Leaving school in the eighties I became a 'Sign Writer', moving quickly with the times into computer vinyl graphics and desk top publishing and many other jobs in between and then ten years ago I somehow ended up going to drama school to pursue an acting career. As many of us, in this time of austerity, paying bills and finding work is very difficult and being an actor is even more so.
Having a creative mind and idle hands, frustrated and bored, prompted me to
create this game, not only to try and generate some income but to highlight the
plight and hardships of both the employed and indeed the unemployed in this
current economic climate.
Children constantly harass parents daily to buy them expensive computer games, they don't know what the word
Recession actually means, they only know that mummy and daddy argue about money or rather, the lack of.
So to give the word
Recession, which has a negative connotation, a positive spin, this fun board game, will not only bring families together around a table but it will unknowingly serve as an educational tool for our younger generation and to mum and dads joy, it's also well within the household budget. As for our elderly and retired communities, table top games are a very popular past time, not only for companionship but a board game with such a topic as the
Recession can incite discussion and debate consequently keeping mature minds active.
Beat the Recession Board Game - Objective
The objective of the game is to collect all your ‘State Pension’ cards in sequential order, 1 through 6, for you to retire at ‘State Pension Age’. On receiving your sixth and final ‘State Pension’ card, will make you the winner of the ‘Beat the Recession’ Board Game. During game play you will have to pay essential and non-essential bills as you would in real life. As you pursue to collect your ‘State Pension’ cards, you will also be receiving money from various sources to keep you in the game i.e. employment, unemployment benefits, saleable assets and windfalls. The 'Banker' is in charge of money and game play but the banker is not exempt from unemployment, this means that any player can then become the banker and control the board.
The Game - Description
Beat the Recession Board Game is played from the point of view and experiences of hard working ordinary people and not through the eyes of the government and the bankers that created an economic deficit and national debt.
Bankers Bonuses, Employment, Tax, Unemployment, Benefit Cheats, Repossessions, Fines, Cutbacks, High Incomes for the well to do and Low Incomes for the not so, Saleble Assets such as Redundancies, Saving Bonds, Mortgages, Life Insurances and Stock Market Shares, Bills and more Bills, basically everything you need for a successful recession but that's okay, if your income or unemployment benefit isn't enough to cover your debts, you have the chance of winning money through the lottery, bookmakers, online betting/bingo and sporting events which will hopefully keep you in the game and if you can get through all of that and manage to avoid bankruptcy you will have a good chance of collecting all of your assets, ultimately to cash them in with your sixth and final state pension card to receive your 'State Pension' and retire comfortably, thereby becoming the winner of the 'Beat the Recession' Board Game.
Two to Six Players - Ages 11 and up - Time Limits:
Beat the Recession Board Game is designed specifically for the short attention span of children, senior citizens and busy adults. A two player game would last up to 1 hour, a four player up to 2 hours and a six player would last up to 3 hours. - If a time limit is set, the player that has the most ‘State Pension’ cards (assets) and ’Money’ at the end of the time allotted will be the winner of the game. If none of the ‘Players’ have any ‘State Pension’ cards (assets), the ‘Player’ with the most money will be the winner.
Your job, income and assets will determine if you can retire comfortably or will unemployment hold you back or even put you into bankruptcy?!
Recession Board Game (updates) :
http://www.artechniques.com/beattherecession/board_game.html
U.K. Version (above)
U.S. Version (below)
