Whether you’re here for a teaching experience for your children (got to start those capitalistic tendencies early!) or to find a game to express your business prowess over your friends, below is a comprehensive list of the best business focused board games on the market today.
10. Raccoon Tycoon
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Be the raccoon you were always meant to be and get hoarding some supplies.
Raccoon Tycoon is a classic resource business game. Players produce goods, raising their value on the board, aiming to then sell goods at their peak price for profit. The money gained can then be used to buy buildings or towns, or win railroad auctions. Each action wins players “victory points” with the player with the most VP winning at the end of the game.
Raccoon Tycoon emulates business trading and key functions of economics in supply versus demand.
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Economics; Raccoon Tycoon’s resources follow real-life supply and demand rules. When players sell resources and increase the supply, the price of the resource is decreased.
Routes to Victory; Focus on buying towns, amassing buildings, or winning auctions - each can get you victory points to up your score at the end.
Playing the Market; In Raccoon Tycoon you first have to try and increase the value of goods before selling at the opportune time. If you, as an adult, like things like stocks (ew), or want to impress some life skills into your kids using fun and quirky animal designs, Raccoon Tycoon is an excellent game to try.
9. Ticket to Ride
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Railways have never been so fun.
Complete railways to accomplish task cards and earn victory points in Ticket to Ride. This game not only mirrors the railroad market, but helps players learn business skills like acquisition and distribution of assets. Additionally, as with the cutthroat world of business, players can choose to obstruct other players’ paths in order to make it more difficult for them to complete their tasks. Points are awarded for completed tickets and deducted for incomplete tickets.
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Task-Based Games; The “ticket” cards give players a specific goal to attempt to complete in order to win.
Strategy; Like a lot of the games on this list, you’ll be able to use strategy to block other players from completing their routes while trying to still complete your own tickets.
Resource Based Business; Players have a limited number of train cars to use to complete their tickets. These function as a “resource” that players need to be smart about spending. Players can then earn points based on their allocation of that resource.
8. Monopoly
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Family fun or a home wrecker? Only the strongest bonds will survive.
Monopoly stands as the most cut throat of the business board games. The goal of Monopoly is to build a, well, monopoly, by buying, selling, and renting property. Players earn money by passing “Go”, and roll dice to move around the board. Players can also earn money through “rent” if another player lands on their property or through selling cards, such as the coveted “Get Out of Jail Free” card.
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Betrayal in the name of Business; As is the Monopoly stereotype, this game will turn friends and families against each other. Start your children in the world of business early by teaching them that anything can be accomplished when you sacrifice basic decency.
Spending Money; Monopoly’s use of fake cash gives you the opportunity to live out your billionaire spending fantasies with no real world consequences.
Nostalgia; If it’s been awhile since you’ve indulged in some good old childhood rumination, pick up your trusty old copy of Monopoly.
7. Acquire
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Be the Hotel Magnate you were always meant to be.
In Acquire, players live out hotel magnate dreams as they manage hotel chains. But it doesn’t stop there - for the business player that likes to dream for the stars, Acquire lets players buy and sell property, grow their hotel chains, and even create whole cities. Players can buy and sell stocks, and whoever has the most money at the end of the game is the winner.
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Building; If you like games that involve building up your resources and monopolizing cities, you’re sure to enjoy Acquire.
Big Business; Acquire starts with a small dream of owning a hotel franchise, before giving players the chance to grow their small empire into a super city.
The American Dream; There is no better way to truly indulge in the American dream than by growing your business to the point of absolute domination over an entire city.
6. Ice Cream Empire
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Ice cream makes everything better - even capitalism.
Players begin with $300, a delivery truck, eight cones, and a dream. Throughout the game, players roll the die and move their truck around the board. After landing on a space, they can buy ice cream from the bank, sell ice cream back to the bank, build a store, pay a competitor to sell a store, or pass. The first player to make eight stores and accumulate $3,000 is declared the winner.
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Ice Cream; Ice Cream Empire puts a fun spin on classic business principles by dressing them up in ice cream trucks.
Simplified Business Principles; With its easy to understand directions, Ice Cream Empire introduces business ideals in a way that is easy to digest.
Banks; Ice Cream Empire involves buying and selling not only to other players but also with a central bank. If you enjoy handling money and exchanging with the bank for profit, this may be the game for you.
