INSTRUCTIONS
BUSINESS BOARD GAMES
36
Instructions 1. Introduction Market Share® is a game of skill and chance that engages each player in building their own business by acquiring business resources and customers to generate income and to amass the most profit throughout the game. 2. Object of the game Market Share® is based around each player developing their own office products business operating in the New Zealand market place. Opponents battle it out to gain market share in a market of 36 companies. Each player is competing to sell their office products to these potential customers. The aim is to create more wealth and a more valuable business than your rival/s. Your business starts out as a Small Business and will grow throughout the game into a Large Business doing business with the giants. Learn to manage your resources, finances and opportunities as you gain insights into business practices and risk analysis. Compete for the best companies to gain the higher incomes and learn to manage risk and formulate strategy to give you a competitive edge. 3. How does the game start? Each player is given a player sheet, a game booklet and 5 Acquisition cards along with their starting cash. The starting cash differs depending on the number of players. For two players you will start with $6000 each. For three players you’ll start with $8000 and for four players each person starts with $10000. Each player then selects the coloured counters they wish to use. Each player places their name on their player sheet
and they are now ready to play. The banker (refer to rule 5) lays out the game board, Acquisition cards, Risk cards and money. You are now ready to commence play. You may elect one player to be the banker and another to be the auditor. The banker starts the game and play proceeds clockwise. The banker and the auditor also receive an extra $500 dollars at the beginning for services they will provide throughout the game. 4. Duties of the banker The banker is responsible for managing the bank and distributing and receiving payments to and from the bank. The banker will pay each of the players their monthly income and receive all payments from players for acquisitions and payments. The banker will also explain the rules to any players playing for the first time. 5. Duties of the Auditor The auditor is responsible for ensuring that the players are adding their income correctly, updating their player record sheets correctly and that the players have the correct resources in place for the customers they wish to acquire. 6. The money The money is set out in denominations of $100, $500, $1,000, $5,000, $10,000, $50,000, $100,000 and $500,000. As $100 is the smallest denomination within the game, this means that all amounts are rounded to the nearest $100 using Swedish rounding. This means that $50 or higher is rounded up and $40 and lower is rounded down.
Market Share® Business Board Games. © Market Share International Ltd 2009 - 2014. All Rights Reserved. Licensee: Printing Company. Licensing Agents: Carter Business Solutions Ltd. Learn how to play at: www.marketsharegame.com
Game Setup
Market ShareŽ Business Board Games. Š Market Share International Ltd 2009 - 2014. All Rights Reserved. Licensee: Printing Company. Licensing Agents: Carter Business Solutions Ltd. Learn how to play at: www.marketsharegame.com
7. A game turn On any given turn the player chooses to take a Risk card and follows the instructions on the card. A Risk card is optional. The player is then paid their monthly income. The player then plays their Acquisition card/s and records and pays for their new acquisition, the cost of the resources is shown in the centre of the player sheet. Players play one Acquisition card per turn for the first two turns and on their third and all turns following they can choose to play one or two Acquisition cards. The player then picks up one or two cards from the blue card pile to replace the cards just played. Each player must always maintain 5 cards in their hand. If you have acquired a new customer this turn you will need to place one of your coloured counters on the customer space on the game board. This is so that all the players can see who owns which customers. The player records their new income and bonuses if applicable. The player can then assess if it is appropriate to invest in professional development for this turn and increase their income by ten percent. The player can
then acquire risk management if required. Once these steps are completed, game play progresses to the next player. See the bottom of your player sheet or top of the game board fhor a reminder of the game turn steps. 8. How do I acquire new customers? At the beginning of the game you can acquire new customers without needing resources within your company. You will however shortly need to start resourcing your business to be able to do business with further customers. (See rule 9 How do I grow my business?) As you look through the game booklet you will notice that the companies require differing resources (indicated by the black dots next to the customer Bio.) for you to do business with them. You’ll need to establish which resources you will need and in which order you need to acquire them in order to continue acquiring customers in an effective and timely manner. Remember that you need money coming in to continue growing your business, so make sure you invest in several customers before investing all your money in resources.
