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Tasty Minstrel Games  |  SKU: 22459476097

Ponzi Scheme

$54.95 CAD
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Description

Designer Jesse Li
Publisher Tasty Minstrel Games
Players 3-5
Playtime 60-90 mins
Suggested Age 12 and up
Honors 2015 Meeples' Choice Nominee

Based on the textbook example of financial scams, "Ponzi Scheme" is the term used to describe the technique Charles Ponzi employed in 1919 to operate one of the most notorious financial fraud in history.

In the game Ponzi Scheme, players are scammers trying to trick investors into funding fraudulent investments with the promise of extremely high returns. You need elaborate trading skills to keep your operation afloat as long as possible, and as time goes on the dividends you need to pay every turn will only pile higher and higher! But when someone declares bankruptcy, the remaining fraudster who forged the biggest shell corporation wins the game!

The goal of the game is simple: Don't be the first player to go bankrupt!

In more detail, on each turn, players must take one new Fund card from the Funding boards along with a corresponding Industry tile and cash as indicated on the card. You need to pay the "promised reward" of each Fund card in a number of rounds.

After all players have taken their Fund cards, they may choose to initiate an "inside trade" with one other player in order to buy the Industry you want with a price they can't refuse, or sell your own Industry to them with a good price.

At the end of the round, players rotate their Time Wheel 1 or 2 spaces, and pay the "promised reward" to the bank if any Fund card is due.

The game continues until at least one player cannot pay the "promised reward" due and goes bankrupt. That player is out of the game, and the remaining player who has the most VP on their Industry wins.

Customer Reviews

Based on 2 reviews
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T
Todd Kauk
Unique and Amazing

This game is fantastic.
Is it for everyone? No
Is it worth playing? Definitely
Does it feel like anything else in my collection? No
Do I recommend it? No doubt

So much fun and craziness with friends (soon to be enemies?)

E
Emad Aziz
A Fine Wine Amongst Cheap Beers

Players are trying to keep afloat taking on more debt, while making minimum payments each round. Sounds too much like real life? Because it is.The rules are simple to grasp, but the strategies take time to understand, but even then it's hard to know what to do next, you're playing the game and manipulating other players. This game will appeal to a select crowd who prefers Monopoly type games of interest rates and deal making. If you're playing this game, its because you WANT to play this game.That's why I gave it a 3, not a bad game, but requires select players to really shine, like fine wine.