How to Play For Sale: Advisors

Game Objective

In For Sale: Advisors, players compete to accumulate the greatest fortune possible through property trading. With the help of Advisors, you must optimize your profits by acquiring and selling real estate. The winner is the player who possesses the most money at the end of the game.

Setup

1. Separate the cards by type (Advisors, Property, and Currency) and shuffle each deck separately. Set the Property and Currency decks aside for now.
2. Place the Advisor cards face down as the initial draw deck.
3. Adjust the number of cards according to the number of players:
   • With 3 players: remove 6 random cards from each of the 3 decks and return them to the box.
   • With 4 players: remove 2 cards from each deck.
4. Distribute the starting money:
   • 3-4 players: each receives $28,000.
   • 5-6 players: each receives $20,000.
5. Players must keep their money secret throughout the entire game.

Game Flow

The game is played in 3 consecutive phases:

1. Phase 1: Hiring Advisors: Players auction Advisor cards.
2. Phase 2: Buying Properties: Players use the acquired Advisors to buy Property cards.
3. Phase 3: Selling Properties: Players sell their Property cards in exchange for Currency cards.

Actions and How to Play

Phase 1: Hiring Advisors

Place a number of Advisor cards on the table equal to the number of players. The player who most recently bought a house starts the auction by bidding any amount of money. In clockwise order, players decide whether to raise the bid or pass. When passing, the player takes the lowest-value Advisor available on the table and receives half of their bid back (rounded down). The last player remaining in the auction pays the full amount of their bid and keeps the highest-value Advisor.

Phase 2: Buying Properties

The player who took the last Advisor in the previous phase starts this step. Property cards are revealed (one per player). Each player plays an Advisor from their hand as a bid. There is no passing. The player with the highest-value Advisor chooses the most valuable property, and so on. Keep the Advisors with a blue background for Phase 3 and those with a gray background for final scoring.

Phase 3: Selling Properties

Currency cards are revealed (one per player). Everyone chooses a Property card from their hand and reveals it simultaneously. Whoever played the highest-value property takes the highest Currency card, following descending order.

Advisor Abilities

Each Advisor has a specific ability based on their color: Red (Phase 1), Green (Phase 2), Blue (Phase 3), or Gray (Final Scoring). Consult the Advisor Abilities section in the manual for the detailed effect of each card (such as Sales Associate, Agent, Contractor, Appraiser, Realtor, Broker, Lawyer, Investor, Financier, and Underwriter).

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when all players have sold all of their Property cards. The final score is calculated by adding:

• The value of the accumulated Currency cards.
• The remaining money in coins.
• Any scoring bonuses provided by Advisors (gray cards).

The player with the highest total wins. In the event of a tie, the player with the most money in coins wins. If a tie still persists, the victory is shared.

Tips for Winning

• Resource Management: Remember that unused coins at the end of the game count as money. The Financier can be extremely powerful for multiplying the value of your remaining coins.
• Auction Strategy: You can pass in the Phase 1 auction without paying anything to secure the lowest-value Advisor, which can be a useful tactic if you are saving money for later phases.
• Use of Abilities: Cards like the Appraiser and the Investor change the value of your Currency cards. Plan the use of these abilities to maximize the highest-value cards you obtained in Phase 3.