Venture Angels
Venture Angels Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
Each round, you bid secretly to fund potential projects. At the end of each round, reveal the secret bids to see which ventures were fully funded. The lead investor of each successful project profits, but with fame comes scrutiny. Some of your future investments will have public visibility. After 3 rounds, the players score their portfolio of successful ventures. Be sure to diversify your investments! Only your most valuable project in each category scores full points, and the player with the most points wins!
Components
- 24 project tiles (8 per category)
- 5 player tokens
- 26 investment tokens (5 per player + 1 bonus token)
- 1 Rulebook
Setup
- Shuffle the project tiles together and place them face down in the center of the table.
- Set the bonus token to one side for now.
- Each player chooses a color and takes the 5 investment tokens and the player token in their color.
- The oldest player will be the starting player for the first round.
Gameplay
The game is played over 3 rounds. Each round has 3 steps: round setup, investing, and funding. Funded projects give fame points to the lead investor. At the end of 3 rounds, the player with the most fame points wins!
Round Set Up
Reveal project tiles one by one from the deck and place them face up in the center of the table.
The number of tiles you reveal depends on the number of players as shown in the chart below. As you reveal new tiles, add their funding goals together. Once the total exceeds the total funding goal listed in the chart below, stop drawing new tiles.
| Number of Players | Total Funding Goal |
|---|---|
| 3 | 28+ |
| 4 | 36+ |
| 5 | 45+ |
(The rulebook illustrates this step with five revealed tiles whose funding goals are 8, 7, 9, 6 and 8, shown adding up to 38.)
Investing
Players take turns investing in the available projects. The starting player takes the first turn, then players take turns in clockwise order until all investment tokens have been played.
On your turn, place one of your investment tokens face down below a project tile in the center of the table. If one or more investment tokens are already there, place your token behind it, forming a column beneath the project tile.
- You can only place one investment token on your turn, and you may not pass.
- The order of the tokens will matter, so be careful not to mix them up.
Funding
When all investment tokens have been played, see which projects flopped, were overhyped, or were successfully funded. Flip all investment tokens face up, and for each project, add the values shown on the investment tokens in its column. Check the funding status of each project as described below:
A) FLOPPED - If the total investment below a project tile is less than its funding goal, the project is a dud, and the investment has failed! Return this project tile to the box.
B) OVERHYPED - If the total investment below a project tile is greater than all of the other project tiles this round, this frothy investment goes bust! Return this project tile to the box.
Projects tied for highest total investment are not overhyped. They are successfully funded.
C) SUCCESSFULLY FUNDED - All other projects have been successfully funded! Congrats! The lead investor takes the project tile and places it face up in front of themself, increasing their fame.
Lead Investor
For each successfully funded project, the lead investor is the player with the largest total investment beneath that project. (That is the largest sum from the values shown on their investment tiles beneath that project.) If there is a tie, whichever tied player invested first (closest to the project tile) wins the project tile.
Example from the rulebook (five projects in one round; investments listed from the tile downward):
- A project with a single investment of 3 is Flopped.
- A project with investments of 4 and 3 totals 7 and is Successfully Funded.
- A project with investments of 3 is Flopped.
- A project with investments (from closest to the tile) of 3, 2 and 4 totals 9 and is Overhyped.
- A project with investments of 4 and 4 totals 8 and is Successfully Funded.
Once all projects have been returned to the box or taken by a player, the round ends. Return the investment tokens to each player and begin a new round.
Second Round
The player with the most fame points takes the first turn. Follow round setup, investments, and funding as usual, with one change: For each project tile you have won, you must reveal an investment token, when it's placed. For example, a player that has won 2 projects so far will have to play their first 2 investment tokens face up.
Third Round
Again, the most famous player takes the first turn, and for each project tile you have won so far, you must reveal an investment token, when its placed. In addition, the player with the least fame receives the bonus token for the third round. (In the case of a tie no one gets the bonus token.) The player with the bonus token plays the third round with six tokens and must place the bonus token last. This means they get one extra turn, after all other investment tokens have been placed, to use the bonus token. Then check funding for all projects.
End of the Game and Scoring
After the third round, the game ends. To calculate your total fame points, count only the highest value tile in each of the three categories (colors). All of your other tiles score you 1 fame point each.
Example from the rulebook: a player's tiles of 9 and 6 in one color, 5 in a second color, and 6 and 6 in a third color score 9+1, 5, and 6+1, for a total of 22 points.
The player with the most fame points wins! In the case of a tie, the tied player with the highest valued project wins. If still tied, the oldest tied player wins.
Rapid Return Rules
Summary card printed in the rulebook.
-
Reveal project tiles for the round.
-
Take turns placing face down investment tokens*.
* In rounds 2 and 3, players must reveal a token for each project they've won.
-
Once all tokens have been placed reveal them and check funding status.
- OVERHYPED - Higher funding total than all other projects. Discard.
- FLOPPED - Total funding less than tile value. Discard.
- SUCCESSFULLY FUNDED - Claimed by the lead investor.
After 3 rounds, score your highest value project in each color. Score 1 point for any other projects. The player with the most fame wins!
In round 3, the player with the lowest fame gains the bonus token.