Get Rich Quick ain’t no Monopoly!

Get Rich Quick board game — How rich can you get and how quick?

When I first saw Get Rich Quick at the FoxMind booth at Gen Con 2016, the ever-popular Monopoly board game quickly came to mind.

It’s no secret that Monopoly gets a bad rap for ruining family relationships. And in the board game community, Monopoly is looked down upon with reprehension.

So for my mind to shift to Monopoly upon seeing Get Rich Quick isn’t a good thing.

Of course, being a board game reviewer means I’m also always interested in at least glancing at a game.

The great news is that it didn’t take long for me to realize Get Rich Quick is a far cry from Monopoly. In fact, there’s hardly any resemblance at all to Monopoly other than there’s a board and paper money.

And no one is trying to bankrupt anyone else!

The even better news is Get Rich Quick has been a lot of fun to play!

How to Play Get Rich Quick

In Get Rich Quick, players race to be the first to accumulate 25 Fortune Points.

They do this by playing cards that give them opportunities to earn money which they can then convert to Fortune Points in a variety of ways.

There are plenty of options to pursue on this fun road to fortune. Choosing your path to success will depend on your plans and purchases as well as outguessing your opponents.

In fact, guessing what your opponents will do is a huge part of the game. It can either make or break some very tempting opportunities.

Set Up:

Set up in Get Rich Quick is very quick and simple.

Each player takes a set of Action cards numbered 1 through 7 and 12 meeples in their choice of color.

Each player also begins the game with $5,000.

The 6 purchasable Action cards are also set next to the game board along with the bank of money, dice, and Fortune Point tokens.

Playing:

In Get Rich Quick, players don’t take turns in the traditional sense.

Instead, players simultaneously select 3 Action cards from their hand and place them face down in front of them. Once all players have made their selections, everyone flips over their cards.

Then the card actions are resolved in order from 1 to 7.

That means that everyone that played card #1 will take that action. Once all those players have completed that action, everyone that played card #2 will then take that action. And so on until #7 is resolved.

Obviously if no one played a certain number, then that action is skipped.

Once all the Actions have been completed, players take their cards back into hand and a new round begins.

The simultaneous choice and then ordered resolution of the Action cards is the heart of the game and creates a very fun play experience.

It may not sound like it yet, but once you see what all the cards do, you’ll see why.

#1 – Go to Work: This card grants the player $1,000.
#2 – Invest in Penny Stocks: The player must pay $1,000 for penny stocks. If at least one other player didn’t play the same card, the player earns $3,000.
#3 – Invest in Real Estate: The player must pay $2,000 for their property investment (no real property in the game, it’s just imaginary). If at least 2 other players didn’t play the same card, the player earns $6,000.
#4 – Launch a Start-Up: The player must pay $3,000 to get their start-up off the ground. If they are the only player to play this card, the start-up is successful and the player earns $10,000.
#5 – The Lottery: The player pays $1,000 and rolls 5 dice and gets a pay out based on the single roll. 3 of a kind rewards $4,000, 4 of a kind rewards $10,000 and 5 of a kind rewards $30,000.
#6 – Shop: The player gets to spend their money by purchasing one space on the game board or one of the purchasable Action cards to add to their hand.
#7 – Take a Break: The player gains 1 Fortune Point.

Now you can see why choosing the right cards to play at the right time can get you ahead or leave you behind.

Sure the Launch a Start-Up pays out fantastically. But all it takes is one other player to play the same card and you’re both out of luck. You pay your $3,000 and get nothing in return. Ouch!

The Penny Stocks are safer. But generating money also can take a bit longer.

Then there’s the Lottery. It doesn’t cost much and can pay out well, but you only get one roll of the dice. How’s your luck?

And that’s where Shopping can be so handy…

Shopping:

While the playing of Action cards is at the heart of the game, players can get new opportunities, improve their odds, make their cards more valuable, or purchase Fortune Points from the Shopping Center (game board) throughout the game.

There are plenty of cool benefits to buy in the Shopping Center. But there are also limited spots for each item. So if you want one, you better jump on it soon.

The tricky part is that with so many good choices, it can be tough picking a path of benefits to use in your plans.

If you’re risk averse, you may want to go the Work route and purchase a Promotion or Major Promotion so when you play your #1 Work card you’ll earn more money.

Or if you’re one that likes the risky side of things (like our Caleb), you can buy Stars Align and get a chance to re-roll dice when you play The Lottery.

Or you can take advantage of other players buy having them pay you instead of the bank when they Invest in Penny Stocks.

Or you can buy Insurance to reduce your risks when trying to Launch a Start-Up.

