University launches mobile ice cream game

Milan's Bocconi University has launched a management simulation for mobile phones based around running an ice cream stand. It aims to promote entrepreneurial skills by requiring users to learn about balance sheets, competition, and business basics such as demand and supply.

The game, which is set in Milan, has three basic stages: choosing the location of the stand and setting it up with staff and goods; watching customers react to the stand as it is set up; and finally, examining the financial results of the day and making strategic changes as a result. Players can send in their results to an Ice Cream Stock Exchange to see how well they fare against others.

To play, gamers must register at the game's Web site and wait for a download text. There is no cost other than the mobile operator's charge for downloading.

"With ICE we want to have a first, informal and amusing contact with young European people feeling a call to economic and entrepreneurial activity," said Angelo Provasoli, Bocconi University rector.