US20060033275A1

US20060033275A1 - Board game

Info

Publication number: US20060033275A1
Application number: US10/522,981
Authority: US
Inventors: Kieran Trass; Steven McMenmy
Original assignee: HYBRID EDUTAINMENT Ltd
Current assignee: HYBRID EDUTAINMENT Ltd
Priority date: 2002-08-02
Filing date: 2003-01-22
Publication date: 2006-02-16
Also published as: AU2003206462A1; NZ520559A; WO2004012832A1

Abstract

The present invention teaches the fundamentals of wealth creation in the context of a game. Each player at the start of the game is assigned financial goals and a predetermined amount of “cash”. The player who first achieves their financial goal wins the game. The game includes an economic cycle clock with a moveable hand having sectors representing the boom, slump and recovery phases of the economic cycle respectively. The game also includes three sets of cards one set of each for each phase of the economic cycle clock. Each set of cards is broken up into subsets designated “opportunity”, “change” and “wild” cards.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention relates to board games, particularly to board games that teach the fundamental aspects of reaching financial goals, more particularly, but not solely through real estate investment.

BACKGROUND PRIOR ART

There are various forms of educational entertainment board games that specialise in personal finance, investing and accounting. Some of these are directed at teaching children the fundamentals of financial responsibility as disclosed in PCT application number WO0106480 issued to Kiyosaki et al. These board games generally require a low level of knowledge or mathematical skills. This means that the game is not complex, therefore not indicative of real world situations.
Other board games of this type have gone further and target older age groups that posses a higher level of knowledge, for example PCT application number WO9820948 issued to Kiyosaki et al. In this case the board game is suited for teaching players the principles of personal finance, basic accounting principles and, prudent investment. While this game is targeted towards an older audience, it still lacks real world situations like economic recovery and downturns. These games also tend to use investments that the average person would never be exposed to, for example being able to buy a forest or a gold mine. This makes the game unrealistic for most people and therefore its application to real life situations is limited.
The principles of real estate investment are sometimes taught in expensive and time-consuming seminars, or, they may be taught in more or less well written books. Some individuals, however, do not have the time or ability to spend the sums required or even the inclination to attend such seminars or the ability to learn the principles from a book.
It is apparent that it would be highly desirable to provide a game utilising realistic goals and investment portfolios to accumulate wealth that can be taught in a short time frame and in a way to make it both fin and effective. It is to these ends that the present invention is directed

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide a board game that allows persons to learn and exercise fundamental aspects of wealth creation that goes some way to overcoming the abovementioned disadvantages in the prior art or which will at least provide the public with a useful choice.
In a first aspect, the present invention may broadly be said to consist in a board game played by two or more players which teaches the fundamentals of wealth creation, wherein each player at the start of the game is assigned financial goals and a predetermined amount of “cash” with the player who first achieves his financial goal winning the game, said board game including:

- a game board having marked thereon a first playing track, said track being divided into sequential spaces;
- at least two distinct game tokens, one for each player, which are moved along said track;
- an economic cycle clock on said board with a movable hand, said clock having sectors representing boom, slump and recovery cycles respectively;
- a plurality of cards to be shared by all players of said board game and to be drawn by individual players, said cards marked with indica, and comprising a first set of cards corresponding to the boom cycle of the said clock, a second set of cards corresponding to the slump cycle of the said clock, and a third set of cards corresponding to the recovery cycle of said cycle clock, each set of said cards for each cycle of said clock comprising a first sub set of cards designated “opportunity” cards, a second sub set of cards designated “wild” cards, and a third set of cards designated “change” cards;
- one or more dices rolled by players to obtain an indication of which space on said track they should place their token;
- said spaces containing directions as to which sub-set of cards a player must draw from (the set being determined by the cycle indicated by said clock) and at least one space containing directions for a player whose token lands on it to be paid a predetermined amount of cash;
- said opportunity cards representing a purchase which a player may make when they draw said opportunity card;
  said change cards when drawn by a player including instructing that player to alter position of said movable hand.

