Our Town 1978

From the box:

The urban companion of Community (another Family Pastimes game) with higher level strategies. We try to develop our town's economy and avoid going bankrupt. We decide on what works best as private enterprise and/or what works best cooperatively owned and operated. Maybe credit unions, food co-ops, people parks! The Daily News and mail bring many challenges.

The players begin the game as self-employed, but through cooperation they can transform their properties into co-ops and eventually discover that by doing this, they can win the game. But it isn't an easy feat. Devalued currency, strikes, injuries, inflation, raised taxes and other expenses try to hinder you. The Power, the town's anonymous capitalist, strives to put a monopoly on all enterprises. Players must be loyal, generous, entrepreneurial and far-sighted to succeed in making the whole town cooperative, to make the town into OUR TOWN.

The aim of the game is to learn to cooperate in a board game and at the same time learn useful things about economy and civic life. We have from early on learned to compete, and there are few teaching tools in the relationship between children and adults to teach other approaches.