DISTRIBUTION
Business logo
ADMINISTRATION & I.T.
LOGO
Outline of the business and web address
PRODUCTION
COMPANY DESCRIPTION
Resources required for the acquisition of this new customer
SALES & MARKETING
RESOURCES
BUY NEW ZEALAND MADE Buy NZ Made has created distinctive branding and marketing collateral to make local goods instantly recognisable. Buy NZ also runs social media advertising campaigns, supports local trade shows and hosts a sophisticated online service www.buynz.org.nz that helps local businesses sell online. Buy NZ Made is a non-government, membership based organisation. ACQUISITION COST: NET MONTHLY INCOME: BONUS:
$ 4,400 $ 1,400 $ 800
ACQUISITION COST
NET MONTHLY INCOME
BONUS
The initial cost of acquiring this new customer
The net monthly profit earned from this customer
The bonus attached to this customer when a relevant risk card is picked up
Market Share® Business Board Games. © Market Share International Ltd 2009 - 2014. All Rights Reserved. Licensee: Printing Company. Licensing Agents: Carter Business Solutions Ltd. Learn how to play at: www.marketsharegame.com
9. How do I grow my business? Nearly all of the customers on the board require you to have some resources to be able to do business with them. This means you’ll need to acquire resources throughout the game as the demand requires it. You will need to assess which resources you need and when. The resources are made up of two groups: human resources and non-human resources. The human resources are your staff, the people in your organisation that carry out their daily duties and enable you to do business with a multitude of other businesses. Their skills and experience differ to help you within the differing business centres of your organisation. The non-human resources are the computers, vehicles, plant, showrooms and training that you invest in, to enable your team to be more effective. Managing all of these resources is an important part of running a business effectively and profitably. 10. How do I generate income? As you acquire new customers you will record the Net Monthly Income on your player sheet. The more customers you have and the higher the customer income, the greater your income will grow. 11. Acquisition cards At the beginning of the game you will be dealt 5 Acquisition cards. These cards are used to acquire human and non-human resources, along with new customers. Each turn you will have opportunity to play two cards (except for the first two turns) and pick up the necessary resources or new customers. Some Acquisition cards allow you to acquire several resources or a resource and a customer. You may acquire both or choose to acquire just one of the items on the card.
Play these cards wisely: they will determine how your business grows and how your income will increase. The resources on the Acquisition cards are coloured to match the business centres on your player sheet. If you have a green sales resource on your card this allows you to purchase a sales team member or a non-human resource for the sales team. If you are waiting for a certain card and the person who played before you discards the card you are looking for, you may choose to pick up that card on your turn and discard one card from your hand. (Hint: choose a redundant or the least useful card in your hand). This will use one of your turns and you may only play one more Acquisition card this turn. You may use the card you have just picked up. Resources are acquired in order as they appear on the player sheet. A player may not acquire or receive a resource without first possessing the preceding resource. 12. Risk Cards Each turn you will have the chance to take a Risk card. These cards contain opportunities that may positively or negatively affect your resources or income. You’ll need to weigh the risk before taking a card on your turn. Bonus Cards The bonus sums displayed with some of the companies represent a promotional advantage that you may occasionally gain through the game. Bonuses are accumulated, added together and recorded on your player sheet. The bonus amount is paid to you when you pick up a bonus card from the Risk pile. The Bonus card will reward you with either your bonus, double bonus or triple bonus. Companies with bonuses usually cost more initially, so calculate your chances before you buy.
