Systembolaget

Systembolaget is a government-owned chain of stores in Sweden with an exclusive right of selling liquor. Its vision is a society where alcoholic beverages are enjoyed with consideration for the health so that nobody is injured. An important aspect of this is that all product selections and displays must be based on customer preferences, and every producer and distributor must be handled the same way.

Items

The item types of the game - beer, wine, and spirits - correspond to the main assortment types of Systembolaget. (Actually, wine is divided into red, white, and rosé and there are also groups for cider and alcohol free beverages, but to include all those would be too much for a game.) The brands of the game - yellow, red, black, blue, and white - are generic but this complies well with Systembolaget's policy of producer neutrality. Also, it's no coincidence that the shelf space is the biggest for high volume types (beer) and the smallest for low volume types (spirits) but that each brand within a type has the same shelf space (3 spaces per beer, 2 spaces per wine, and 1 space per spirits irrespective of brand). This reflects how the assortment is matched to the demand without favoring certain suppliers.

Jobs

Work rotation is usually applied at Systembolaget stores and the job cards reflect different assignments. Items are received at the stock and moved to the shelves as needed. The floor has to be manned to provide guidance to the customers and the number of open checkouts have to be scaled to the number of customers in the store. In case of accidents, spillage has to be cleaned up as soon as possible (hence the negative score the longer it's left unattended), and the supervisor is ready to step in anywhere if necessary (hence the ability to copy other actions). Systembolaget also has an option to order items not available in the store and this has been represented by the preorder card that lets a player pick items directly from the stock (since those goods can't be found on the shelves). Last but certainly not least, the employees are encouraged to take regular breaks (hence the lower score if it's taken too early or too late).

Similar items

An appreciated skill of Systembolaget's employees is the knowledge of different beverages (which match which food, which items that are similar and so on). This aspect would suit a quiz game but was nevertheless included in the game through the similar item wheel, whereby a missing item may be replaced by an adjacent item to avoid penalties.

Age control

An important duty for Systembolaget's employees is to ensure that customers are of legal age. This aspect would also suit a quiz game but was included in the game through a memory mechanic, whereby a player must remember to ask for identification at certain moments to avoid penalties.

Sale stops

It happens that items can't be sold for different reasons (late deliveries, quality issues etc.), in which case it's important to guide customers to similar items (and ensure that those items are in stock). This was easily implemented by removing a certain brand from the game and added some asymmetry to it.

Customer Satisfaction Index

The Customer Satisfaction Index is a key performance indicator of how well Systembolaget executes its mission so it was natural to use this as victory points.

Systembolaget

The old store (without self-service)

The new store (wit self-service)