Rags To Riches: A Review by Tom Decker

tim-cain rags-to-riches interplay game-development behind-the-scenes 1990s

Abstract

Problem: Tim Cain's third career game, Rags to Riches, is one of his least-discussed projects — what was the development like and who were the people behind it?

Approach: Tim reads aloud a 1993 Interplay newsletter article written by Tom Decker, the game's producer and designer, which serves as a humorous "slightly biased" feature review crediting the full team.

Findings: The article reveals a collaborative, humor-driven development culture at early-'90s Interplay, where contributors from across the company freely offered design ideas that became core mechanics. Tim Cain is credited as far more than "just the programmer," injecting his own design sensibility and humor despite the game not being his preferred genre.

Key insight: Great games benefit enormously from an open, collaborative culture where anyone — from assistants to neighboring desk occupants — can contribute ideas that become fundamental to the final product.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1eI-DuBUXU

1. Context

Tim Cain introduces this video as a "Fun Friday" episode where he reads a newsletter article from June 1993. Rags to Riches was a stock market simulation game — the third game in Tim's career and his second at Interplay. He notes he has very few videos about this project and wanted to add to his Rags to Riches playlist.

Tim originally didn't want to make this game. He tried to swap projects with programmer Mark Whittley, who was working on Lord of the Rings — Tim had read Tolkien "a million times" and Whittley was an economics major, making the swap logical. They weren't allowed to switch.

2. Tom Decker's Review

The article, titled "Rags to Riches: A Slightly Biased Feature Review," was published in an internal Interplay newsletter. Tom Decker positions the game "in the tradition of Sim City, Railroad Tycoon, and Civilization" while acknowledging his obvious bias as the game's producer and designer.

2.1. The Game Concept

Rags to Riches was a stock market simulation where players could "fulfill yuppie fantasies." Decker notes the original subject matter was dry, so the team worked to spice it up with humor, sound effects, and artwork. The original design was created by Decker and Lee Arrey, a stock market expert (later at Smith Barney) who had developed a board game called Speculation.

In a cut joke, Decker mentions they originally considered letting players "upgrade wives" but opted to make the game gender-free instead.

2.2. The Team

Decker's article is primarily a credits roll with personality, giving each contributor a humorous write-up:

Tim Cain ("Dr. Racketehead") — Described as "much more than just the programmer," Tim put in his own style and humor despite the game not being his preferred genre. He contributed as much design work as the official designers. Decker notes Tim powered through a bout of chickenpox just three weeks before the scheduled release, returning to work overtime and weekends. The running joke: "Tim Kaine — he's just not for installs anymore."

Chris Jones — Worked behind the scenes so quietly that "nobody other than Tim Cain really knew what Chris was doing." Started as Decker's assistant entering events written by Lee Arrey, then became involved in every design meeting. He pioneered the team's use of scanned artwork, handling the massive task of scanning, touching up, and palette-matching every painting. Later became a scripter on Star Trek at Interplay.

Wes Janagi and Rusty Bucher — Wes sat between Decker and Tim Cain's desks and naturally started contributing ideas. Rusty "seemed to have a hand in every project at Interplay." Their two standout contributions — the staff hiring system and material acquisitions — became so fundamental that Decker "can't imagine the game without them." This illustrates how the best ideas sometimes come from people just listening in.

Chris Takami and Ron Harris (Little Gangster Entertainment) — External artists responsible for all scanned artwork. The art "turned out far better than anyone could have imagined," with historically accurate 1929 scenario artwork. Rarely did Decker need to send anything back for revision.

Icon art went through multiple generations, with contributions from Jason Ferris, Brian Gerson, Spencer Kip, Todd Camasta, and Scott Beaser (animations and touch-ups).

Charles Dean and Rick Jackson — Sound design and music. Decker was initially skeptical about having unique phone ring sounds for each type of phone, but in the finished game "you can't imagine it without them." The accumulated small details — doors opening and slamming, secretaries buzzing, cash registers ringing — made the game feel alive.

Fred Royal — Decker's assistant who had to fill in and make critical final decisions in Decker's absence, "forced to take the brunt of abuse."

2.3. Gameplay Features

The game included two scenarios:

  • Modern-day scenario — Requiring financial literacy to interpret events and their market effects
  • 1929 scenario — An educational mode where players experience the actual historical events leading to the Great Crash

Players could choose to play legitimately or engage in illegal tactics: planting informants, insider trading, and cornering the market — "without learning a thing about economics."

3. Tim's Commentary

Tim closes by noting the article perfectly captures the humor and style of late-'80s/early-'90s Interplay culture. He also appreciates being able to add non-Tim content to his Rags to Riches video series, even though the article "did make fun of my line art, which I thought was pretty good, but not a single other person did."

3.1. Special Thanks (from the original article)

  • Caesar salads (especially from Marie Callender's)
  • Islands burgers
  • Disc golf
  • A day at Casa Machado
  • Hot summer days

3.2. Special No Thanks

  • Temperamental actors
  • The Interplay thief
  • Jetlag
  • The chicken pox

4. References