Using the motif of stock trading, Buy! Sell! explores individual choice in the context of information overload. Feeling overwhelmed by the constant stream of information hitting us every minute of every day seems to be the new normal. This deluge can be absolutely crippling leaving us asking, “What is the right thing to do?” “What really matters?” These are big important questions that are definitely worth asking. However, at any given time, there are usually only a handful of choices we can immediately make.

Buy! Sell! uses the structure of a dated stock trading floor to illustrate this point. Players watch a fictional trading terminal and yell into modified analog telephones to buy or sell stocks. Deciding which information to act on increases in difficulty as the game progresses, although the number of choices a player can make at any given time remains constant. The game overwhelms players with information. Some of it is useful. Some of it isn’t. Additional complexity is introduced through the visual design while the game mechanic remains simple. The player never has more than a few moves to make. The player who is able to consistently make simple choices in the midst of chaos wins the game.

Buy! Sell! was developed in the Whaaat!? Lab of the ATLAS Institute at CU Boulder and was a finalist at the 2022 alt.ctrl.GDC