Bänd (DJBM)

Bänd (distributed as DJBM) is a 1996 management strategy game in which you take on the role of a rock band’s manager. It was released by ALFware, a small Finnish outfit whose period file description proudly announced it as the biggest strategy game they had ever made, finished “after great pain and toil”.

The gameplay follows the classic management recipe: you hire musicians, play gigs, buy equipment and — as the original blurb promised — “much more”, trying to steer your band from obscurity to fame.

Games like Bänd circulated on Finnish BBSes in the mid-1990s and are virtually unknown outside Finland, which makes them a rewarding find for any retro catalogue. You can play it right in your browser on OldGame.cz.