M.U.L.E.

released on Nov 01, 1983

M.U.L.E. is about four hopeful explorers trying to make a fortune on a virgin planet. This is done by producing various goods (Food, Energy, Smithore, Crystite). Each of these goods have their uses: if you don't have enough food, you will have less time during your turn. If you don't have enough energy, your output will be lower. If enough smithore isn't produced, there will be a shortage of M.U.L.E.s. Crystite is the big earner that can make or break your game. You start the game by selecting your race. Some are easier to play, some harder. There are three levels of difficulty, in the easiest the game only lasts 6 turns, but the real game is 12 turns. Crystite is not available at the easiest level. Each turn starts with land claim. Each player gets to choose a spot of land for themselves from the map. If two players choose the same spot, the player with less money wins. The map consists of different landscape. River is best for producing food, plains for energy, mountains for smithore. Crystite is hidden and must be first found by taking a land sample to the town. After the land claim each player takes turns in cultivating their land and do other tasks. They can buy M.U.L.E.s to start production on their land, sabotage other players by buying M.U.L.E.s and letting them loose, try to catch the Wumpus for cash and try to find crystite veins. The time to do these things depends on if the player has enough food. Finally the player goes to the casino and wins a small amount of money, depending on how much time was left.


Released on

Genres


More Info on IGDB


Reviews View More

"The most fun you’ll have with economics."

To say this game was ahead of it's time is a massive understatement, too bad it was never really in the spotlight, though there were much more genre defining and hardware pushing games coming out, this game is none of those things, it is innovative and genius.

M.U.L.E. is a legendary strategy game and would be a nightmare to play on a tabletop.

You and a group of colonists (which are either player controlled or bots) land on a planet with the intent to make bank.

To get labor done however you need to use the Multiple Use Labor Elements (or M.U.L.E.s). However they're not the most loyal of subjects and will probably cause you lots of pain!

On top of that you're not playing checkers here, you're playing chess, turns really matter here, if you don't get everything you want done in a turn you can basically kiss your sorry ass goodbye at times, it is sometimes impossible to recover from early screwups. But when you do, it is so rewarding.

This game takes what makes board games good and what makes computer games great and allows you to experience a game that really only would work here.

It's a shame we didn't get the Amiga and Mega Drive versions.

Seeing as M.U.L.E. works best with real people here's a couple ways to play the game...
- https://puzzud.itch.io/mule-online - Most active one, though calling it "active" is a stretch.
- https://www.planetmule.com/ - One everyone played before M.U.L.E. Online - Very Controversial
Promising:
- https://store.steampowered.com/app/438210/MULE_Returns/ - Still waiting on this

Mule is a lot of fun, more fun than it has any right to be. a lot of modern biz Sims still don't match the simple mechanics of this game. which is kinda odd when you think about it.

A well designed business simulator that increases the complexity and engagement of its gameplay by pitting the players against each other which helps keep each match interesting.

~ Juegos que Hay que Jugar Antes de Morir ~
Parte 2 — Los 80: Caída y Resurgir

Juego 59: M.U.L.E. (1983)

Confuso, lento, feo e injusto. De esos juegos en los que no entiendo como todo puede fallar a tantos niveles diferentes.

Hey guys- I don't normally use this website, but I took some time to read your reviews and a lot of them are written how Mule used to post. Remember that overly long and stupidly complex sentence structure he would use? I'm seeing that way too much, and your reviews tend to be a real pain to read.

I'm not saying you have to publish sarcastic shitpost reviews. If you're writing an in-depth review of the game, that's great. But the reviews can be better.

Reread your reviews before posting them and think to yourself: can I get to the point more concisely? Ultimately your goal should be to make your sentences less wordy. Try practicing by typing a section of your review in Twitter and see if you can make it fit the character limit.

Doing all this will make your points pop and your arguments easier to follow. It will greatly improve your reviews, and your perspective/voice will become stronger.

M.U.L.E is a SciFi turn based business simulator, plays a bit like an early Civ.

It's fun with friends and I haven't found a game quite like it since.