Welcome to the World of PONZI SCHEME!
Let me tell you about this fascinating game called PONZI SCHEME. It’s named after a technique used by a man named Charles Ponzi back in the 1900s. He was quite the scammer! In fact, he carried out one of the most notorious financial frauds in history using this technique. Now, in this game, you get to step into the shoes of these scammers and try to trick investors into funding your fraudulent investments. It’s all about strategy and deception!
GETTING STARTED
Before we dive into the game, let’s set up the playing area. First, place the funding board in the center. Then, arrange the nine beginning fund cards on the board. Make sure to place them in rows based on their value, with the lowest three cards in the first row and the highest cards in the third row. Now, shuffle the remaining fund cards and place them beside the board to create the draw pile. We’re ready to begin!
Alright, let’s get everything set up for the game. We’ll start by dividing the industry tiles into four decks based on their type. Place these decks next to the funding board. Next, let’s organize the cash by denomination to create the bank. We’ll need someone to be the banker to keep everything organized.
Now, each player needs to gather their player screen, time marker, and time wheel. Position the time wheel in front of you, making sure there’s enough space around it. Place the time marker beside the wheel. The player who keeps their word the most will be the starting player. Now, we’re all set and ready to begin!
GAMEPLAY
So here’s how the game goes: we play a bunch of rounds. And in each round, we’ve got all these things happening – money, trade, passing, market crashes, and this wheel thing. Oh, and don’t forget paying the interest. We start with one player, and then we just go around the group, taking turns.
Now, the funding part is where it all begins. You’ve got a choice: you can pass or you can pick an industry tile and a funding tile. If you go for the tiles, make sure you grab both of them. And hey, if you pass, you still get to collect some money from the bank. Whatever’s on that fund card, that’s what you’re getting.
Once everyone’s done with their funding stuff, it’s time to trade. And let me tell you, things get interesting here. We all go around in a circle, clockwise. You can trade cards with other players if you want to. But hey, you can also just pass and not do any trading. It’s totally up to you.
Once we’ve completed a trade, I’ll pass the starting player marker to you, our left neighbor. But here’s the catch – if there are more bear fund cards than players, get ready for a market crash! We’ll each have to discard one industry tile, starting with you as the starting player, and going clockwise around our group.
After dealing with the market crash, we’ll all rotate our wheel one space clockwise. If the market crashes, we’ll have to move it two spaces instead. And here’s where it gets interesting – any fund cards that end up in the same area as the arrow on the time wheel will accrue interest. Each card states how much interest needs to be paid.
The game will keep going like this until one of us goes bankrupt, signaling the end of the game.
END OF GAME
The game ends when someone runs out of money and goes bankrupt. If you go bankrupt, you’re out of the game. But if you can stay afloat, you’ll earn points based on the size of your industries and how much money you have. Then we’ll tally up the points and see who comes out on top. The player with the most points wins the game.
Hey there, I’m Ellie! I live in Northeast Tennessee and I’m a huge fan of animals, fantasy novels, and spending time outdoors. I’ve got an amazing husband and two adorable fur babies. Being a part of this incredible community brings me so much joy.