Fortune
Fortune Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Overview
The game board is divided into four economic areas. From the start you first pass the six spaces of the first service sector. These are followed by the eight spaces of the finance area, and then by the second service sector.
Then you must choose between entering the production area or the sales sector. This is your entrepreneurial decision, and you make it again every round. After that you are back at the start, and the next round begins.
The aim of the game is to invest your starting capital optimally, that is, to make profits with it. There are two ways to do this:
- Manufacture products as cheaply as possible and sell them for as much profit as possible (the first way: "Produkte herstellen und verkaufen"), or
- Get involved in the finance sector (the second way: "Betätigung auf dem Finanzsektor").
It is up to you to combine these two ways optimally during the game.
Components
The game consists of:
- 1 game board
- 6 company balance sheet boards (Firmenbilanztafeln)
- 6 company pieces (Firmensteine)
- 2 dice
- 2 public purchase offer dice (ÖKA-Dice)
- 72 square production chips:
- 24 factory chips
- 24 energy chips
- 24 personnel chips
- 60 round service chips:
- 20 advertising chips
- 20 consulting chips
- 20 insurance chips
- 35 business cards (Geschäfte-Karten)
- 35 economy cards (Konjunktur-Karten)
- 6 shares (Aktien)
- 24 bonds (Obligationen)
- 36 loan cards (Darlehenskarten)
- 175 banknotes, divided into:
- 50 × 1,000 DM
- 50 × 5,000 DM
- 50 × 10,000 DM
- 25 × 50,000 DM
- 1 rulebook
- 1 information booklet about the companies taking part
Note on the chip count: the German "BUSINESS — das Wirtschaftsspiel" rulebook lists 72 square production chips (24 of each kind), as printed on its page 3. The companion Hexagames "BUSINESS Spielanleitung" lists 144 (48 of each kind). The count here follows the Bütehorn rulebook.
Playing time: from 2 hours.
Setup
2 to 6 players can take part in BUSINESS.
Each player chooses one of the following six companies and receives the matching company piece bearing that company's logo:
- DEGUSSA
- LANGNESE-IGLO
- 3M
- GRUNDIG
- REXROTH
- BASF
One player takes over the Kasse (the bank). The Kasse's job is to lend money, to receive back repaid loans, to hand out and take in the various chips, shares, bonds and loan cards, and to pay out and collect the money amounts in business transactions. The Kasse also keeps the Festgeld (cash reserve) beside it.
Each player receives the starting capital and a company balance sheet board. On this board the starting capital is laid out first. During the game, all chips, shares, bonds and loan cards are laid out clearly on the spaces provided for them on this board.
The starting capital is the same for all players:
- 2 players: 200,000 DM each
- 3 or 4 players: 150,000 DM each
- 5 or 6 players: 100,000 DM each
The business cards (Geschäfte-Karten) and economy cards (Konjunktur-Karten) are placed face down on the marked spaces of the game board. The Kasse arranges the chips, shares, bonds, loan cards and the Festgeld beside itself.
The players place their company pieces on the first space at the start. The game can begin.
Turn Order and Movement
The game is played with two dice. The player with the highest total begins. Before each roll, each player may choose whether to roll with one die or with two dice.
Move your company piece forward clockwise along the spaces by the number rolled. The economy and business-situation spaces (Konjunktur- und Geschäftslage-Felder), including those in the four corners of the board, count as ordinary spaces for movement. Whenever you land on one of these spaces, a card of the corresponding kind is drawn (see "External Influences: The Event Spaces").
The First Way: Manufacturing and Selling Products
The first way to make a profit is to manufacture products as cheaply as possible and sell them for as much profit as possible.
To make a finished product you need:
- 1 factory chip
-
- 1 energy chip
-
- 1 personnel chip
- = 1 finished product
Production area. In the production area you can buy the individual components you need for a finished product on the following spaces:
- ETERNIT (factory)
- DEUTSCHE BP (energy)
- MANPOWER (personnel)
Depending on the spaces you stand on, you can buy factory, energy and personnel chips at the unit prices given there. Your sales partner for these chips is the Kasse.
