Decision Maker

What is Decision Maker?

Decision Maker is a calm business simulation set in Germany in 1994. The player takes charge of a small Stuttgart trucking firm with six trucks, seven drivers and 70,000 Deutschmarks. The job is not to drive but to run the office for eight weeks, from January 3 to February 25. Orders arrive by mail between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. The player records them on a computer, sends a fax confirmation when a customer requires one, and dispatches a truck and driver from the yard. There are no menus. Actions happen by clicking objects in cartoon-style rooms, and the character must walk down the hall between rooms. Every action consumes game time, and work ends at 6 p.m. The aim is to manage orders, staff, vehicles and money well enough to build company value while keeping the business solvent.

How to play

The daily loop starts with the mail. Each order can be accepted or shredded. Some are risky: if a promised delivery fails, the penalty runs from half to twice the freight rate. Accepted jobs need to be entered and, when requested, confirmed by fax before a truck and driver leave the yard. A truck unloaded away from home can seek a return load through the Freight Exchange by telephone; otherwise it returns empty. Driver limits shape the schedule, because each driver may spend only eight hours a day at the wheel, and a shortage of drivers leaves trucks parked. The personnel office allows hiring and dismissal, with wages due on the first of each month. Vehicles and trailers come from a dealer; the starting fleet intentionally has no tankers or lowboys. Cash needs constant attention. Going too far into overdraft ends the game when the bank steps in.

Controls

Decision Maker uses a point-and-click control scheme built around rooms rather than menus. The mouse selects objects in each cartoon-style room: the computer for logging orders, the fax machine for confirmations, the yard for sending a truck and driver, the personnel office for staff changes, and the dealer for vehicle purchases. Between rooms, the character walks down the hallway, and that movement uses game time like other actions. Pause and fast-forward are available, with fast-forward advancing 15 game minutes per click. A mouse and a large screen are recommended. On screens narrower than 900 px a notice appears, but play can continue. Because every action consumes game time, clicking through a task is a scheduling decision rather than an instant command. The office clock matters too, since work ends at 6 p.m. and new orders arrive by mail from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. The control model is calm: there are no menus to learn, only rooms and objects to inspect.

Tips for your first run

First runs should focus on keeping promises and keeping drivers available. An order that looks profitable can turn costly if the delivery promise fails, because the penalty can reach twice the freight rate. Check the eight-hour daily driving limit before accepting a busy day, since too few available drivers leave trucks parked. When a truck unloads away from home, try the Freight Exchange by telephone for a return load; an empty return wastes the trip. Watch the calendar for the first of the month, when wages are due, and keep the account far from the overdraft limit that lets the bank end the game. The starting fleet has no tankers or lowboys, so the dealer is the route to those vehicle types. Pause and fast-forward, which moves 15 game minutes per click, help manage the office clock without rushing.

• Read each order before accepting; shredding is a valid choice.
• Use the Freight Exchange to avoid empty return journeys.
• Track each driver's eight-hour limit before dispatch.
• Keep cash well clear of the overdraft threshold.
• Remember wages on the first of the month.
• Remember that tankers and lowboys are absent from the starting vehicles.

Content and replayability

Decision Maker packs a focused set of management content: ten vehicle models, three trailer varieties, six cargo categories, eight regular clients and twenty German cities. Each new game begins with a fresh random setup, so order flow and company conditions can shift from run to run. Company value is scored after one, four and eight weeks, and each result goes onto a personal high score list. That gives a short-run benchmark and a longer eight-week target. After the eighth week, play can continue without scoring or restart. Replay value comes from trying to beat the previous record and from the randomized start. Audio offers two stations: Welle 94 supplies era-styled music, while Nachtschicht plays lo-fi. The office itself remains the core: orders, staff, vehicles and cash decisions carry across the eight-week run. A player can pursue a stronger company value at each scoring point while keeping the business solvent.

Presentation and performance

Decision Maker presents its office as a set of cartoon-style rooms rather than menu screens. The character walks the hallway between rooms, and tasks are performed by clicking objects such as the computer, fax machine and yard controls. That visual approach keeps the business simulation inside a workplace rather than a dashboard. Audio includes two radio stations: Welle 94 for era-styled music and Nachtschicht for lo-fi. Loading takes roughly 90 MB, with radio music filling most of that space. The game is intended for a computer with a mouse and a large screen. Below 900 px wide, a notice appears, but play can still continue. Menus are absent by design. The interface supports English, German, French, Spanish and Japanese, while text inside room artwork remains in German. Generative AI was used for the artwork, music, text and code. Autosave runs during play, and three save slots are available. Saves live only in the browser, so clearing browser data deletes them, and private-window saves vanish when the window closes. A save-to-file option is available in the saved games area.

In Safari and Brave, page saves may last only for the session, with an optional button to continue on another site where saving is more reliable.

Who should play it

Decision Maker suits players who want a calm management puzzle rather than a driving game. The focus stays in the office: reading orders, handling paperwork, hiring drivers, buying vehicles and protecting cash. Anyone who enjoys tycoon-style logistics, point-and-click rooms and small economic decisions should find the eight-week structure easy to approach. The 1994 German trucking setting gives the simulation a specific workplace flavor, while the randomized start and personal scoring provide reasons to return. Players who prefer direct control of trucks, action sequences or menu-heavy dashboards may find the deliberate office pace too slow. The game is single-player and runs in HTML5, so it fits a browser session on a computer with a mouse and a large screen. It is free to play. The scoring checkpoints at one, four and eight weeks give short goals and a longer record to beat.