In a second aspect, the present invention may broadly be said to consist in a method of teaching the fundamentals of wealth creation by playing a board game wherein each player at the start of the game is assigned financial goals and a predetermined amount of “cash” wherein each player's financial position is tracked using a financial position sheet, with the player who first achieves their financial goal winning the game, said board game including:

- a game board having marked thereon a first playing track, said track being divided into sequential spaces;
- at least two distinct game tokens, one for each player, which are moved along said track;
- an economic cycle clock on said board with a movable hand, said clock having sectors representing boom, slump and recovery cycles respectively;
- a plurality of cards to be shared by all players of said board game and to be drawn by individual players, said cards marked with indicia, and comprising a first set of cards corresponding to the boom cycle of the said clock, a second set of cards corresponding to the slump cycle of the said clock, and a third set of cards corresponding to the recovery cycle of said cycle clock, each set of said cards for each cycle of said clock comprising a first sub set of cards designated “opportunity” cards, a second sub set of cards designated “wild” cards, and a third set of cards designated “change” cards;
- one or more dices rolled by players to obtain an indication of which space on said track they should place their token;
- said spaces containing directions as to which sub-set of cards a player must draw from (the set being determined by the cycle indicated by said clock) and at least one space containing directions for a player whose token lands on it to be paid a predetermined amount of cash;
- said opportunity cards representing a purchase which a player may make when they draw said opportunity card;
  said change cards when drawn by a player including instructing that player to alter position of said movable hand.

In a third aspect, the present invention may broadly be said to consist in a game for teaching the fundamentals of wealth creation to players, said game comprising:

- means to assign an initial financial position and goals to each player at the commencement of the game;
- indicia of a first set of events, each event potentially affecting a player's financial position;
- means to indicate a current phase of an economic cycle, said economic cycle having two or more different phases;
- indicia of a second set of events, a subset of said second set of events being associated with each phase of said economic cycle, each event potentially affecting a player's financial position; and
- means to track each player's financial position from said initial position as said first set of events and said second set of events affect a player's financial position

In a fourth aspect, the present invention may broadly be said to consist in a game for teaching the fundamentals of wealth creation to players, said game comprising:

- means to assign an initial financial position and goals to each player at the commencement of the game;
- indicia of a first set of events, each event potentially affecting a player's financial position;
- means to indicate a current phase of an economic cycle, said economic cycle having two or more different phases;
- indicia of a second set of events, a subset of said second set of events being associated with each phase of said economic cycle, each event potentially affecting a player's financial position; and
- means to track each player's financial position from said initial position as said first set of events and said second set of events affect a player's financial position.

In a fifth aspect, the present invention may broadly be said to consist in a game for teaching the fundamentals of wealth creation to players, said game comprising:

- indicia of a first set of events, each event potentially affecting a player's financial position;
- means to indicate a current phase of an economic cycle, said economic cycle having two or more different phases;
- indicia of a second set of events, a subset of said second set of events being associated with each phase of said economic cycle, each event potentially affecting a player's financial position;
- means to track each player's financial position;
- employed in a process of play comprising the steps of:
  - i. assigning an initial financial position and goals to each player at the commencement of the game;
  - ii. players in turn being pseudo-randomly affected by said first or second set of events;
  - iii. tracking the affect of said events on each players financial position; and
  - iv. repeating steps ii and iii until a players achieves said goal.

