How to Play Money

Game Objective

In MONEY!, players dive into the volatile currency market. The objective is to build a high-value currency portfolio through successive trades. Players aim to increase the value of their hands using bids and exchanges, based on a specific scoring system. The player with the highest score at the end of the final round is the winner.

Setup

1. If playing with 4 people, remove all cards of one currency and return them to the box.
2. If playing with 3 people, remove all cards of two currencies and return them to the box.
3. Each player takes one bluff card. The remaining ones are placed back in the box.
4. Shuffle the banknotes and currency cards and deal 6 to each player, face down.
5. Combine these 6 cards with the bluff card to form the player's 7-card starting hand.
6. Place the remaining cards face down in the middle of the table as a draw pile.
7. Draw 4 cards from the draw pile and place them face up in a horizontal line to the right.
8. Draw 4 more cards from the draw pile and place them face up in a horizontal line to the left of the draw pile.
9. Choose a player to start.

Game Flow

The game progresses in rounds. In each round, players make bids to exchange part of their holdings for new holdings offered in the market (the cards to the right and left of the draw pile) or from other players.

1. Offer Selection: Each player chooses a number of cards from their hand to constitute their offer for the exchange. An offer can contain any number of cards and may include banknotes of different currencies, coins, and bluff cards. Bluff cards have no value but allow disguising the offer.
2. Simultaneous Reveal: Bids are revealed simultaneously when all players indicate they are ready.
3. Return Bluff Cards: Players who included bluff cards in their bid return them to their hands at this time. All other bid cards remain face up on the table. If a player bids only their bluff card, they have opted out of this round and cannot exchange cards.
4. Determine Starting Player: A player's bid value is the total of the values printed on the notes and coins that make up their bid. The player with the highest bid starts the round. In case of a tie, the tie-breaker is made by giving first exchange privilege to the player with the note or coin with the lowest serial number in their offer.
5. Exchange Turns: Starting with the player with the highest bid and continuing through successively lower bids, players, on their turn, can choose one of three available actions.
6. End of Round: When all players who bid have completed their exchanges, the game replenishes the market card groups. The scorer draws cards from the draw pile to replenish first the right group and then the left group with four cards. If a group already has four (or more) cards, it is not replenished.
7. New Round: A new round now begins.

Actions and How to Play

During their turn, the player with the highest bid (or the next highest) can choose one of the following three actions:

• 1. Exchange their bid cards for one of the displayed groups:
  • The player takes all cards from the right or left group and places them in their hand.
  • They then replace these cards with all cards from their bid (the number of bid cards does not need to match the number in the display group).
  • These cards thus become available for the next player to receive in exchange for their offer.
• 2. Exchange their bid cards for another player's offer:
  • The player can take all cards from another player's bid and place them in their hand.
  • They then place their bid cards in front of the other player.
  • That player plays the next turn, as they now have the highest bid on the table.
• 3. No exchange:
  • The player takes their bid back into their hand, making no exchange.

When a player completes their exchange (or accepts their offer, making no exchange), the player with the next highest bid (now the highest on the table) takes their turn.

End of Game and Scoring

The game ends when the draw pile runs out. In the final round, if there are not enough cards in the draw pile to deal 4 new cards to the right and left groups, deal as many cards as remain (right group first) and play the final round with only those cards.

When the final round is completed, player scores are determined. To calculate player scores:

1. Sort cards according to currencies.
2. Sum the values of each currency.
3. Subtract 100 points from each currency with less than 200 points. If the resulting value is less than 0, the player scores 0.
4. Add 100 points for each trio (all three notes of the same bank with a value of 20, or with a value of 30).
5. Coins always retain their value. Each coin counts 10 points.
6. If a player possesses all 9 notes of a given currency, they receive 500 points (the actual value of 300 plus a bonus of 200 for the triple bonuses for the 20s and 30s).

The player with the highest score after the final round is the winner.

Tips for Winning

• When building an offer, keep in mind the scoring principle that if the accumulated value of a currency is 200 or more, you receive the full value. If it is less than 200, 100 points will be subtracted.
• Aim to form trios (all three notes of the same bank with a value of 20, or with a value of 30), as each trio grants a 100-point bonus.
• Consider using bluff cards to disguise your offer from other players, which can be a useful tactic to mislead your opponents about your intentions.