Globalization Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Mission Statement
• Globalization Includes
• The Game Board
• Setup
• Starting the Game
• Tips for Beginners
• Play
  • 1. Drawing Asset Cards
  • 2. Paying Expenses
  • 3. Transactions
    • Building Offices
    • Building Factories
    • Action Cards
    • Going Public
    • Paying Off Debt
    • Knocking
  • 4. Public Auction
  • 5. Collect Interest
    • Borrowing
• Winning the Game
• Calculating Net Worth
  • Perceived Value Cards
• Power Combinations
  • Power Combinations Tracker
  • Industry Combinations
  • Geography Combinations
  • Portfolio Combinations
  • Monopoly
• Variations

Mission Statement

The primary goal in Globalization is to expand your corporation by building offices throughout the world, so as to be able to acquire a strategic combination of businesses that will make your corporation an unstoppable global empire. The first player to achieve $1 Billion in net worth with no debt wins the game!

Globalization Includes

• 1 game board
• 36 company cards
• 4 sets of colored pieces (30 company markers)
• 20 Factory Markers
• 1 Interest Die
• 4 Power Combinations Tracker boards
• 1 Assets deck which includes:
  • 30 - $10M Capital cards
  • 30 - $5M Capital cards
  • 25 - $1M Capital cards
  • 1 - $50M Capital card
  • 6 - Lawsuit Cards
  • 6 - Disaster Cards
  • 6 - Broker Cards
  • 6 - Perceived Value Cards
• 1 Debt deck which includes:
  • 10 - $50M cards
  • 15 - $10M cards
  • 15 - $5M cards
  • 15 - $1M cards

The Game Board

The game board is divided into nine geographical "Regions", each distinguished by color. And they are then subdivided into three economic "Markets":

• The Western Market: North America, Latin America, Europe
• The Central Market: Africa, Middle East, India
• The Eastern Market: Russia, China, Pacific Rim

Around the board are the logos of the 36 companies available for purchase. They are divided into 6 industries: Energy, Finance, Manufacturing, Technology, Resources, and Media.

Each region has 4 companies and each market has 2 companies from each industry. The companies are ranked 1-6 with 1 being the cheapest, 6 being the most expensive.

Setup

The board should look like this after setup.

Remove five $1M cards, five $5M cards and five $10M cards from the Assets deck and place them face up in 3 separate piles (one for each denomination) to the right side of the board to serve as a Bank. Shuffle the remaining Assets cards and set them face down on the right side of the board next to the Bank. During the game, whenever the Assets deck runs out, reset the Bank to the initial state (five $1Ms, five $5Ms and five $10Ms) and shuffle any excess cards together with the discard pile.

Next separate the Debt cards with one pile of -$1M cards, one pile of -$5M cards, one pile of -$10M cards, and one pile of -$50M cards and place them face up to the left side of the board.

Shuffle the Companies deck and place it face down on the right side of the board by the Bank piles.

During the game, discard to the discard pile unless replenishing the Bank and reshuffle the Assets deck when it runs low.

Assign someone to be in charge of the Asset cards, someone to be in charge of Debt cards and someone to be in charge of the Companies cards.

Starting the Game

Beginning with the oldest person, each player selects their colored markers (Purple, Yellow, Green or White) and draws a card from the Companies deck. If a company with a value of 1 is drawn, place it at the bottom of the deck and draw another Companies card. This company will determine your initial market (see Building Offices) and how much money you will be able to borrow (see Borrowing). Place an office marker in the title square of the region where your company is located. Also place a marker on the company's city on the map.

Example: Jake draws the company "Loco Motors". He takes one company marker and places it on the Manufacturing icon in North America (because Loco Motors is the manufacturing company in North America). He then takes an office marker and places it in the Region Title Square (each region has a title square that indicates the name of the region, what companies are in the region, and what market it is in).

Each player draws ten Asset cards from the Assets deck.

To begin, the player with the least valuable company goes first ($10M being least, $60M being the most). If players have companies with an equally low value, the first turn goes to the company that comes first alphabetically.

Example: Jake draws the company "Loco Motors" ($30M), Kelsie draws the company "Raj to Riches" ($30M), Scott draws the company "Agrivation" ($60M) and Mia draws the company "Hammond Swiss Bank" ($50M). In this case Jake would go first because he and Kelsie both have the cheapest companies, but Loco Motors comes before Raj to Riches alphabetically.

