We discussed what our plans were for our group project. My group project is called “Capitalism” and it revolves around the theme of poverty and income inequality. In terms of the audience, most people should be able to relate to the game because everyone, to a certain degree, falls into an economic class, whether that be low, middle or high. We initially got our inspirations from Monopoly, but we wanted our game to be different enough in terms of mechanics and overall experience. We want players to feel the gap between the lower income class and the high income class, so we decided to make two types of characters. As a result, there are three lower income characters and one high income character. The primary mechanics follow the use of character cards. Each player starts with a card detailing their character’s name and economic status.

The board itself consists of three rings of sixteen spaces, with each ring representing a separate economic class. The three lower class players begin along the outer ring of the board making their way clockwise towards the center while one player plays as the upper class along the inner ring of the board, laying traps to prevent the others from reaching his inner zone. Life events, which influence the economic status of our characters, exist for both upper class and lower class and take the form of cards that contain drastically different effects. While some life events are positive and lead to gaining effects which help you get ahead, some hinder you during gameplay. Beyond traps and life events are perk cards, which can be acquired by landing on their respective spaces. Perks are one-time-use cards that remain within the player’s inventory until revealed to everyone else; they could boost your rolls, negate traps, and could be played strategically to assure victory.

The upper class character has to race three times around the inner circle while the three lower class characters have to complete a full circle around the outermost ring, middle ring, and then innermost ring. Once a lower class character reaches the innermost ring, they become an upper class character, and any lower class life events that may still be affecting them are discarded. They may keep their perk cards, however, to use until they have no more. Once you’re an upper class character, the same upper class rules now apply to you – you can buy traps to prevent others from finishing the circle before you. Your traps, which cost one influence point, will affect every other player on the board who lands on it (with the exception of yourself). You may also refer to the upper class ability reference sheet, which details a variety of rewards you may purchase with influence points.