Taipan! is an 1982 computer game, built for TRS-80. It is based on the James Clavell novel of the same name, itself part of the Asian Saga. The player takes the role of a "taipan" (merchant-prince) and trades all about the Indian ocean in four commodities: Opium, Arms, Silk, and General cargo. Variance in price makes it possible to buy low and sell high. There is also the risk of being attacked by pirates. Other hazards include being mugged, having your opium confiscated by the authorities, and running afoul of Li Yuan the local crime boss. There is no definite end; play continues as long as the player wants. As with other An Entrepreneur Is You games, the most interesting part is toward the beginning when you are just getting your business started.
Those who wish to play again "for the memories" can find it online for free at http://taipangame.com/
Taipan! provides examples of the following tropes:
- Adam Smith Hates Your Guts: Market prices are entirely random, but the price of repairs, guns and new ships is based on how much cash you have on you, though unlike Li Yuen's "donation" requests, it will never exceed what you have on hand.
- The Don: Li Yuen, head of the pirates and extortionists in Hong Kong. "Donate" money to his operations and his hired hands may assist you in naval battles. Refuse him and the guy will send pirate ships after you. A regular extortion racket.
- An Entrepreneur Is You: Your goal is to set up a successful trade operation. The first decision you must make is to choose either an unarmed ship and cash, but also a debt, or a ship with five cannons and no money, but also no debt.
- Epic Ship-on-Ship Action: An inevitability, especially if you choose to upgrade and up-arm your ship regularly. If you choose the ship with five guns and no cash or debt, hunting pirates for plunder will be your only choice to get starting money.
- In-Game Banking Services:
- The player can get loans at extortionate rates from Elder Brother Wu. In the Apple II version, if you pay back Elder Brother Wu more than you owe him, he starts paying you interest on the extra money and you can withdraw it, though Wu still send you his thugs to ask for repayment. This makes him much better than the regular bank of Hong Kong.
- While in Hong Kong, it's possible for the player to deposit any of his current cash on hand in a bank or withdraw cash in their account. The bank pays a small amount of interest. Cash is only safe from being stolen while in the bank.
- Loan Shark: The Elder Brother Wu will loan you money at extortionate rates. He will offer you credit up to twice the cash you have on hand, so you can't take a loan with no money. If you owe him and miss payments, he sends thugs after you.
- Pirate: 19th century pirates of the Pacific Ocean are your constant opponents. They infest the trade routes between Batavia (modern Jakarta), Hong Kong, Manila, Nagasaki, Saigon, Shanghai, and Singapore. Thus every important trading port in the game.
- Plunder: Defeating enemy ships leads allows you to plunder them and add to your supplies.
- Random Number God: Whether you encounter pirates and how many, get beaten up and robbed in port, sunk in a storm, get offered a new ship or cannon, market prices, are all randomised. The odds of certain things increase the more money you have on you or how well armed your ship is.
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Spiritual Successor: Tradewinds - Turnbased Strategy: It is part of the genre.
- Zerg Rush: Later in the game, you may get attacked by more than 70 pirate ships at once. If you have enough guns, you might even be able to beat them.