The value of a company can be found on the company card.

Play then follows clockwise for the remainder of the game.

Tips for Beginners

At the beginning, Globalization can seem like a complicated game. To help you on your first turn, pay attention to the rules that are inside of the red boxes. These are the rules that will be more applicable at the beginning of the game.

Play

Each turn ALWAYS consists of the following actions in this sequence:

1. Draw Asset Cards - This is how you get money and action cards
2. Pay Expenses - The cost of doing business
3. Transactions - This is where you build and expand
4. Public Auction - This is where companies are auctioned
5. Collect Interest (when applicable) - The price of borrowing money

It is very important that this sequence is always followed so as to allow the game to flow without confusion. There is a corresponding guide found on the bottom left corner of the board called the "Globalization Basic Gameplay Guide" to help players remember the turn order.

1. Drawing Asset Cards

Begin your turn by drawing cards from the Assets deck. For each company that you own, draw the number of cards from the Assets deck that are indicated on the company card under "Revenue".

Example: Jake owns Loco Motors. Loco Motors has a revenue of 3 Cards. At the beginning of his turn he will draw 3 cards from the Assets deck.

The revenue of a company is found on the company card.

As you acquire more companies, you will take the revenue numbers from each of your companies and draw the total of all combined.

Example: Jake owns Loco Motors (Revenue 3 Cards), Ra Energy (Revenue 4 Cards) and G'Day Media (Revenue 1 Card). At the beginning of his turn he will add up all the revenue numbers from his companies and draw 8 cards (3+4+1=8).

However the total number of cards a player can draw from company revenue is limited to 15.

Example: Jake owns Loco Motors (Revenue 3 Cards), Ra Energy (Revenue 4 Cards) and G'Day Media (Revenue 1 Card), Finnish Products (Revenue 6 Cards) and Kung Pow Cotton (Revenue 3 Cards). Even though the combined revenues of his companies add up to 17 (3+4+1+6+3=17), Jake still only draws 15 cards.

The only way to draw more than the 15 card limit is to build factories (see Building Factories). For each factory you have built at the start of your turn you will draw 1 card from the Assets deck. Since cards drawn from factories do not count as company revenue, building factories enables players to draw more than 15 cards.

Example: Jake owns Loco Motors (Revenue 3 Cards), Ra Energy (Revenue 4 Cards) and G'Day Media (Revenue 1 Card), Finnish Products (Revenue 6 Cards) and Kung Pow Cotton (Revenue 3 Cards). He also has 1 factory on Loco Motors, 1 factory on Ra Energy and 1 factory on Kung Pow Cotton. The combined revenues of his companies add up to 17 (3+4+1+6+3=17), but he is only able to draw 15. But he gets to draw 1 card from the Assets deck for every factory that he has. And since he has 3 factories, he is able to draw 3 extra cards. So on his turn Jake draws 18 cards (15+3=18).

2. Paying Expenses

Next, players must pay the amount indicated on the company card under "Expense" for each company that is owned. Pay the amount indicated to the Bank. If you cannot pay your expenses you must take debt to do so (see Borrowing).

Example: Jake owns Loco Motors. Loco Motors has an expense of $15M. After he has drawn his cards he must pay $15M to the Bank.

The expense of a company is found on the company card.

As you acquire more companies, you will have to add up the expense numbers of all your companies and pay the total to the Bank.

Example: Jake owns Loco Motors (Expense $15M), Ra Energy (Expense $20M) and G'Day Media (Expense $5M). He will have to pay $40M to the Bank (15+20+5=40).

Paying expenses always precedes any transaction.

At this point you will most likely have a handful of Asset cards. Some of them will be black Capital cards, some will be blue Action cards and some will be green Perceived Value cards. All of these cards can be used during the Transactions phase of your turn. The black Capital cards can be used to make purchases. The blue Action cards and the green Perceived Value cards have special uses that are briefly explained on the cards and explained in full detail in this rule book.

