[Editor’s note: Game board amusements were the rage in 2008 print from sports to the credit crunch. This entry a Christmas present from the Economist. See related content from Harpers on The $10 Trillion Hangover – Paying the Price for Eight Years of Bush.]
Republished from the Economist.
YOU WILL NEED:
- The board from the centre of The Economist’s Christmas issue (or pdf version of board below)
- These rules
- Risk cards, currency and icons from the pdfs below (or you can use your diamond cufflinks, or any other mementos of your former wealth, to represent you on the board)
- Four coins
- Scissors (to cut out currency and cards)
- Three or more players; probably six at most
HOW IT WORKS
Players start with 500m econos each. One player doubles as banker.
Players move round by throwing four coins and progressing as many squares as they throw heads. If a player throws four heads, he moves forward four spaces and has another turn; if he throws four tails, he throws again. When a player lands on a + square, he collects money from the bank; equally, when he lands on a minus square, he pays the bank.
The aim is to be the last solvent player. In order to achieve this, players try to eliminate the competition. Risk cards encourage players to pick on each other.
Players who cannot pay their fines may borrow from each other at any rate they care to settle on—for instance, 100% interest within three turns. They should negotiate with the other players to get the best rate possible. Players who cannot borrow must either go into Chapter 11 or be taken over.
Players may conceal their assets from each other.Â
Continue reading and download board game assets . . .
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New 7 Jan. 2009:Â
Econopoly from The Washington Post.
Superbowl Game (2008)
