Fortune Builder
Fortune Builder — frequently asked questions
- What platforms is Fortune Builder on?
- Fortune Builder was released on ColecoVision.
- When did Fortune Builder release?
- Fortune Builder was first released on June 1, 1984.
About Fortune Builder
Fortune Builder has it all! Educational and fun, FORTUNE BUILDER lets you plan, build and run your own community. Race against time to achieve your financial goal in a One-Player Game or compete with another tycoon in a Two-Player Game. Either way. Fortune Builder is a challenge. Your community will be laid out on a map of undeveloped land, consisting of a seacoast with beachfront. two mountain ranges, midlands, a river and a lake, with a main highway running north and south. You'll start with a fixed amount of cash, enabling you to buy and build a large variety of proper-ties: hotels, condos, marinas, factories, malls, gas stations and numerous other facilities. The challenge is to build them where they will draw the most traffic, thereby increasing profits. And all the while, you must keep an eye on bulletins that may affect your efforts, watching for changes in every-thing from consumer trends to the weather. Fortune Builder teaches problem solving and helps you learn, in a way both fun and realistic, about economics, geography, sociology, investments and the effects of the environment and current events on industry and the marketplace.
Summary via IGDB.
Fortune Builder on Wikipedia
Fortune Builder is a 1984 simulation video game developed by Circuits and Systems and published by Coleco Industries for the ColecoVision. One of the only simulation titles available for the ColecoVision at the time, the game is an economic simulation in which the player builds a property empire through acquiring, developing and selling real estate. Publications have identified Fortune Builder as an early iteration of a simulation video game similar to the later Maxis title SimCity.
Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA 4.0).
Game details
- Platforms
- ColecoVision
- Publisher
- Coleco
- Game modes
- Single player, Multiplayer
- Themes
- Business
Details via IGDB.
Collector value & authenticity
ColecoVision · PriceCharting sold data · Verified 2026-10-19
How often it sells
- Loose: about 6 times a year
- Complete: about 4 times a year
- Sealed: about once a year
Sales frequency from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, as of 2026-10-19.
Price over time
- Loose
- Complete
A loose copy sold for about $10.00 in Jul 2009, $26 five years ago, and $23 as of Oct 2026.
Show as table
| Month | Loose | Complete |
|---|---|---|
| Jan 2010 | $6.09 | — |
| Jan 2011 | $7.75 | — |
| Jan 2012 | $10.00 | — |
| Jan 2013 | $12.86 | — |
| Jan 2014 | $8.50 | $35 |
| Jan 2015 | $16.00 | $50 |
| Jan 2016 | $9.94 | $50 |
| Jan 2017 | $16.95 | $60 |
| Jan 2018 | $15.89 | $50 |
| Jan 2019 | $17.49 | $25 |
| Jan 2020 | $16.15 | $25 |
| Jan 2021 | $25 | $55 |
| Jan 2022 | $27 | $58 |
| Jan 2023 | $23 | $70 |
| Jan 2024 | $17.99 | $42 |
| Jan 2025 | $16.70 | $59 |
| Jan 2026 | $19.36 | $34 |
| Oct 2026 | $23 | $29 |
Monthly price estimates from PriceCharting's completed-sale records, sampled quarterly, through Oct 2026.
Release record
| Territory | Label | Barcode |
|---|---|---|
| North America Coleco | End label: for ColecoVision and ADAM | 076930207925 |
- Region
- NA
- Released
- 1984
- Controller
- Hand controller
- Players
- 1 or 2 (simultaneous)
- Authenticity
- Low
A rare real-estate simulation on the ColecoVision, and a better two-player game than a one-player one.
Circuits and Systems developed Fortune Builder for Coleco, which published it in 1984. You turn raw land into residential, business and resort property, and building costs vary with the terrain. Wikipedia calls it one of the only simulations on the console and notes that Computer Entertainer nominated it for its 1984 ColecoVision Program of the Year.
Electronic Games reviewed it in February 1985 and thought the one-player game was little more than a basic economics lesson, while a second player made it far more fun, comparing it to a long Monopoly session. The ColecoVision cartridge also ran on the Adam.
What the press said at the time
| Computer Entertainer Vol. 3 No. 8 | November 1984 | Graphics ★★★ · Play-Action ★★★★ |
“This game is truly something different for ColecoVision owners … All in all, this one gets an A for gameplay!”
“a second player makes Fortune Builder more fun than an all-night Monopoly game.”
Computer Entertainer rated graphics first and play action second, from four symbols (excellent) to one (poor) — diamonds through early 1987, stars after — comparing each game only with other games for the same system.
Worth knowing
- From the ColecoVision manual. In a one-player game you have five years to earn $250,000,000; the two-player game has no time limit and ends when one player builds his fortune.
- From the ColecoVision manual. The Strategy Guide covers 29 buildable properties; the game has four skill levels where lower skill means more starting money.
- From the ColecoVision manual. In the two-player game the screen is split in two and both players act at the same time, with each property built appearing on both halves.
Before you buy
Fortune Builder needs two keypads for two players, which is a real playability trap: a single controller shortchanges the game. A keypad overlay exists, so a complete copy should include it. Because the loose and complete prices are close, buy a complete copy. It cannot run on the Telegames Personal Arcade clone.
Fortune Builder screenshots
Watch on YouTube
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