Busine$$ GO Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Setting Up
• Object of the Game
• How to Win
• Regular Game
  • Start
• Getting Started
  • How to Set Up a Corporation
  • How to Convert a National Corporation into an International Corporation
• Selling Your Products
• Sales Competition
  • How to Enter a Sales Competition
  • Who Wins?
• Bankruptcy
• Spaces (in Alphabetical Order)
  • Boom
  • Burnout
  • BUSINE$$ GO Start
  • Casino
  • Charity Drive
  • Ecology
  • Mail
  • Operating Fees
  • Service Industry Corporation
  • Travel Agency
• Advanced Level Rules
  • Selling Your Products on the International Marketplace

Components

• 1 Game Board
• 2 Regular Dice
• 3 Product Demand Dice
• 5 Playing Pieces
• 5 Service Industry cards
• 26 Business License cards
• Operating Fees cards
• Mail cards
• Corporations (5 colors)
• White chimneys
• Cash Drawer
• BUSINE$$ GO Play Money

Number of players: 2 to 5 Ages: 12 to 99

Corporation symbols:

• A National Corporation is shown by a single block.
• A National Corporation that has made a sale is shown by a block with one white chimney. The white chimney indicates that a sale has been made.
• An International Corporation is shown by a block with two white chimneys. The second white chimney indicates that a Manufacturer has gone International.

Important features on the game board:

1. "Pay your Operating Fees when you pass this space" (Operating Fees space).
2. "BUSINE$$ GO Start" (remember to collect $100,000 from the bank whenever you pass this space, $200,000 when you land on it).
3. The "Selling Your Products" rules and regulations, diagonal to the Casino and Burnout spaces.

Setting Up

• Attach stickers to white dice, according to instructions.
• Organize the four types of cards into four separate stacks.
• Place the Operating Fees and Mail cards face down on their corresponding spaces on the game board.
• The banker keeps the Business License cards, the five Service Industry cards, the white chimneys, and the BUSINE$$ GO play money.
• The banker hands out $750,000 to each player: one $500,000 bill, two $100,000 bills, and one $50,000 bill.
• Each player chooses a playing piece and places it on the "BUSINE$$ GO Start" space. (Remember to keep Corporations of the same color nearby.)

Object of the Game

• When you land on a COUNTRY, buy a Business License, set up a National or International Corporation, and then begin to make and sell products.

Example: You buy a Business License from Canada and set up a National Corporation. You are now a luxury car manufacturer for the domestic or foreign market, and can now begin to amass your fortune.

How to Win

The first player that makes 10 million dollars wins the game. (Short Game: 5 million.)

Regular Game

Start

Each player rolls the two regular dice to determine who goes first. The player with the highest score rolls again and moves clockwise from the BUSINE$$ GO Start space. The player to their left plays next.

Note: Several playing pieces can occupy the same space at the same time.

Getting Started

How to Set Up a Corporation

When your playing piece lands on a COUNTRY:

• You can buy the country's "Business License" if it hasn't been sold yet (for example, a Canadian Corporation Business License). The banker sells you that country's Business License for the amount indicated. (For example, $60,000 for a Canadian Business License, as indicated on the top of the card.)
• When it's your turn to play again, but before you roll the dice, you can choose to set up a National Corporation. Please note that if you have already rolled the dice, you cannot buy a Corporation until your turn comes up again.

Note: When it's your turn to play, you can set up several Corporations; however, you can never set up a second Corporation on the same COUNTRY space at any point during the game.

• If you want to buy a National Corporation, refer to the Business License for start-up costs. See "Setting Up a National Corporation" (for example: $140,000 for Canada).
• Pay start-up costs and place a Corporation (same color as your playing piece) on the corresponding space (in this case, Canada). You are now the proud owner of a National Corporation.

How to Convert a National Corporation into an International Corporation

• First of all, your National Corporation must already have a white chimney (which indicates that a sale has been made).
• When it's your turn to play, but before you roll the dice:
  • Refer to your Business License (top of card, third line: CONVERTING TO AN INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION).
  • Pay the specified amount to the banker, who hands you a second white chimney, which you place on your Corporation.
• You are now the proud owner of an International Corporation. Remember: if you have already rolled the dice, you cannot make any conversions until your next turn.

Advantages of owning several Corporations that manufacture the same product:

• Product monopoly
• Competition is eliminated
• Much higher overall sales

These are the key strategies to turn you into... an international business tycoon!

