Item - Starting Up: An Interactive Adventure that Challenges Your Entrepreneurial Skills

I think the idea of using the gamebook format for educational purposes is a good one, and this is certainly not the first time such a thing was tried. Unfortunately, this is a rather weak attempt. The writing is extremely bland, resembling a typical motivational business book more than a work of fiction; indeed, most dialogue seems to consist of people quoting motivational business books. The only characters who seem at all human (and that's saying very little) are the player character's family members, but they largely fade from sight after the first couple of chapters. Strong efforts are made to keep the player character gender-neutral, but this leads to awkwardness and seems odd considering that other details, such as age and number of children, are explicitly mentioned in the text. Of course, none of this would matter if the business elements were really strong, but I was unimpressed. I was hoping for a real simulation of running a business, but since there is so much text, so few choices and no game system, it all feels rather arbitrary. It also doesn't help that I didn't like the blunt, self-assured way the authors presented their philosophies or that I came across some rather dated subjects (especially regarding computers). Perhaps a more business-oriented, entrepreneurial soul than myself would get something out of all this, but it's a waste of time for the average gamebook fan.

More reviews by Demian

[Rating: 0/10]
[Recommended? NO]

It's important to be adequately familiar with subjects outside of one's main line of work; the best books, no matter their intended level of complexity, may nevertheless aim to educate as wide of an audience as possible. This is what makes a book a great means of communication: to convey meaning in ways which might not have otherwise been possible (or, conversely, record information of value for a given audience). Such aspirations were likely not kept in mind as a high priority for the authors of "Starting Up", an utterly unique and meticulously designed gamebook with the most practical of goals: providing simulation of entrepreneurial enterprises as such can be reflected upon and applied to real life.

Theoretically, this sounded like a pretty interesting concept for me. I was thoroughly disappointed to discover how integral and necessary-to-play it was to have significant pre-existing familiarity with the subject matter going into this. There's no crash course on the basics; advanced knowledge of the inner workings of the profession and your business' relevant industries is requisitely expected. Other readers, such as myself, will no doubt get left behind pretty early on... and that's why I failed to find the fun this book might've actually had.

I think this book would've been better suited kept off the general market and, quite simply, been distributed as a thought-process workshop or educational resource instead of as a proper "gamebook" - even now, something just doesn't quite add up about the whole experience. To me, there was a very narrow, very ill-defined target audience to begin with, and it was an absolute must for the book's explanatory/educational qualities to ease readers through the process. I do not consider "Starting Up" a successful start-up introduction to entrepreneurship, nor does it succeed as arguably the first gamebook of its kind to set out to do what it does. One thing is clear to me all along, though: this book is not a great communicator (let alone a decent one), and for that I simply cannot recommend it except to the select few entrepreneurial professionals out there who are also gamebook readers - the only ones I can possibly fathom it appealing to. ^^

(Mysteriously disappears into the shadows.)

More reviews by Shadeheart