3. Transactions

After expenses have been paid, a player can begin to expand their business by effecting various transactions. This is where most of the action takes place in the game. There are many transactions that can be done in this phase of your turn and they can be done in any order and with any frequency (see Rules for Exceptions):

• Building Offices - Needed to buy companies in certain regions
• Building Factories - Allows you to draw more Asset cards
• Action Cards - Used to sue other players, place disasters, acquire public companies and enact private auctions
• Going Public - Allows you to get a quick source of more capital
• Paying Off Debt - You must pay off debt to be able to win the game
• Knocking - This is how you end the game

Building Offices

Before you purchase any company, first you must own an office in the region where the desired company is located. At the beginning of the game you start with one office, which will allow you to purchase any of the other 3 companies in that region. But in the long run you will need to build more offices, so you can buy companies outside of your initial region. To build an office, simply announce the region you wish you add an office. Each office costs $10M if built inside a player's INITIAL MARKET and $20M if it is built anywhere else. This is paid to the Bank.

Example: Since Jake's first company was Loco Motors, which is located in North America, his INITIAL MARKET is the Western Market (which includes North America, Latin America and Europe). To buy an office in Europe or Latin America (since he already has an office in North America) will cost Jake $10M. To buy an office in any region outside his INITIAL MARKET will cost him $20M.

You may buy as many offices as your money will allow during your turn, but you can only have one office per region. To indicate that you have an office in a region simply place the office marker in the corresponding Region Title Square of the region you just purchased an office for.

Tips for Beginners: Buying offices in the other regions of your initial market is always a solid first move because it is cheaper than buying them elsewhere. Buying offices in regions where other players don't have offices may be another wise strategy. Remember that you cannot buy companies without having offices in the region first.

Building Factories

One way to increase the number of Asset cards you draw is to build factories. To build a factory for a given company, announce that you are going to build a factory on that company and pay $10M to the Bank. To indicate that a factory has been built, place a black factory marker on the corresponding Company card.

You may build as many factories as your money will allow on your turn, but you may only build one factory per company. At the beginning of your turn, draw an additional Asset card for each factory that you own. If the company goes public (see Going Public), the factories stay with that company, and since you no longer own that company, you do not get to draw the additional Asset card that comes from owning that factory.

Example: Jake owns Loco Motors and has built a factory on it. But on his turn he decides to take Loco Motors public. He places the Loco Motors Company card on the board with the factory marker still on top of the card. On his next turn, Jake will not draw the 3 revenue cards for Loco Motors or the 1 additional card for its factory.

If a different player takes control of a public company that has a factory on it, they not only get ownership of the company, but they also get to keep the factory and on their next turn will be able to draw corresponding Asset cards.

Action Cards

Action cards are the blue cards that are embedded into the Assets deck and can be used for offense or defence. Each card is used on another player, region, or company, and the only defence is an identical card. These cards may also be used to initiate a private auction.

Lawyer: Use this card to sue another player. The suing player places the card face up in front of the player to be sued. If the sued player has a Lawyer card, the charges are dropped, and both Lawyer cards are discarded to the discard pile. If the sued player does not have a Lawyer card, the suing player blindly draws 1 card from the sued player's Assets.

Disaster: Use this card to place a disaster on a region. The damaging player announces the region to be damaged and places the card face up on the region title square. Any player with an office in the affected region will draw half as many Asset cards as they normally would on their next turn (rounding up) and will continue drawing half until the disaster is cleared. The disaster is cleared when someone plays a matching disaster card on their turn. Once the disaster is cleared, both disaster cards are discarded. There can only be three Disasters on the board at a time.

Broker: You can use this card to reclaim a company that you took public or acquire a company that someone else took public (see Going Public). To use the card, announce which public company you wish to take control of. If you were the one who originally took the company public, you can use the Broker card to simply reclaim the company at no additional cost. If the company was taken public by another player, taking control also requires having an office in the region where the company is located and purchasing the company from the Bank at retail value. Once the card is played, the company loses its public status. Players may not use a Broker card to regain control of a company on the same turn that they took that company public.

Private Auction: All of the Action cards may also be used to flip the top card of the Companies deck. If the player has built an office in that company's region prior to flipping, they may purchase that company at the retail price. Since it is a private auction, no other player may bid or purchase the company flipped. If the player cannot or does not want to purchase the flipped company, discard the company to the bottom of the Companies deck.

