Banished is intended to keep an initially small group alive, with the technological level corresponding roughly to that of the Middle Ages. The player determines where which buildings are to be built and which tasks are to be taken by which characters, so that the needs of the population are satisfied as well as possible and they can grow. Among other things, this involves

• to ensure the supply of building materials (wood, iron, etc.)
• to produce food, clothing, firewood and tools, and
• to build houses, roads, warehouses, trading posts, schools or hospitals.

The economic learning potential of Banished consists primarily in a better understanding of the categories need, scarcity and growth. After all, the main challenge of the game is to keep the population healthy and happy, for which they should be equipped with appropriate goods and favourable framework conditions. In this context, the handling of scarce resources (raw materials, food and especially labour) is the central challenge. At the same time, the game can aim to increase the population or the city, which involves the aspect of growth and related challenges (scarce space and resources) and benefits (advantages of the division of labour, more differentiated range of goods and services).
Banished, however, can also give rise to problematic ideas, as the implicit economic order is similar to that of a centralised economy: The player dictatorially determines, so to speak, which goods are to be produced and who is to carry out which profession. Furthermore, neither the monetary economy nor competition and performance orientation are reflected in the game. Although all this appears to be quite sensible and practicable in the context of Banished, the problems associated with it remain unmentioned.
For formal learning in the context of business education, Banished has a too unfavourable time-learning potential ratio. This also applies with restrictions to semi-formal settings such as study groups. In this respect, Banished will develop the outlined learning potential primarily within the framework of 'normal' voluntary play, where learning is rather unconscious and unintentional.

Due to the manageable number of building and decision options, Banished is comparatively easy to learn, but still motivates to play for a longer period of time, which is also reflected in very good ratings on Steam. Banished runs exclusively on PCs, has low hardware requirements and is available at the regular price of 19€ (6,45€ reduced).