StartUp Business Board Game

This review of the StartUp Business Board Game contains affiliate links and the game was provided to me for review.

Experience Business Without the Risk

The StartUp Business Board Game can help you see what it’s like to run a business without the risk of actually losing money. In the game you have to make business decision that can affect game play. It works for 2-4 players age 9 and up. Those ages 9-15 might need some extra help with business strategy. Also the game is made in the USA so there are some business terms that I wasn’t familiar with as a Canadian. That doesn’t mean you can’t play if you don’t live in the USA but you might find yourself reading the instructions carefully to figure out the terms. Also you will need a large clean area to play this game. The board is HUGE plus you need room for your money and your Start up code shown below. (one per player).

The game will take longer the first time you play it as you will need to read the lengthy instructions and figure things out. It’s best if you read one part of the instructions and then make sure you understand most of it before reading on. Some of it will make more sense when you get to it in the actual game. So don’t worry if you are a bit confused when you start playing. Check the instructions again as you play and get to each space. At first we weren’t sure we would enjoy the game because it seemed so complicated but after once around the board we were having fun and feeling competitive.

Each player gets one of these cards to keep track of his or her business. As you play the game, you will gain expertise points in 6 different aspects of your business (Products & Services, Human Resources etc.) At the beginning you pick a business plan from a pile of cards and the card will tell you how many expertise points you start with in each category. You place the red pegs in the board to show how many expertise points you have and you add more as the game goes on and you buy or earn them.  The little square in the front is where you will build your headquarters. When you land on a purple Building Opportunity space, if you have enough money you can buy a level of your building. The winner is the first person to get to 5 levels.

When you start the game, you own 100% of your business so you put a red peg in every square at the bottom. As you are playing the game, sometimes an opportunity comes along where you can sell part of your business to make money but you can never sell all of it, you must always own at least 10%.

The Startup Games website FAQ has some helpful clarifications of the rules and suggestions for simplifying the game for younger players so check that out. You can buy Startup from Amazon.com and select dealers for $39.99

The Back of the Box