Going Public

In order to increase cash flow, a player may wish to take a company public. To do this, announce the company that is going public and draw the number of cards indicated under "IPO" on the company card.

The IPO of a company can be found on the company card.

Place the company card on the board near its company logo on the top or bottom of the board.

Once a company is public it is no longer counted toward that player's net worth, no Assets cards are drawn, and no expenses are paid for that company. If a factory is built on that company, it stays on the company card and the player does not receive a card for it (see Building Factories). It cannot be used to borrow against (see Borrowing). All players may utilize public companies in power combinations (see Power Combinations). However, any player may use a Broker card to acquire a public company (see Action Cards: Broker). Also, only one company may be taken public per person per turn.

Paying Off Debt

Through out the game you will eventually have to take on debt (see Borrowing). It is an important part of the game. But since you cannot win the game if you have debt, you should try to pay back debt whenever you can. At any point during the Transactions phase of your turn you may repay loans by matching your Debt cards with Capital cards. Return Debt cards to the corresponding debt piles. And return the Capital cards to the discard pile. You can also use the green Perceived Value cards to absolve $25M in debt.

Knocking

After you have drawn your cards and paid your expenses, if you are completely out of debt and you have at least $1 Billion in Perceived Value (see Calculating Net Worth), you may knock. Knocking means you initiate the final round of the game. First announce that you are knocking (you can physically knock the table if you want). After you knock, each player has one final turn left to get rid of their debt and try to achieve the highest Net Worth. But in this final round, borrowing is not allowed, so no new debt can be taken on. If a player is unable to pay off their expenses on this final turn, they cannot win because they are not allowed to borrow.

4. Public Auction

When you are done with your transactions, make it known that you are ready to initiate the Public Auction. This is done by flipping the top three cards from the Companies deck. Since it is at the end of your turn, you get to decide which of the three companies goes up for auction. Even if you are unable to purchase one of the 3 flipped companies, you still must choose a company. The other two companies are discarded to the bottom of the Companies deck.

To be eligible to bid on the chosen company, a player must have already built an office in the chosen company's region. If no player can or wants to purchase the flipped company, discard the Company card to the bottom of the deck.

The player whose turn it is gets the first opportunity to bid on the company for the Value indicated on the Company card. Any player with an office in the chosen company's region may bid on the company. The company is awarded to the player who is willing to pay the most. Players may go into debt if they do not have the Capital on hand to purchase the company, but can only borrow as much as their hard assets will allow (see Borrowing).

5. Collect Interest

At the end of your turn, if you have any debt prior to the Public Auction, you must also roll the Interest Die to determine the amount of debt you must draw. You will draw 1 Debt card of either -$1M, -$5M or -$10M (depending on what is indicated on the die). This card is added to your existing debt and must be paid off in order to win the game.

Borrowing

In the pursuit of a global empire, players may have to borrow from the Bank. Loans can be issued at anytime and for any purpose. However, a player may never borrow more than the value of their hard assets. That value is calculated by adding up the values of all companies owned, plus $10M for each office and $10M for each factory.

Example: Jake owns Loco Motors (Value $30M), Ra Energy (Value $40M) and G'Day Media (Value $10M), Finnish Products (Value $60M) and Kung Pow Cotton (Value $30M). He has offices in North America, Middle East, Pacific Rim, Europe and China (each worth $10M). He also has 1 factory on Loco Motors, 1 factory on Ra Energy and 1 factory on Kung Pow Cotton (each worth $10M). The value of Jake's hard assets is $250M (30+40+10+60+30+10+10+10+10+10+10+10+10=250). He is now able to borrow $250M from the Bank.

To keep track of money borrowed, simply draw the amount borrowed from the Debt deck. If debt is not paid off by the end of your turn, you must roll the Interest Die and draw the indicated number from the Debt deck. In order to win the game, all debt must be paid off.

Tips for Beginners: Don't be afraid of debt, but don't let your borrowing get too out of control. You will need to borrow to get the right companies, but you can't win if you have any debt.

Winning the Game

When a player's total Net Worth is $1 Billion without any debt, they may Knock (see Knocking). This player receives an additional $100M finishing bonus to be counted towards their Net Worth. After all players get 1 final turn, the person with the highest Net Worth (see Calculating Net Worth) wins the game.