Sales area. The finished products you have assembled from the three individual elements factory, energy and personnel should now be sold for as much profit as possible. This takes place in the sales sector of the game board:
- At KAUFRING you can sell one finished product at a time.
- At OTTO Versand you can sell only two finished products at the same time.
- At the REWE trading group you can sell only three finished products at the same time.
These limits apply when you stand on a space of one of these companies. Note that on different spaces of one company you obtain different prices for the same product.
Your decision is whether to sell a product immediately, or to wait until you can sell two or three products at the same time, perhaps at a better price.
Companion text (Hexagames): at Kaufring, Otto-Versand and the REWE trading group you can sell exactly 1, 2 or 3 finished products at once, as you move onto the corresponding space.
The Second Way: The Finance Sector
On the spaces of the finance sector you have the option of buying bonds or shares of a company.
Bonds (Obligationen). Bonds can be bought from the Kasse on the spaces of Deutsche BP, at a unit price of 10,000 DM, up to a maximum of 5 bonds. Your advantage: after each round, when you pass the start again, you receive 3,000 DM per bond from the Kasse.
If you own bonds and land on one of the BP spaces again, you must return your bonds to the Kasse at the unit price of 10,000 DM. A new purchase is then possible only from the next round onward.
Shares (Aktien). Shares also give you the opportunity to invest your money profitably. If you land on the corresponding spaces in the finance area, you can buy up all the shares of the respective company (partial purchases are not possible). Your advantage: you receive cash for every business transaction of your fellow players in which your share company is involved, depending on the type of their business. For example, if your fellow players:
- repay loans,
- sell finished products,
- buy insurance or consulting chips, or
- buy factory chips.
In addition, as a shareholder you save the money you would otherwise have to pay your company on the occasions listed above: you simply deduct that amount from the price.
Companion text (Hexagames) example: if one player holds the shares of the Rheinland insurance group and another player buys insurance chips in the first service sector from that group, the shareholder receives a premium of 1,000 DM per chip. If the shareholder buys insurance chips himself, he deducts the premium from the purchase price.
More About Shares
As long as a company's shares have not yet been sold, the payments intended for the shareholder, and the payments shown on the individual spaces, go to the Kasse.
Profit shares due to you as a shareholder must be claimed immediately. Your claim lapses as soon as the next player has rolled.
You can sell your share package if you stand again on the space of your company, at a price of 120% of the purchase price. Alternatively, if you urgently need money, you may at any time between rolls sell both shares and bonds to the Kasse. In that case, however, you receive only 60% of their value.
The Public Purchase Offer (ÖKA): The Battle for Shares
One of your fellow players may have an eye on your shares. For this case the rules provide the "public purchase offer" (ÖKA, öffentliches Kaufangebot).
If this player lands on a space of your share company, he can force you to roll a public purchase offer. He announces his claim, and you must then roll for your share package with the two ÖKA dice. Your opponent takes the dark die, and you as the shareholder take the light die. Each player rolls once. Then one of the following possibilities occurs:
- One of the two dice shows the inscription "ÖKA mißlingt" (the offer fails). In this case the attack is repelled, and the challenger must pay 20% of the share purchase price to you.
- The top faces of both dice show percentage figures, one plus and one minus. In this case you are forced to sell your share package. The two percentage figures are offset against each other to give the price your opponent must pay you. For example, if the dice show +60% and -20%, the result is +40%, and your opponent must pay 140% of the purchase price to you.
If the ÖKA fails, it can be repeated immediately and as often as desired, if your fellow player insists on it.
Companion text (Hexagames): the challenger may repeat a failed ÖKA immediately and as often as he likes.
