How to Play

QE

3-5 players 45-45 min 7.3 Board Game Geek Rating

Players act as central banks bidding unlimited amounts to bail out failing companies across four nations. Through open and secret auctions, you acquire firms to earn victory points from sets and company values. However, whoever prints the most money during bidding automatically loses all points, creating tension between aggressive bidding and restraint.

Published 2019

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Distribute player components

Give each player a Bid Tile, Player Score Board of one nation, and a Dry Erase Marker

Select correct board side

Flip the Player Score Board to the correct side based on the number of players (UK is only used in 5-player games)

Deal industry tokens

Shuffle the Industry Tokens and deal one face down to each player, who looks at it secretly (Government is only used in 5-player games)

Remove tiles for 3-4 players

Remove the 3 UK Company Tiles, the JP Government Tile, and the CN Government Tile, leaving 16 Company Tiles in play

Remove tiles for 5 players

Remove the 4 x 1 VP Company Tiles, the JP Agriculture Tile, and the CN Financial Tile, leaving 15 Company Tiles in play

Prepare company deck

Shuffle the remaining Company Tiles face down into one stack

Determine first auctioneer

The player who most recently visited a bank takes the First Auctioneer Token and keeps it for the entire game

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Phase 1 - Opening Bid

The Auctioneer reveals the top Company Tile, writes their bid on their Bid Tile, and places it face up in front of them

Phase 2 - Secret Bids

All other players simultaneously write their bids and hand them to the Auctioneer without revealing to others

Phase 3 - Award the Company

The Auctioneer examines all bids and announces the highest bidder

Phase 4 - Reveal zero bids

The Auctioneer reveals any zero bids (skip in 3-player games)

Phase 5 - End of Sale

Return Bid Tiles to owners who wipe them clean, then pass Auctioneer role to the left

Handle tied auctions

All tied highest bidders must rebid following normal rules; if tied 3 times, the highest non-tied bid wins

Apply 3-player last tile rule

On the final turn, there is no Auctioneer; all three players make secret bids and highest wins (ties mean no one gets the Company)

Use 5-player peek rule

Once per game, any player may request to see the winning bid of an auction, then cross off their "See the winning bid" spot

Winning

How to claim victory.

Calculate Company VP

Add together all VP shown on the faces of your Company Tiles

Calculate Zero Bid VP

Score 2 VP for each zero bid (maximum 1 per round)

Calculate Nationalization VP

Score for Company Tiles matching your nation: 1/3/6/10 VP for 1/2/3/4 tiles in 3-4 players; 3/6/10 VP for 1/2/3 tiles in 5 players

Calculate Monopolization VP

Score for each industry you have multiple companies in: 3/6/10 VP for 2/3/4 tiles in 3-4 players; 6/10/16 VP for 2/3/4 tiles in 5 players (Industry Token counts)

Calculate Diversification VP

Score for sets of unique industries: 4/8 VP for 3/4 industries in 3-4 players; 8/12/17 VP for 3/4/5 industries in 5 players (Industry Token counts)

Calculate subtotal

Add all victory points earned from the above categories

Determine elimination

Add up values on the back of all your Company Tiles; the player who spent the most is eliminated (ties eliminate all tied players)

Award lowest spender bonus

The player who spent the least scores 6 VP (3-4 players) or 7 VP (5 players); ties award full points to all tied players

Calculate grand total

Add the lowest spender bonus to your subtotal

Determine winner

The non-eliminated player with the highest grand total wins; tied games go to the tied player with the least total spent