Yes We Can? Game
Rules and Instructions
Contents
Contains the board, 6 player pawns, 24 Organizer Buttons, 2 dice, IOUs in 6 denominations, and Increase the National Debt, Create a Saved Job, Be Ambitious?, and Temporary Career cards.
Game Start
1. Shuffle each card set and place each on their respective card square on the outer edges of the board. Increase the National Debt cards and Create a Saved Job cards will have a real government program and the amount actually spent on the program on the back of the card, and the amount owed by the player and a reference number on the face of the card (see Increase the National Debt Days and Create a Saved Job Days under Game Days below).
2. Each player places their token on Pay Day (Start) and receives $100,000 in IOUs.
3. Each player draws a Temporary Career card. Each player should turn their Temporary Career card face up in front of them. In addition to the amount received in Step 2, each player receives the amount on their card determined by each player’s roll in Step 4, respectively.
4. Each player takes turn rolling the dice. The highest rolling player starts the game and game play continues to the left.
On Your Turn
1. You may roll 1 die (equivalent to working less) or 2 dice (equivalent to working harder) on your turn.
2. Move your pawn clockwise around the board the number of spaces shown on the die or dice.
3. For each day that you land on or pass, depending on the day (see “Game Days” below), the determination of the amounts paid or received shall occur as each event occurs. For example, passing a Patriotic Tax Day and then landing on Bailout Day will result in you paying taxes first and then paying the amount on Bailout Day.
4. If you rolled a double, you must roll two dice again and take another move (steps 2 and 3). If you roll a double again on this second roll, you will pay double taxes if you land on OR pass a Patriotic Tax Day on the second roll.
Game Days
A player will land on different days of the year as he proceeds around the board. The following rules apply to each day type:
1. Patriotic Tax Days: There are four Patriotic Tax Days on the board; for each that is landed on OR passed, you shall pay the tax amount based on your current holdings regardless of employment. If you forget or miscalculate any tax, you will pay a penalty of $10,000 to the government. Nonpayment or miscalculations must be recognized after the next player rolls and before that player moves. It will not be unusual for you to pay taxes every turn and on occasion, you may pass 2 Patriotic Tax Days resulting in payments on each day. Taxes are assessed on your holding as follows:
2. Increase the National Debt Days & Create and Saved Job Days: If you land on any of these days, you shall draw the respective card type and pay the amount on the face of the card. These cards (see sample cards) contain factual information derived from real government spending programs and therefore include references to this information. The numbers correspond to references on the References page of www.YesWeCanGame.com.
3. Pay Days: If you land on any of these days, you shall draw the respective card type and pay the amount on the face of the card. These cards contain factual information derived from real government spending programs and therefore include references to this information. The numbers correspond to references on the References page of www.YesWeCanGame.com.
4. Lose Your Job Day: You return your Temporary Career card to the bottom of the deck. You are now unemployed.
5. Land a Temporary Career Day: Draw a Temporary Career card from the deck if you do not have one. If you do have a Temporary Career card, you may exchange your existing card for a new card. You may have at most one Temporary Career card at a time.
6. Be Ambitious? Day: You have an opportunity to earn extra income. You may elect to a) do nothing or b) roll 1 die to determine the outcome (see each card for details).
7. Organize Your Community Day: You receive an Organizer Button and you may place it on any square on the board. If an opponent subsequently lands on the square, the opponent will pay you $10,000 for each button on you have on the square. Note that the buttons are colored differently on each side. Take a button that has your color and place it with your color up next to any square. For 1 to 3 players, up to 8 buttons are allowed for each player assuming the players have selected pawn colors that correspond to different button sets. For 4 to 6 players, up to 4 buttons are allowed for each player. You may not place a button on a square that has an opponent’s button but you may have multiple buttons on a single square.
8. Vacation Days: You’ve paid enough taxes, increased the national debt, created saved jobs, and redistributed your wealth. Take a vacation from hope and change.
9. Reduce Your Wages Days: Your wages are reduced in your next Pay Day by $20,000. If you land on both Reduce Your Wages Days before Pay Day, your wages are reduced by $40,000. The reduction applies regardless of if you are employed. If the reduction is greater than or equal to the amount you normally would receive on you next Pay Day, you receive nothing.
10. Other Days: See the instructions on the board for each day that is landed on. Unless specified otherwise, money is paid to the government.
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Optional Suggested Rules
The following rules are optional but suggested and must be agreed upon before the game starts. Any combination of these rules may be adopted.
1. Landing on 2 Be Ambitious? Days on subsequent turns (a 1 must be rolled on your second turn) reverses the numbers of the die roll for the positive (collect) and negative (pay) outcomes on the card. For example, if the Be Ambitious? card shows that a roll of 1 or 4 results in a positive outcome while a roll of 2, 3, 5, or 6 results in a negative outcome, the outcome numbers will be reversed such that a roll of 2, 3, 5, or 6 result in a positive outcome while a roll of 1 or 4 will result in a negative outcome. The positive and negative amounts received or paid do not change.
2. Landing on Take a Vacation from Hope and Change allows you to become well rested. You may but are not required to, take 2 additional consecutive turns in a row beginning on your following turn without penalty from the doubles rule stated in step 4 in On Your Turn above.
3. If you land on Apology Day, you must say "I'm Sorry" to all opponents before paying the government. If you forget or say "I'm Sorry" before paying the government, you are penalized again the amount stated on that day.
4. You may sell an Organizer Button to the government for a Temporary Career card. This transaction must occur at the beginning of your turn.
5. Game time may be reduced by increasing the tax amounts for each tax bracket (see Patriotic Tax Days above) by $5,000.
Game Scenarios
There are two possible endings based on the time available and how players want to determine a winner:
1. Private Sector Elimination Scenario (recommended): When a player no longer has financial credit (IOUs), they exit the private sector and work for the government. That player is eliminated from the game. The last player to survive is the winner.
2. Time-Based Scenario: All players agree on a set time to play. The player with the most IOUs, the winner, is able to sell their debt and buy a yacht to sail around the world in luxury. Other players end up working for the government.