Calculating Net Worth

Each player adds up the monetary Capital cards in hand, the value of owned companies and $10M for each office and factory. Then they add their Perceived Value by adding their achieved Power Combinations (see Power Combinations) and matching green Perceived Value cards (see Perceived Value Cards). The sum of these numbers is your Net Worth and the person with the highest Net Worth at the end of the game wins.

Perceived Value Cards

These green cards are worth $100M towards your net worth when coupled with the indicated power combination.

Example: At the end of the game Jake owns Loco Motors, Kung Pow Cotton and Babyloans. Because he owns a Manufacturing company, a Resource company and a Finance company, he has the "Power of Production" industry power combination, which is worth $100M. Jake also has the "Trade Secret" Perceived Value card. Because he has "Power of Production", his "Trade Secret" card is now worth $100M.

Perceived Value cards may also be used as $25M against debt or toward purchases. However, you are not reimbursed for overpaying as a result of using a Perceived Value card (i.e. you don't get change back).

Example: During the Public Auction, the company Nuclear Thais is flipped and Jake wants to buy it for $20M. Unfortunately he has no Capital cards. He does however have a green Perceived Value card. He can purchase the company by using that Perceived Value card. But even though when used towards purchases it is worth $25M, he does not get the $5M in change.

Power Combinations

The best way to reach $1 Billion in Net Worth is through Power Combinations. As players buy companies, certain combinations of companies give a player increased Net Worth. This increased Net Worth is not awarded with physical Capital cards, rather it is an assumed increase in Net Worth.

Example: Jake owns Kung Pow Cotton, The Great Bank of China, Wei So Dim Power and Shanghai Quality Goods. These are all the companies in the China Region. He has achieved "Regional Dominance" in the Geography Combinations section of the Power Combinations Tracker, which is worth $200M. He places a marker on the "Regional Dominance" circle, and now his overall Net Worth is increased by $200M (he does not receive $200M from the Bank).

Any public company can be used in power combinations for all players.

Example: Jake owns Loco Motors and Kung Pow Cotton. On the board Kelsie has put Raj to Riches public. Jake can use Raj to Riches to complete "Power of Production" since he needs a manufacturing company to complete that Power Combination. Loco Motors is a 3 and so is Kung Pow Cotton. Jake can also use Raj to Riches, which is also a 3, to complete 1 step of a "Consistent Portfolio".

Throughout the game, use the Power Combinations Tracker to keep track of your progress. As you acquire companies and achieve Power Combinations, place the markers on the tracker so you know how close you are to $1 Billion.

Power Combinations Tracker

Industry Combinations

• Power of Distribution (Resource, Energy & Communication): $100M
• Power of Persuasion (Technology, Finance & Communication): $100M
• Power of Production (Manufacturing, Resource & Finance): $100M
• Power of Quality (Technology, Energy & Manufacturing): $100M

Geography Combinations

• Market Share (1 company in every region of a market): $100M
• Regional Dominance (All companies in a region): $200M
• Global Presence (1 office in every region): $200M

Portfolio Combinations

• Diversification (1 company from every industry): $200M
• Consistent Portfolio (3 companies of the same value): $100M; $100M for each additional company of the same value
• Scalar Portfolio (3 companies with sequential values): $100M; $100M for each additional company of the same value

Monopoly

• Local Monopoly (companies of the same industry in a market): $100M
• Expanding Monopoly (1 additional company in the same industry): $100M
• Strategic Monopoly (1 additional company in the same industry): $100M
• Dominant Monopoly (1 additional company in the same industry): $100M
• Global Monopoly (1 additional company in the same industry): $200M

Tips for Beginners: Use the Power Combinations Tracker to help see your progress. Bid on companies that will help you get Power Combinations. Be mindful of what other players are doing and what companies have been taken public.

The green Perceived Value cards will only be worth $100M at the end of the game, so don't hesitate to use them for purchases or paying off debt early in the game.

Industry Combinations

Power Combinations in the Industry Combinations section require unique companies for each Power Combination.

