Price War Standoff
Everyone stands. Everyone runs an ice cream van on the same beach. Each round, players secretly choose a price, an event card shakes the market, and the worst earners sit down. It is loud, it is ruthless, and by the end the class understands elasticity because they have felt it.
How to run it
Everyone stands up. Each player runs an ice cream van on the same beach. Every round they choose one price and show it on fingers held against their chest at the count of three: 2 fingers = LOW £2, 5 fingers = MID £5, 8 fingers (two hands) = HIGH £8. No talking during the choice.
After prices are shown, read one event card aloud. The card changes how fussy customers are about price that round. Use the payout table: each player notes their earnings for the round on scrap paper or just remembers their running total.
After rounds 2, 4 and 6, the lowest earners in the room sit down (bottom 25% or so, judged quickly by show of hands: who has under £X?). Seated players become the Market: they get to vote on one event card of their choice later, so they stay involved.
Play until three players remain, then run one final round where the Market (seated players) chooses the event card by vote. Highest total wins the beach.
Ask: when did HIGH pricing earn the most, and why? (Inelastic demand: heatwave, no competitors nearby.) When did LOW pricing backfire? (Everyone undercutting, price war, tiny margins.) Introduce or reinforce the formula for price elasticity of demand and label each event card elastic or inelastic as a class.
🖨 Payout table (write on board)
| Your price | Normal round | Price-sensitive round (elastic) | Price-blind round (inelastic) |
|---|---|---|---|
| LOW £2 | Earn £6 | Earn £10 | Earn £4 |
| MID £5 | Earn £8 | Earn £6 | Earn £10 |
| HIGH £8 | Earn £7 | Earn £2 | Earn £14 |
Undercut penalty: if more than half the room picks LOW in any round, all LOW players earn only £2 each — the price war destroyed everyone's margin.
🖨 10 event cards (read aloud, one per round)
- 1. Heatwave! 34 degrees, the beach is packed and desperate. Price-blind round (inelastic).
- 2. Rain sets in. Only bargain-hunters remain. Price-sensitive round (elastic).
- 3. Payday weekend. Customers feel rich. Price-blind round (inelastic).
- 4. A supermarket opens a freezer aisle nearby. Cheap substitutes everywhere. Price-sensitive round (elastic).
- 5. Normal Tuesday. Nothing special. Normal round.
- 6. Food blogger says your beach has the best ice cream in Britain. Queues form. Price-blind round (inelastic).
- 7. Cost-of-living news dominates the headlines. Everyone compares prices. Price-sensitive round (elastic).
- 8. School holidays begin. Families with pocket-money budgets. Price-sensitive round (elastic).
- 9. Half the vans break down (not yours). Less competition. Price-blind round (inelastic).
- 10. Normal Saturday. Steady trade. Normal round.
Variations
- Cartel round: allow 30 seconds of open negotiation before one round. Watch an illegal price-fixing agreement form, then watch someone betray it. Discuss why cartels collapse (and why they are illegal).
- Branding upgrade: any player may permanently sacrifice £5 of their total to become a premium brand, earning +£2 on every HIGH price round afterwards.
- Pairs mode: play in pairs where one partner sets price and the other tracks earnings and advises, swapping roles halfway.
Teacher tips
- Keep rounds under 60 seconds each. The pace is the point: slow rounds kill the tension.
- The undercut penalty is the best teaching moment in the game. When the whole room picks LOW and everyone earns £2, pause and name it: this is a price war.
- If a student asks whether they can collude, smile and say nothing. Someone always tries, and it makes the debrief better.
The Business School is a live simulation where your class runs rival firms for a full lesson — pricing wars, hiring, crises, negotiations. Free teacher demo, no installs, students join with a PIN.