 The game 's variations are driven by random numbers : the price of land is randomly decided each round from between 17 and 26 bushels per acre , the amount of bushels generated each round is randomly decided , random amounts of bushels are eaten by rats , and new people come to the city each year in random amounts . Each year also presents the possibility of a plague reducing the population by half . The game ends after ten rounds , or earlier if the entire population of the city dies or at least 45 percent of the people starve in a single round . The end @-@ game appraisal , added in the 1973 version of the game , compares the player to historical rulers — such as " Your heavy @-@ handed performance smacks of Nero and Ivan IV . " 