External Influences: The Event Spaces
Success or failure depends not only on your own conduct, but also on external influences. In this game the following cards provide them:
-
Economy cards (Konjunktur-Karten). When a player lands on an economy space, the top economy card is turned over, read aloud, and placed on the marked space for that purpose. These instructions apply to all players until the next economy card is read.
-
Business cards (Geschäfte-Karten). The player who arrives on this space takes the top card of the corresponding pile and places it back after following its instruction. This instruction applies only to the individual player.
The Service Sector
To make the business transactions described above more successful, you may use the options of the service sector. Here the following opportunities are open to you:
Loans (Darlehen)
On the bank spaces of Commerzbank and Bayerische Vereinsbank you can take out loans of 50,000 DM at the payout rate (Auszahlungskurs) given on each space. Only one loan may run at a time per bank and per player. You receive the money and a loan card from the Kasse. Pay attention to the different conditions of the various bank spaces.
Important: if you land a second time on one of the spaces of your bank, you must immediately repay the loan plus interest (of the space on which you took out the loan). The interest payment is cancelled if you own the share package of that bank.
Translator's note: the German companion text (Hexagames) calls the loan rate "Zinssatz" (interest rate) where the Bütehorn text has "Auszahlungskurs" (payout rate). The Bütehorn wording is followed.
Owing to the nature of the game, the companies have been given greatly simplified tasks. Of course, the banks also do not grant credit at excessive interest rates.
Consulting (Beratung)
On the two spaces of the firm PA Management you can buy as many consulting chips as you like from the Kasse, at a unit price of 10,000 DM. You can use them at a time of your choosing. That means: before rolling, you pay one consulting chip to the Kasse. You may then move your company piece immediately onto the economy space in front of the production section, and with your next roll enter that sector. Your advantage: you can speed up the purchase of individual parts for manufacturing finished products.
Companion text (Hexagames): in this case no economy card is drawn.
Advertising (Werbung)
On the two spaces of the firm J. Walter Thompson you can buy as many advertising chips as you like from the Kasse, at a unit price of 10,000 DM. You can use them at a time of your choosing. That means: you return one advertising chip to the Kasse, and then, before rolling, you can immediately move your company piece onto the economy space in front of the start of the sales section. With your next roll you can then enter this sector. Your advantage: you can speed up the sale of your finished products.
Companion text (Hexagames): in this case no economy card is drawn either.
Insurance (Versicherung)
In the production and sales areas of the game board there are two risk spaces:
- Explosion in your factory.
- Fire in the warehouse.
If you land on the first space, you must pay two factory chips (or one, if that is all you have) to the Kasse. If you land on the second space, you must deliver one finished product to the Kasse, if you have one.
You can insure against these damages by buying as many insurance chips as you like at a unit price of 6,000 DM when you land on an insurance space. The benefit of the Rheinland insurance: in the case of damage, you receive 15,000 DM per factory you own in exchange for handing one insurance chip to the Kasse, or you collect 30,000 DM from the Kasse for one finished product.
End of the Game
A player who can no longer meet his payment obligations is eliminated. His remaining assets go to the Kasse, and he has gone bankrupt.
The game ends when either a player has tripled his starting capital, or a previously agreed playing time has run out (minimum duration 2 hours). The winner is whoever first tripled the invested capital, or whose financial position is best at the end of the game.
When the game is over, the balance is drawn up. Each player totals his holdings. Individual factory, energy and personnel chips, as well as all other service chips, are not valued. Finished products are counted at 15,000 DM. Shares and bonds are counted at their normal purchase price. Loans are offset without taking the surcharge into account. The final total shows the financial position of your company. You can now determine the ranking in comparison with your fellow players.
Translator's note: the companion text (Hexagames) says loans are offset "without regard to the interest" (ohne Berücksichtigung des Zinses) where the Bütehorn text says "without regard to the surcharge" (des Aufpreises). The Bütehorn wording is followed.