#OccupyBoardwalk

An Uncooperative Game for 3 or More Players by @Wobbles

#OccupyBoardwalk requires a copy of Monopoly and a book. (It can be any book, but we suggest Das Capital, Road to Serfdom or a pocket copy of the Constitution).



In #OccupyBoardwalk, players take the role of the 1% trying to retain control of the board against increasing demonstrations against their rule. The goal is to be the player with the most money at the end of the game, assuming the 99% don’t successfully occupy too much of your precious property! If that happens, everyone loses.



Setup:

The first step is to make sure that you own everything. First, remove the utility companies and railroads from the property deck, then deal all of the remaining property cards to the players as equally as possible. If some players wind up with an extra, that’s fine. Next, divide all of the cash in the bank between you. After all, you are all the banks, so you have all the money. Divide the cash evenly between players. If it doesn’t divide evenly, put the rest back in the box. During the game, the amount of money a player has should be secret. Finally, choose the starting player based on who worked the least this week. The starting player gets the silver top hat. Set aside the houses and hotels.

HOW TO PLAY:

The game takes place over 10 rounds. Each round has three parts: Bills, Bribery, and Bailout.



Bills:

Each round, the public expects the 1% to pay another 1000 dollars of your fortunes towards the public good. To do this, the player with the Top Hat opens the book to a page an puts any amount of money into the book secretly. They then flip to another page and pass the book to the next player. When a player gets the book, they can’t flip backwards in the book to see what other players have payed. Once each player has had an opportunity to put money into the book, the first player turns the book over and shakes it over the board. Collect the money that falls out, count it and put it under public parking.

Remember two things: The player with the most money left at the end of the game wins. Also, the public expects the 1% to pay another $1000 every turn. So the expectations of the public about the amount of money in public parking increases every turn:



Turn Goal 1 $1000 2 $2000 3 $3000 4 $4000 5 $5000 6 $6000 7 $7000 8 $8000 9 $9000 10 $10,000

For each $50 that the 1% falls short of their goal for the round, each player takes one of the houses and puts it onto any property they own. These houses represent Occupy protesters camped out at that location. If a player would put a third occupier on a property, put a hotel on that property and put the property card back in the box. That property has been Occupied! and you can’t put more protesters there.

Bribery:

Sure, you could pay your dues to appease the protesters, but you can also just have to police crack down on them for you! After the Bills portion, each player may pay to have occupiers sent to jail from properties they own. To do so, they have to pay the rent “With 1 house” on the property. This money is put back in the box. If they are removing two houses from the same property, they have to pay the rent “With 2 houses”. So for Baltic Ave., $20 for the first protester jailed, $60 to remove two protesters. Put houses removed this way onto the Jail Spot of the board. If there would be more then 10 protesters in jail, put the rest back with the other unused houses. If a location has been Occupied!, you cannot spend to remove protesters from that location. Decide if you’re paying to remove protesters in turn order.



Bailout:

During the bailout, the player with the Top Hat rolls the dice. If they get doubles, that player takes that many houses from jail and puts them on their properties. For example: if its double 3’s, that player takes 3 houses from the jail and puts them on their properties. Then the player with the Top Hat gets to draw one card from the community chest or chance pile and use it. If they would pay or receive money from the bank, use the money in Public Parking instead. If they draw a “Go Directly to Jail” Card they can send one protester to jail from any property they own without paying. However, if they draw a “Get out of Jail Free” card, they must immediately take all the protesters in jail and put them on their properties. If the card says to “advance your token” to any other location, you may move one protester house from a property you control onto a property control by any other player. After that player uses the card, they pass the silver hat and the book to the player to their left and the next round starts.

END OF THE GAME

The game ends at the end of round ten or if the 99% occupy 12 properties, whatever happens first. At the end of round ten, players reveal all the money they have left over. The player with the most money wins. If players are tied for the most money, then the win goes to the player with the least protesters on their properties. If the 99% win by occupying 12 properties, then all of the 1% lose. If the revolution comes, it doesn’t matter how much you had in the bank. If you find the 1% winning to easily, try reducing the number of properties the 99% have to occupy. Try 10 or only 5!