Selling Your Products

1. To sell your products, you must land on a COUNTRY and already own a National or International Corporation. You cannot make a product sale with a simple Business License.
2. If you land on a COUNTRY space, roll the three "Product Demand" dice.
3. If there's a demand for your product, you must state so out loud, specifying the product and the country (for example, "I'm going to sell luxury cars to Columbia"). If several players own Corporations making the same product, see "Sales Competition" guidelines below.

N.B. If you don't have enough money to buy a Business License when you land on a COUNTRY, you can always try to sell your products to that country BEFORE buying the license (remember that Competition Rules still apply).

N.B. If you don't own Corporations that manufacture products in demand in that country, other players who do make these products cannot sell them either.

Example:

• You're the owner of a National Corporation in Canada. You manufacture luxury cars;
• You land on Columbia;
• You roll the three "Product Demand" dice;
• One of the three dice shows that Columbia wants to buy luxury cars;
• Congratulations! You may be able to sell luxury cars to Columbia, since you manufacture them in Canada.
• Refer to your Canadian Business License under the heading National Car Sales, at the bottom of the card, and collect the specified amount from the bank (in this case, $110,000).

Congratulations! Your Corporation is expanding. The bank hands you a white chimney, your proof of purchase, which you place on top of your National Corporation.

IMPORTANT: You may sell all products indicated on all three Product Demand dice on the condition that you own at least one Corporation that manufactures each product.

When two or three dice indicate the same product (for example, two robots), you can sell robots only once.

Examples:

You roll the three Product Demand dice. They show one luxury car and two robots.

• If you own two National Corporations that manufacture luxury cars (for example, one in Canada and one in the United States), check your Business License under the heading CAR SALES, bottom left of the card. Go on to the "With Two Corporations" category and refer to the corresponding sales rate under National, then collect that amount from the bank (in this case, a total of $330,000).
• If you own one National Corporation that manufactures robots (for example, in Japan), you can make only one sale. Refer to Japan's Business License for the sales rate and collect the specified amount from the bank (in this case, $100,000).

Sales Competition

A player who is about to sell a product must say so out loud, for example: "I'm selling luxury cars to Columbia." Any other player who owns a Corporation making the same product must then immediately state their intention of entering a sales competition. As soon as the banker starts paying sales revenues, it is too late to join a sales competition. Remember: you snooze, you lose!

How to Enter a Sales Competition

The player who lands on a COUNTRY rolls the two regular dice. Players who own the same product follow suit.

Who Wins?

Players who roll odd number totals are systematically eliminated, until there is only one player left.

IMPORTANT: Any player who rolls doubles automatically wins the competition. For example, two "fours".

Examples of possible results between last two players:

• The first player rolls an even number; the second player rolls an even number; the first and second player roll again.
• The first player rolls an odd number; the second player rolls an odd number; it's a tie. Nobody wins so they roll again.
• The first player rolls an even number; the second player rolls an odd number; the first player wins the competition.

In every case, the winner refers to the corresponding Business License, under the heading NATIONAL SALES or INTERNATIONAL SALES, depending on the case, and collects the specified amount from the bank.

Bankruptcy

When you don't have enough money to pay your Operating Fees or other debts (for example, you've just drawn a Mail card and have to pay a bill), you can 1) auction off one or more of your National, International, or Service Industry Corporations, or you can 2) sell them to the bank for half their value. You can then pay off your debt and continue to play.

If you cannot pay off your debts, even after you've sold all your Corporations, you must declare bankruptcy and retire from the game... Better luck next time!

Example #1: You could auction off all your Corporations and sell to the highest bidder.

Example #2: You could downgrade your Corporations, from International to National, by selling your second white chimney to the bank for half the price you paid for the conversion. (For example, you downgrade a Japanese Corporation from International to National and get back $140,000, half of the $280,000 you originally paid.)

Spaces (in Alphabetical Order)

Boom

When your playing piece lands on this space, it means that the economy is booming. Make up to three different product sales of your choice without rolling the three Product Demand dice (on the condition that you own National or International Corporations that make these products). Service Industries are excluded. Remember that other players can still compete with you if they own the same products. See Competition Rules on page 2.

Burnout

When your playing piece lands on this space, it means that you are going through a burnout. Business is stressful and you can't cope anymore. Skip your next two turns.

While on the Burnout space, you cannot invest or enter sales competitions.

