Beginner's Guide - Summary & Game Ending

[Big Head Zach]

Status Phase
After the auctions, the round concludes with the Status Screen, the players marching across and up the screen in score order. It breaks down each player's score by cash on hand, plots owned, and the value of their stored goods. The total colony score is also shown, letting you know how the colony is doing as a whole.

COLONY FAILURE
If the colony is doing poorly enough, it is possible for the game to end early with a complete and utter loss for all involved!

If the colony has no Food MULEs installed and there is neither Food in the Store nor any of the players' storage, the game immediately ends with the message: "The Colony failed due to a complete lack of Food!" (Everyone starves to death.)

If the colony has no Energy MULEs installed and there is neither Energy in the Store nor any of the players' storage, the game immediately ends with the message: "The Colony failed due to a complete lack of Energy!" (The Store shuts down, and everyone's MULEs cease to function, which include Food MULEs...then everyone starves to death.)

END OF THE GAME
Assuming nothing like the above has occurred, the game reaches the last round. In the last round, no global event happens during Production; the Colony Ship returns to assess your progress. During auctions, there is no need to sell any goods, as they will automatically be valued at current price in your score. At the status screen, check the colony score - if it is at least $60,000, then the colony is successful (which means that the player in first place is declared First Founder and wins the game)!

FAQ: If there is no reason to sell goods in the final round, why have an auction?
Good question, and one that stirs up a bit of discussion. The easy and simple answer is that you can see the final prices of all of the goods, and how much each player was able to produce.

FAQ/SPEC: The complex and controversial answer is that it was possible in the Atari version of the game (and possibly the C64 version, in some respects) to trade goods in the last round and affect the final market value of goods, which can vastly alter scoring. There is a debate between fans of both versions of the game over whether this is considered an intended feature of the game, or an exploit. Planet MULE's current configuration does not let last-round trading affect market value, so there truly is no reason to sell goods in the last round, for now.
SPEC: The original game broke Assets down into Land and Goods; you were able to see how much of your total net worth was from equity and installed MULEs, and how much was from stored commodities.

SPEC: The original game also notified players by scrolling marquee if a shortage situation existed for any of the goods (less in Store/player Storage than what is required for next round).

IMPROVE: A screenshot or animated cutscene that depicts the ending of the game would be fun, especially if you use the players' figures pacing back in forth in debtor's prison, tending ornery MULEs outside a tent city, walking proudly in a frontier town, zooming around in a bustling metropolis, or basking with a fruity drink in a palatial estate.

IMPROVE: For stat tracking purposes, some valuation should be applied that makes a $100,000 First Founder more "impressive" than a $60,000 First Founder.