The Rules
A strategy game of capital formation for 2–6 players. Found companies while they're private, vest your founder stake, take them public at the perfect moment — and finish with the most money.
The table
12 × 9 board
108 property tiles, drawn blind
32-company deck
10 seeded per game — every economy differs
25 shares each
held by the bank until a company IPOs
6-space founder track
one cube per founded company
50 business cards
12 effects, one-shot plays
3 option markers + $6,000
per player, to start
Each player draws 6 tiles. One tile per player seeds the board; the player nearest A1 goes first, clockwise.
A turn, in order
- 1
Invest your attention. Choose oneprivate company you founded: its founder cube advances one space (automatic when you only have one). You only have so many hours — a second startup divides your time, it doesn't double it. A full track that is IPO-eligible forces the IPO at the start of your turn.
- 2
Place a tile. Exactly one, from your rack. Next to a lone property it founds a company (pick 1 of the 2 face-up cards); next to a company it grows it; bridging two companies triggers a merger. No playable tile? Skip.
- 3
Free moves. Any time on your turn: IPO your qualifying private companies, play one business card, or lift your own land options. These never cost your buy.
- 4
The buy window — pick ONE. Buy up to 3 shares of public companies · place a land option ($300) · or draw 2 business cards, keep 1.
- 5
Refill. Draw back to 6 tiles. Play passes clockwise.
The company lifecycle
Private
No shares trade. The founder track is the only stake.
Public
IPO at 4+ tiles. Vested spaces become free shares, the offering raises capital, and trading opens.
Safe
Public at 11+ tiles: it can never be absorbed.
Founding takes one of the 2 face-up cards from a 10-company market. Absorbed companies are set aside; when the market runs dry they shuffle back inand can be founded again — a great industry never leaves the game for good. Any shares kept from a company's previous life are cancelled when it returns.
Going public raises capital: the founder collects 2× the share priceat the company's IPO size — so a bigger company raises a bigger round.
A private company is neversafe, no matter its size — staying private is the founder's risk.
The founder track
The cube starts on space 1 and vests one space per turn — everyone can read your countdown.
IPO
Vested spaces convert to free shares, 1 per space — and the offering raises 2× the share price in cash.
Bought out
Absorbed while private: founder is paid vested × price. No bonuses, no shares.
Game end
Still private: founder collects vested × price in final accounting.
Forced IPO: at the start of your turn, any private company of yours at 8+ tiles — or fully vested and IPO-eligible — goes public whether you like it or not.
Mergers & payouts
The largest company survives (the placer breaks ties) and absorbs the rest, largest first. For each public defunct company, at its pre-merger price:
| holder | bonus |
|---|---|
| Majority | 10 × share price |
| Minority (2nd) | 5 × share price |
| Sole holder | both · ties split, rounded up to $100 |
Then each holder, clockwise from the merger-maker: sell at the pre-merger price, trade 2-for-1 into the survivor (public survivors only), or keep.
A private loser pays no bonuses — its founder receives a buyout of vested × price, and the company is gone. Cheap early, painful late.
Share prices
| tiles | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| price | $200 | $300 | $400 | $500 | $600 | $700 | $800 | $900 | $1000 | $1100 |
One table for everything: trading, bonuses, buyouts, and founder payouts all read from the company's current (or pre-merger) size.
Land options
A buy-window choice: $300 claims an empty space with one of your 3 markers — and only you may ever build there. Building on your own claim reclaims the marker; you may also lift one on your turn (no refund).
A tile in your rack whose space is under a rival's option is stuck until the option lifts. Options are geography, not investment — they never pay money or shares.
Business cards
Hand limit 3 · play at most 1 per turn, on your own turn only · drawing (2, keep 1) costs your buy. Cards bend the rules — none can cancel a merger.
Force IPO×5
Choose a private company with 4+ tiles: it IPOs immediately. Its founder still receives their vested shares.
Angel Round×5
Advance your founder cube 1 space on one of your private companies.
Market Window×5
Your buy phase is 5 shares instead of 3 this turn.
Broker's Fee×5
Sell up to 3 of your shares at current price before acting.
Hostile Position×5
Buy 2 shares of any public company at the previous price tier.
Land Grab×5
Place a land option marker for free — this card is the action.
Talent Raid×4
Move the founder cube on any private company back 1 space.
Zoning Variance×4
Play before placing: place a second tile this turn. The second placement may not trigger a merger.
Insider Round×4
Buy 1 share of a company that IPO'd within the last round at half price (rounded up to $100).
Due Diligence×4
Privately look at any player's tile rack, or at the top 3 company cards of the market.
Quiet Period×2
Until your next turn, no one may play business cards.
Poison Pill×2
Choose a company you founded (private) or lead as top holder (public): it cannot be merged during the NEXT player's turn. One merger delayed, not immunity.
Ending the game
On your turn, you may declare the end once:
- any company reaches 41 tiles, or
- every active company is public and safe (one private holdout blocks this), or
- the tiles simply run out.
Final accounting: bonuses for every public company, founder payouts (vested × price) for every private one, then every share liquidates at current price. Most money wins.