SCM101

Inventory Hoarding Game

Experience how panic buying cascades through a supply chain. Make ordering decisions under uncertainty and discover why individually rational choices can lead to collectively irrational outcomes.

How It Works

  • You play as a buyer at one tier of a 4-tier supply chain over 10 rounds.
  • Each round, a news event creates uncertainty about future supply or demand.
  • You decide how much to order: 1x (normal), 1.5x, 2x, or 3x the base amount.
  • Three AI-controlled tiers make their own decisions simultaneously.
  • Hoarding drives up costs for everyone. Holding steady saves money long-term but carries short-term risk.
  • Goal: Minimize your total cost across all 10 rounds. Lower cost = higher score.
Round 1 of 10
Total Cost: $0
Breaking News
Your Inventory
50
Incoming Orders
10
Available Supply
15
Backlog
0
Place Your Order
Base order amount: 10 units. How much will you order from your supplier?
SCM101

Game Over

85
A
Total Cost: $1,234
Rounds Hoarded
0
Avg Order Multiplier
1.0x
Total Cost
$0
Your Cost vs. Optimal Cost by Round

What Happened?