Market Share® Business Board Games. © Market Share International Ltd 2009 - 2014. All Rights Reserved. Licensee: Printing Company. Licensing Agents: Carter Business Solutions Ltd. Learn how to play at: www.marketsharegame.com
Losing a staff member If you have lost a staff member this turn and your customers require you have that staff member then you must replace that team member on your next turn. You may not make any other acquisitions until you replace the lost staff member. If you have an Acquisition card that lets you acquire the required member that you lost, then you can elect to play that card and play your turn as normal. Takeover The Takeover card can be kept or played when it's picked up. The Takeover card enables the player to select another player’s customer and take it over. The current holder loses the income and the new recipient adds the income to theirs. The player taking over the customer must have all of the required resources within their business to take on the new customer. The player adds this new customer to their income and receives the new amount on this turn. Sabotage A player may play this card immediately or keep it to play at a later stage. The Sabotage card allows the holder to select an opponent to miss a turn. The player missing the turn cannot play any cards on their following turn but will receive their net monthly income. Strategy The Strategy card is kept to use when an opponent attempts to take over one of your customers or tries to sabotage your business. Keep this card to mitigate a Takeover or Sabotage card played against you.
13. How do I use the game booklet? The game booklet displays each of the customers from the game board and identifies the resources required to do business with each company. Each company has an acquisition cost. This cost represents the investment you will make in pitching for the business and setting up the new account. You will want to assess each customer by its income vs. its acquisition cost. You will also want to take into account any bonus the customer may provide. For instance, if a customer has an acquisition cost of $1800 and an income of $600 per month, then it will take 4 turns to realise a return on your investment. However, for the same investment you can also acquire a customer that returns an income of $500 and a bonus of $400. While the bonus looks attractive, it relies on you picking up a Bonus card to receive this payment, whereas the customer with the $600 income nets you an extra $100 per month. Therefore you would need to pick up a Bonus card every four turns to match that income difference and that is just not likely, so selecting to acquire the customer with the $600 income would be a wise idea. These are the decisions that the info in the booklet will help you make throughout the game. Some of the customers are more profitable than others, so select carefully and remember that your opponent will be after those same customers. You will need to get there first to gain the advantage. Use the booklet to help you formulate your strategy. 14. How do I manage my resources? Resources are acquired so players can conduct business with customers. As play progresses the customers require more and more resources within the player’s business, so it’s important to acquire the appropriate resources for the customers you wish to do business with. Remember to balance the acquisition cost and
Market Share® Business Board Games. © Market Share International Ltd 2009 - 2014. All Rights Reserved. Licensee: Printing Company. Licensing Agents: Carter Business Solutions Ltd. Learn how to play at: www.marketsharegame.com
Player Sheet NET MONTHLY INCOME The accumulated net profit earned each month from your customers.
BUSINESS LEVEL You will increase your business level here before you can move into this business level on the game board.
BONUSES The accumulated bonuses from your customers who purchase more stock when the market is bouyant. Recieve your bonuses when you pick up bonus cards from the Risk pile.
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT Invest in Professional Development and recieve a 10% increase in your income.
NON-HUMAN RESOURCES The fixed resources that you acquire to help you grow your business.
RISK MANAGEMENT Invest in risk management to protect your company against the incidents that may arrise from picking up Risk cards.
HUMAN RESOURCES The staff that you employ within your company.
GAME TURN
RESOURCE COST
The 7 steps that you need to concider each game turn.
The price of purchasing the resources in each row.
Market Share® Business Board Games. © Market Share International Ltd 2009 - 2014. All Rights Reserved. Licensee: Printing Company. Licensing Agents: Carter Business Solutions Ltd. Learn how to play at: www.marketsharegame.com
the resources required with the net monthly income and bonuses. 15. How do I manage my finance? At the beginning of the game you won’t have a lot of cash, so you’ll need to start acquiring customers to create cash flow. If you neglect to acquire customers, opting to spend heavily on the resources, you may soon run out of cash and this can slow down your whole strategy. Make sure you balance your income with your expenses (acquisition costs). As the game progresses the cash flow will become easier to manage, but remember to always assess your return on investment (ROI). 16. Reaching a new business level As the game progresses your business will grow and you will need to move to the next level as you acquire more customers and you will naturally proceed to the next level as your resources allow you to. Moving to the next level has a cost (an investment in expansion). This investment will also be counted and included in your final score at the end of the game. 17. Professional Development Investing in the professional development attributes increases a player’s Net Monthly Income by 10%. The investment cost increases with each subsequent attribute so players need to assess when an attribute is best acquired. Professional development attributes are acquired at the end of a player’s turn and will include any increase in income from that turn. The player takes their current or new income and adds 10% and records this as their new income. The 10% is applied once per attribute, on the turn in which it is acquired. The Professional Development investment will also be included in your final score at the end of the game.
