ECON 101: Principles of Economics
Interactive Learning Games
Hands-on simulations for exploring key economic concepts through decision-making.
1. 🌮 Taco Truck: Perfect Competition Simulator
Run your own taco truck and learn how firms behave in perfect competition.
- Price-taking behavior and the shutdown rule (P vs AVC vs ATC)
- Entry, exit, and zero economic profit in the long run
2. đź’° Second Degree Price Discrimination Simulator
Design product tiers and prices so customers self-select — and revenue is maximized.
- Basic tier pricing extracts surplus from low-value customers
- Premium pricing prevents high-value customers from “trading down”
- Three scenarios: Cloud Storage, Airline Tickets, Coffee Shop
3. 🤝 Prisoner’s Dilemma: Game Theory Simulator
Explore strategic decision-making through the classic Prisoner’s Dilemma.
- Individual rationality vs collective irrationality
- Repeated games and strategies like Tit-for-Tat
- AI Mode for solo practice, Multiplayer Mode for real-time play with classmates
4. ⚡ Externality Economics: AI Datacenter Game
A multiplayer simulation of negative externalities: datacenter production strains the grid and raises electricity bills for everyone — including local households.
- Social cost vs private cost, and why firms overproduce
- 3 rounds of production decisions; grid strain raises the electricity rate (α) for firms and households alike
- Instructor Mode creates the room and advances phases; Student Mode joins with a code
How to use: Instructor creates a room and shares the code; students join and make production choices each round. Results after each round show firm rankings and household bills.