BUSINE$$ GO Start

Whenever you pass the start space, the Entrepreneur's Association gives you a $100,000 grant by way of the bank, as an incentive to create new jobs. If your playing piece lands on this space, you get $200,000. Remember, you can't collect any of this money if the next player has already rolled the dice, nor can you make a claim if you don't own any Corporations.

Casino

When your playing piece lands on this space, you can choose to bet against the bank. The maximum bet is one million dollars, which you hand over to the bank before you roll the two regular dice. Note: you can bet for as long as you want, that is until you lose.

• If you roll an even numbered total, you collect double your wager (if you bet $100,000 you get back $200,000).
• If you get doubles, you collect triple your wager.
• If you get an odd numbered total, you lose your bet. The Casino is closed until your next visit.

Charity Drive

When your playing piece lands on this space, pay $10,000 for every National and International Corporation you own. You've just made a contribution to the elimination of world famine. Only applicable if you own Corporations.

Ecology

When your playing piece lands on this space, you have to pay $10,000 for every Corporation you own, whether National or International, to fund research for the elimination of world pollution.

Mail

When your playing piece lands on this space, take a card from the "Mail" box and follow instructions. Return the mail card to the bottom of the mailbox.

(The sample Mail card shown in the rulebook reads: "One of your corporations has gone bankrupt. Remove one from the game board (you get to decide which one).")

Operating Fees

When your playing piece passes over or lands on this space, take the top Operating Fees card and pay the bank the specified amount (payment is based on the total number of your Corporations, National and International). You have to pay these fees immediately before continuing the game. Then return the card to the bottom of the stack. Of course, you don't pay Operating Fees if you have no Corporations.

Unit values for Operating Fees (Employee Salary table):

Number of units	Amount to be paid
1-3	$100,000
4-5	$250,000
6-7	$400,000
8-9	$550,000
10-12	$650,000
13-14	$700,000
15-17	$750,000
18-21	$800,000
22-25	$850,000
26-32	$1,050,000
33-40	$1,150,000
41 et +	$1,250,000

Units are counted as follows: a National Corporation counts for 1 unit and an International Corporation counts for 3 units.

Example:

• You pick the "Employee Salary" fees card;
• You own two National Corporations and three International Corporations;
• Since a National Corporation counts for one (1) unit and an International Corporation counts for three (3), you have a total of 11 unit-points (see bottom of the Operating Fees card, under Employee Salary, to calculate points). Your Operating Fees therefore come to $650,000.

Service Industry Corporation

How to buy a Service Industry Corporation:

You can buy any of the following Service Industry Corporations whenever your playing piece lands on them, if still up for sale: "Law Firm", "Hotel Chain", "Import-Export", "International Transport", or "Industrial Engineering". Simply pay the banker the service fees indicated on the corresponding game board space or on your newly acquired Service Industry Corporation card.

Put an International Corporation (with two white chimneys) on your new Service Industry.

Paybacks from a Service Industry Corporation:

Whenever your playing piece passes over or lands on this space, collect from the bank the fees outlined on your Service Industry card by counting the combined total of all your competitors' Corporations.

This is an important game strategy, since you don't have to wait for a sales opportunity; you make a claim each time you pass over or stop on your own Service Industry Corporation space.

Travel Agency

When your playing piece lands on this space, you can choose to "travel" to any COUNTRY space. If you choose to do so, immediately give the bank $10,000 and move your playing piece, clockwise, onto the COUNTRY space of your choice and proceed normally. If you choose not to "travel," you remain on that space and let the next player take their turn.

Four advantages of the Travel Agency space:

1. You can buy the Business License of any country that is still up for sale.
2. You can collect (from the bank) all Service Industry fees when passing over or landing on Service Industries that you own.
3. You can collect $100,000 from the bank when passing over the BUSINE$$ GO Start space.
4. If you've decided to "travel" to a COUNTRY space, you can roll the three Product Demand dice and make a sale, on the condition that you own National or International Corporations.

Only disadvantage of "traveling":

• You must pay operating fees if you pass over the Operating Fees space.

Let the money game begin!

Advanced Level Rules

Selling Your Products on the International Marketplace

With the advanced rules, you must own an International Corporation if you wish to sell your products to countries located on other continents. (This is also applicable during a sales competition showdown or a Boom.)

Example:

You own a National Corporation for luxury cars, located in Canada. You can therefore sell your cars only to countries located on the American continent, namely Canada, the United States, Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, and Ecuador. Only when you've converted from National to International status can you export your products all over the world.