If you’ve been dreaming aboutinvesting in a casino in Switzerland or a cattle farm in Saudi Arabia, you’re in luck. A new board game, Billionaire Tycoon, now offers you a chance to buy, sell and trade companies around the globe, and the fun of driving your friends into bankruptcy while you’re at it.
Actual billionaire tycoons are probably spending their time on other activities (“The goal is to make only $1 billion?”), but we imagine nerdy business majors will get red-faced defending their faux empires even after school is out in June, when the game is released in the U.S. Can’t wait? If you have the airfare (plus £34.99 for the game), you can hop the pond and buy it in Harrods in London. Or check out billionairetycoon.co.uk.
Our game started out friendly enough, with the purchase of modest businesses with our modest savings, and we engaged in a little pleasant negotiating. But once one player (let us call her B) quickly went bankrupt and tried to weasel her way out of debt with a shady deal on a Moonbucks Café, it was on! Tragedy and triumph followed: A profitable Wet N Foamy Car Wash in Australia had to be sold at half its value once the owner lost a turn (being investigated for tax fraud, natch), while a Mr. Mario’s Ice Cream Van idled in Brazil, slowly garnering revenue for its proprietor.
There were near-bankruptcies left and right (just like in real life!). And as for the conniving B? She managed to strike a lucrative deal on that ice cream van–and win entrepreneur of the year. Figures.
My Creative Economy 