Or you may want to Hire a Sidekick so you can play 4 Action cards instead of 3.

In all cases, the latter part of the game will have players converting all their money to Fortune Points. After all, the main objective in the game is to earn a bunch of Fortune Points. So there are spots on the Shopping Center where you can simply buy Fortune Points.

Needless to say, there are plenty of options to pursue in your race to the top.

Game End:

As we’ve already mentioned, once a player reaches or surpasses 25 Fortune Points, the game ends.

The round is completed and the player with the most Fortune Points wins.

Can the whole family enjoy Get Rich Quick?

Get Rich Quick is a great family board game and we’re so happy it’s not one bit like Monopoly.

There are plenty of choices throughout the game that keep players engaged the whole time.

And because it’s based on everyone simultaneously choosing which cards to play, there’s really no down time.

Players don’t sit around and wait for their turn.

The only time we really find people waiting is when one (or more) player choose The Lottery. And because it’s a single die roll to see if they can get 3, 4, or 5 of a kind, everyone anxiously watches the outcome.

Just like the name implies, the game goes by very quickly.

Our Experiences

The first time we played Get Rich Quick it was a runaway.

It’s not to say the game is broken. It’s just that I had the most lucky roll ever to start the game and I coasted to a victory pretty quickly without anyone else getting even close.

It went down like this…

I played Work, Penny Stock, and The Lottery.

After I earned my $1,000 for working. Paid that $1,000 for Penny Stocks and collected $3,000. Then I spent $1,000 of that to play the Lottery.

I rolled the 5 dice and they all came up with 2’s!

Everyone was amazed as I pulled in $30,000 on one roll!

All the other players had a few thousand and I was rolling with $37,000 after the first round! ($5,000 starting cash, $3,000 from penny stocks, $29,000 lottery winnings (paid $1,000 to play)).

So in round two, I bought the Private Jet and was on my way. At some point I also bought a second Take a Break action card so I could take plenty of breaks on my way to earning 25 Fortune Points in not many rounds.

It was a fun game for me, but very short for everyone else trying to make their way in this crazy world.

After telling Caleb about the lucky roll I had in my first game he decided to try the Lottery every turn in his first game a few days later – without much luck I should add. He even bought a second Lottery card so he could gamble twice every round.

But he did get lucky on Start-Ups that game.

I on the other hand decided to try a methodical approach and went after a Work strategy with promotions and a few Real Estate investments.

But after a while I decided, “why not do a Lottery for fun”. But before doing so, I purchased Stars Align in the Shopping Center so I could get a re-roll. With my first roll I got 2 3’s. And then on my re-roll of the other 3 dice, out came 3 3’s! Once again I had a $30,000 payout and won the game two round later (since it was later in the game then I gambled).

How am I supposed to teach my kids not to gamble when my first two games end in victory from the Lottery? 😉

Anyway, Get Rich Quick has been a huge hit in our family and we’ve played it many times since.

(And if Caleb ends up with a gambling problem, I’m blaming FoxMind.)

A few complaints

No doubt we’ve had a great time playing Get Rich Quick. But there are also a few things that we look past with the game.

The first is the cover art.

While I like the cartoony style of art that gives a good impression of the type of game it is, I don’t like the woman’s swimsuit attire. The buxom woman in a high cut on the hips, strapless suit disappoints me.

The next minor complaint is the game board that just won’t lie flat. We’ve tried our regular tricks with the board to keep it down, but we still haven’t had much luck. But it’s not a big deal because the wooden meeples still stand fine in their spots on the board.

The last complaint is the paper money. There is a lot of money exchanging going one multiple times each round with every player. Almost every card generates an exchange of cash. And the paper money just falls flat.

The Fortune Points are tokens and we feel that the money in the game could easily be tokens as well. They’d be much easier to handle and withstand the frequent exchanges throughout the game.

So instead of playing with the provide paper money, we used the extra set of Scythe metal coins I bought a few months ago. Playing a money-driven game with metal coins is a lot of fun!

How does Get Rich Quick score on our “Let’s Play Again” game meter?

Get Rich Quick scores very high on our “let’s play again” game meter – and not just because Caleb is addicted to rolling dice for the Lottery.

We’re drawn to play Get Rich Quick over and over because of the simultaneous Action card selection and the myriad of paths to accumulate wealth and gain Fortune Points.

It may be that we each have our favorite paths, but there are so many options that we can try new things every time we play.

Once one game ends, it’s super simple to just reset and play again. And because we’re familiar with the action cards and shopping options, each game flies by really quickly now too.

And if you’re family is still stuck on pulling out Monopoly, it’s time to switch it out. Take a spin with Get Rich Quick and you won’t be disappointed.