Ponzi Scheme

About this board game

Ponzi Scheme is a financial fraud board game for 3–5 players, with an approximate play time of 90 minutes. Each player becomes a scammer trying to keep a fraudulent investment operation running while promising investors extremely high returns.

The objective is simple: do not become the first player to go bankrupt. Every new Fund card brings cash and a corresponding Industry tile, but it also creates a promised reward that must eventually be paid. As the game progresses, these obligations accumulate and place increasing pressure on every player’s operation.

On each turn, players take one Fund card from the Funding boards, along with the cash and Industry tile shown on the card. Once everyone has selected a fund, players may initiate an inside trade with another player. This lets you buy an Industry you want at a price the other player cannot refuse, or sell one of your own Industries for a favorable payment.

• Take Fund cards, cash, and Industry tiles.
• Manage promised rewards that come due over several rounds.
• Use inside trades to buy or sell Industries.
• Rotate your Time Wheel and pay the bank when obligations are due.

At the end of each round, every player rotates their Time Wheel one or two spaces. If a Fund card’s promised reward is due, it must be paid to the bank. The cycle continues until at least one player cannot meet an obligation and goes bankrupt, leaving that player out of the game.

When the collapse occurs, the remaining player with the most victory points on their Industries wins. In Ponzi Scheme, careful trading and timing are essential as every new promise helps sustain your operation while bringing its eventual reckoning closer.