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How to Play

Startups

3-7 players 20-20 min 7.2 Board Game Geek Rating

Players compete as investors across six world-changing companies, using capital and three hidden cards to outmaneuver rivals. Only each company's largest shareholder earns money, requiring strategic thinking and luck to predict opponents' moves. Success depends on making smart investment decisions and becoming the biggest shareholder to accumulate the most wealth.

Published 2017

Startups

Get Ready

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

1
Shuffle and remove cards
Shuffle the deck and remove 5 random cards from the game
2
Deal starting hands
Give each player 3 cards (shares) to form their starting hand
3
Distribute Capital chips
Give each player 10 Capital chips with the 1-side facing up
4
Create draw pile
Place the rest of the deck face down in the center of the play area

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Complete both actions
You must do both Step 1 and Step 2 on your turn
2
Step 1: Take a card
Choose one of two options to acquire a card:
3
Step 2: Put down a card
Choose one of two options to place a card:
4
Track Anti-Monopoly chips
The player with the most shares in a company holds that company's Anti-Monopoly chip
5
Apply Anti-Monopoly restrictions
If you hold the chip for a company:

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Trigger game end
The game ends when a player draws the last card from the deck; that player finishes their turn
2
Add hands to portfolios
Every player adds any remaining cards in their hand to their portfolio
3
Resolve each company
For each company, determine the majority stakeholder:
4
Determine the winner
The player with the highest total value of chips wins
5
Optional multi-round game
Play 4 rounds with cumulative scoring:

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FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

PDF RULEBOOK

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