18. Risk Management Risk management, insurance and business continuity are a big part of any business and it is an area that you need to pay attention to. There are Risk cards in thegame that will present dire consequences if you don’t have the adequate planning and protection in place. Ensure that you plan ahead for any unforeseen mishaps. 19. The game board The game board is made up of 36 companies. These companies represent the market place and are your potential customers within the game. Each player will be competing to acquire as many of the profitable customers as they can throughout the game. Each player is given a set of coloured counters and they place these on the board as they acquire new customers. The counters represent the customers that have been acquired so that players can easily see which customers are still available. The game board also allows you to see all of the market place at once and may help you to visualise your strategy. 20. Miss a Turn If a miss a turn card is picked up or a player has a Sabotage card played against them, that player misses out on both drawing an Risk card and playing any Acquisition card(s) on their turn. The player still receives their Net Monthly Income and then play moves to the next player. Only a Strategy card can negate a Sabotage card. 21. Negotiation If a player does not have the Acquisition cards they require to progress, they may on their turn ask other players for the card they need and then negotiate a swap. Cards must be swapped so that players retain 5 cards each. Money can be used to sweeten the deal.
Market Share® Business Board Games. © Market Share International Ltd 2009 - 2014. All Rights Reserved. Licensee: Printing Company. Licensing Agents: Carter Business Solutions Ltd. Learn how to play at: www.marketsharegame.com
Only one card can be swapped per turn. The player may then proceed to play two Acquisition cards. 22. Picking up cards from the discard pile If a player does not have the card they require to progress then they may choose to pick up the top card from the discard pile. The player can only pick up the top card of the discard pile and no other. The player then discards a redundant card from their hand and may proceed to play either the new card or an existing card from their hand. This can only be done on the player’s turn. 23. How does the game end? The game can end in several ways. Firstly, by selecting a time period and ending the game when the time is up. Secondly, by default the game finishes when all the customers on the board have been acquired. Thirdly, you can finish when a selected level in the game is reached. e.g. when all players have reached the medium business level etc. Fourthly, you may choose to start from the middle and play to the end. It will pay to make this decision at the beginning of the game.
the reverse side of their player sheet to calculate their accumulated wealth. This will include counting all of your cash in hand, calculating all the of acquisition costs of your customers and resources and totaling the investment you have made in your professional development, risk management and your business growth, along with one month's income. Example: Cash in hand = $24,600 One month’s income = $13,700 Acquisition costs of the 11 customers you have acquired = $32,800 Acquisition costs of the 22 resources you have acquired = $13,400 Investment in the medium business expansion = $2,000 Investment in professional development = $3,400 This represents the money you have earned and invested in your business, a total of $89,900 in the above example. The winner is the player who has earned and invested the most and whose total is the highest. Please Enjoy!
24. The winner of the game When the game has come to an end, each player uses
Market Share® Business Board Games. © Market Share International Ltd 2009 - 2014. All Rights Reserved. Licensee: Printing Company. Licensing Agents: Carter Business Solutions Ltd. Learn how to play at: www.marketsharegame.com
BUSINESS BOARD GAMES
Market Share® Business Board Games. © Market Share International Ltd 2009 - 2014. All Rights Reserved. Licensee: Printing Company. Licensing Agents: Carter Business Solutions Ltd. Learn how to play at: www.marketsharegame.com