5. Bulls and Bears
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No, it's not a euphemism (I think).
Bulls and Bears is a stock based game that teaches players how to build a proper stock portfolio in the name of fun. Players have to buy and sell stock and, just like in real life, cross their fingers and hope that lady luck is on their side and their stock price will go up and not down. The aim is to gain the most money and stocks, forcing all other players out of the game due to bankruptcy.
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Buying and Trading; After a few rounds, learn the best strategy to have the best stocks in hand to buy and trade with the other players.
Strategy; As gameplay progresses, players will learn what hands will get them what they need and want in order to gain the most stocks. Just like the real stock market, luck must be on your side, but a solid strategy never hurts either.
The Stock Market; This may seem obvious, but if you’re interested in the principles of the stock market, Bulls and Bears will be a blast for you.
4. Nine to Five
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Get on that nine-to-five grind.
This adult focused game plays on different business “buzzwords”. Players are given 10 buzzwords that they need to use during their chosen gameplay. The first to use all 10, wins. These words can be used in a variety of business scenarios, including sending emails to your “coworkers”.
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Mature Games; Nine to Five was designed by adults, for adults. If you like a little more adult humor in your business meetings, this may be the game for you.
Word-Play; This is less of a business game in the traditional sense of using business tactics to win. Instead, it plays on common business lingo and etiquette with a dash of humor to wrap it together.
Business Simulations; Players choose what kind of work place they want to be fictionally located in and what situation their buzzwords need to be used in.
3. Just Business
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Don't take it too personally.
Just Business is a business themed board game with a criminal twist for those wannabe business magnates who like to toe the line. Players compete as gangsters - rob banks, make payroll, and move vehicles to make raids. Businesses profit as players commit crime and pay off relevant bank guards. Embrace the dark side of the law in this mafioso twist. After all - it’s just business.
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Crime; If crunching numbers under the strict guidance of legal capitalism just isn’t your thing, maybe putting a criminal twist on your goals is the way to go.
Beating the System; If you’re into business in order to cheat your way around the system into building your empire, you’re in luck - in Just Business you are encouraged to do whatever dirty deeds necessary to make ends meet.
Heist Movies; Just Business involves all the good parts of crime, including tried and true methods like robbing banks and paying off the guards to make sure you get off scot free.
2. RATNA’S 5 in 1 Business Senior Game
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Employ the best business of all in saving on this 5-in-1 package.
RATNA’S 5 in 1 Business Senior Game is a packaged box including the classic business game along with four other quintessential children’s board games. Players navigate the world of business as they buy, sell, and trade with friends and family in order to build their business empire. Players can learn how to invest their money in order to maximize their profits. As par for the course, the player with the highest profits at the end wins.
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Realistic Gameplay; RATNA’S 5 in 1 Business Senior Game mirrors the real business world so closely it’s eerie. This makes it a great learning experience for children, and a more interesting game for those adults involved.
Colorful Money; Along with the point above, RATNA’S 5 in 1 Business Senior Game’s colorful money and game pieces make the game a hit with children even though at its heart it is a learning experience.
Bang for your Buck; With a solid 5-in-1 experience with multiple games, RATNA’S 5 in 1 Business Senior Game is a great way to maximize your own personal profit with your sense of fun.
1. Catan
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Get ready to settle - some colonies that is.
In Catan, players take on the role of settlers who buy and trade in order to amass resources. A dice is rolled at the beginning of a turn to determine which hexagonal tiles earn resources. Resources can then be used to build roads and towns, or upgrade an existing town to a city. Having a city can increase how many resources a player gains when the dice roll lands on or adjacent to their hex.
Players gain victory points as their settlements grow in size, with the goal of having the most victory points at the end of the game.
Catan is a business game in that it relies on principles of business and economics in supply and demand, as well as strategizing the best way to allocate resources to achieve your goals.
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City Building; The more you build in Catan, the more points you will earn. Building roads and cities takes time and patience and can take a few rounds to get moving.
Strategy; Between building settlements to block other players and using the Robber token to stop an opponent from earning resources, strategy plays a large part in winning Catan.
Resource Based Business; If you’re less into the stock market and more into good ol’ fashioned supply and demand, Catan may be right up your alley.
Born to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, Julia spends her days collecting sea shells, walking barefoot, and pretending if she tries hard enough, she can still become a mermaid one day.
