brief description (p. 65)Cited by: The Sumerian Game
Joachim Froholt calls The Sumerian Game "the oldest strategy computer game we have a decent amount of information about". sumerian-game/froholt-oldest
Cited by: The Sumerian Game
Kate Willaert writes that The Sumerian Game "wasn't the first resource management game for computers" but was the first designed for elementary school students. sumerian-game/willaert-edutainment
Willaert's words; she places earlier business management games, "written for adults", before it.
Cited by: The Sumerian Game