Example: Jake owns Kung Pow Cotton, Ra Energy, G'Day Media, Brazillion to One and Babyloans. He has "Power of Distribution" because he has a Resource, Energy and Media company. He is close to getting "Power of Persuasion" because he has a Technology and a Finance company. But since he cannot use his Media company in more than one of the industry Power Combinations, he must acquire another Media company to complete "Power of Persuasion".

• Power of Distribution: Requires ownership of one company from each of the following industries: Resource, Energy, and Media. This combination also adds $100M to that player's Net Worth. This combination can be coupled with the "Patent" card.
• Power of Persuasion: Requires ownership of one company from each of the following industries: Technology, Finance, and Media. This combination adds $100M to that player's Net Worth. This combination can be coupled with the "Ad Campaign" card.
• Power of Production: Requires ownership of one company from each of the following industries: Manufacturing, Resources, and Finance. This combination adds $100M to that player's Net Worth. This combination can be coupled with the "Trade Secret" card.
• Power of Quality: This combination requires ownership of one of each of the following industries: Technology, Energy, and Manufacturing. This combination adds $100M to that player's Net Worth. This combination can be coupled with the "Patent" card.

Note: the Power Combinations Tracker labels Power of Distribution and Power of Persuasion with "Communication" where this section says "Media"; the Media industry is the one meant in both places.

Geography Combinations

• Market Share: Requires the ownership of at least one company in each region of a market and adds $100M to that player's Net Worth.
• Regional Dominance: Requires the ownership of all companies of a region and adds $200M to that player's Net Worth.
• Global Presence: Requires the construction of an office in each region of the world (9 in total) and adds $200M to that player's Net Worth.

Portfolio Combinations

• Diversification: Requires ownership of one company from every industry. It adds $200M to that player's Net Worth. This combination can be coupled with the "Synergy" card.

• Consistent Portfolio: This combination requires ownership of any three companies with the same retail value. It adds $100M to that player's Net Worth. An additional $100M is added for each subsequent company with the same value.

Example: Jake owns Kung Pow Cotton ($30M), Loco Motors ($30M) and Raj to Riches ($30M). Because he owns 3 companies with the same retail value, he has a Consistent Portfolio. He can place a marker on the "Consistent Portfolio" circle on his Power Combinations Tracker. This adds $100M to his Net Worth. He then buys Energisimo, which is also worth $30M. He can now add one more marker on the second "Consistent Portfolio" circle. This adds yet another $100M to his Net Worth.

• Scalar Portfolio: This combination requires ownership of any three companies with consecutive retail values. It adds $100M to that player's Net Worth. An additional $100M is added for each subsequent company.

Example: Jake owns Nuclear Thais ($20M), Loco Motors ($30M) and Ra Energy ($40M). Because he owns 3 companies with consecutive retail values he has a Scalar Portfolio. He can place a marker on the "Scalar Portfolio" circle on his Power Combinations Tracker. This adds $100M to his Net Worth. He then buys Stalin Airplanes, which is worth $50M. He can now add one more marker on the second "Scalar Portfolio" circle. This adds yet another $100M to his Net Worth.

Monopoly

• Local Monopoly: This combination requires ownership of both companies of an industry within a market. It adds $100M to that player's Net Worth. Once a local monopoly is acquired, each subsequent company in that industry adds an additional $100M to that player's Net Worth. The local monopoly can also be coupled with the "Price Gauging" card. While a player may have monopolies in multiple industries, only one monopoly in an industry can be counted.

Variations

Struggling Startup: Players begin without an initial company. They draw 15 cards to begin with and randomly select a region to place an office.

Extended Banking Hours: After a player has reached $1 Billion and knocks the bank remains open. Players can borrow to buy additional companies but all debt must be paid off in order to win.

Disaster Insurance: A Disaster card can be used as defence before drawing Asset cards. Because you were prepared, you can draw the full mount [sic] of Assets.

Disaster Relief: Players can pay $100 Million in cash to the Bank to remove a disaster. Money cannot be borrowed, but players can pool their resources to remove a disaster.

Streamlining: When a player owns two companies in the same industry, they can streamline them to save on expenses. To do this, pay $15M to the Bank and place the least expensive company on top of the other. On the next turn, players collect Assets for both companies, but only pay the operating costs of the least expensive company. Multiple companies in the same industry may be streamlined as well.