To those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The disclosures and the descriptions herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the board game of the present invention;
FIG. 1A is a plan view of the top left quadrant of the board game;
FIG. 11B is a plan view of the top right quadrant of the board game;
FIG. 1C is a plan view of the bottom left quadrant of the board game;
FIG. 1D is a plan view of the bottom right quadrant of the board game;
FIG. 2 is an illustration of a job card.
FIG. 3 is an illustration of an opportunity card.
FIG. 4 is an illustration of a goal work sheet.
FIG. 5 is an illustration of an audited auction record.
FIG. 6A is a table of the change cards during the boom cycle.
FIG. 6B is a table of the change cards during the slump cycle.
FIG. 6C is a table of the change cards of the recovery cycle.
FIG. 7 is a table of the contents of the boom cycle opportunity cards.
FIG. 8A is a table of the slump cycle opportunity cards.
FIG. 8B is a further table of the slump cycle opportunity cards.
FIG. 9A is a table of the recovery cycle opportunity cards.
FIG. 9B is a further table of the recovery cycle opportunity cards.
FIG. 10A is a table of the wild cards of the boom cycle.
FIG. 10B is a table of the wild cards of the slump cycle.
FIG. 10C is a table of the wild cards of the recovery cycle.
FIG. 11 is an illustration of a filled in goal worked of the present invention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

The present board game aims to teach participants about achieving financial goals through building equity and growing passive cashflow to replace the gross income from their allocated job. The first player to achieve their financial equity and passive income goals wins the game. Equity and passive income are earnt by the player through investing in real estate.
FIG. 1 shows a game board 101 for playing the subject game. A fundamental characteristic of the game board 101 is that there is an economic cycle “clock” 102 also referred to as the real estate cycle clock that dictates the current economic condition of the real estate market Referring to FIG. 1A Sector 103 (11 o'clock to 1 o'clock) of the clock represents the boom cycle of the real estate market, Sector 104 (1 o'clock to 7 o'clock) represents the slump cycle of the real estate market and Sector 105 (7 o'clock to 11 o'clock) represents the recovery cycle of the real estate market. The clock has a movable hand 106 that points at the time in the real estate market cycle for the time being.
In addition to the real estate cycle clock 102, the game board 101 includes spaces for nine types of cards which may be drawn by the players when they land on a particular track space in a particular economic cycle. The nine card types are broken up into three sets, these sets are dictated by the economic conditions of boom, slump and recovery. In each economic condition there are three categories of cards. Opportunity cards disposed in spaces 110, 111 and 112, change cards disposed in spaces 120, 121 and 122 and wild cards disposed in spaces 130, 131 and 132. All the cards will be explained more fully below.
In addition to the features mentioned above, the game board 101 in the preferred embodiment has two marked tracks for the players to move along, a general course 107 and “distraction lane” 108. Distraction lane 108, must be used when the player's token lands on “enter distraction lane” space 156 in the general course 107 and represents a phase in a player's investment life where the player encounters financial difficulties or peruses other investment opportunities that appear to be related to real estate but which distract from the players ability to pursue their real estate goals. When a player enters distraction lane 108 the player cannot collect passive cashflow, that is the income received by the player from the players investment in real estate because they to not pass over the passive cashflow day space 158. When the player reaches the end of distraction lane 108, they may resume ordinary play and proceed along the general course 107. A player is only required to enter distraction lane 108 a maximum of three times during the course of the game.
The combination of the tracks and the variable economic conditions of the real estate cycle clock 102 generates uncertainties and unexpected events, emulating life such that the skills necessary to practise the lessons learned in playing and becoming more expert at the game may be transferred to real life experiences.
In addition to the board 101 there are goal worksheets 401 for calculating the players financial position shown in FIG. 4 and job cards 201 shown in FIG. 2.
Each of the spaces shown in FIG. 1 on the general course 107 and distraction lane 108 have indicia which is too small to be clearly seen in FIG. 1. However, the game board is broken up into sections for purposes of illustration as indicated by the segments A, B, C and D which are separated by lines 141 and 142 which have no other purpose. Thus, it will be understood that the designators A, B, C and D and the lines are not part of the game board 101.
The players elect one player to act as the banker in addition to playing. The ideal banker should be someone who is good with numbers and is able to handle transactions quickly. The banker keeps their personal money separate from the bank funds. The banker acting as the “bank” for the simulated economy pays the players their incomes. The bank also lends players money by way of a credit card and borrowing secured by real estate that the players own. Borrowing secured by real estate owned by a player is referred to in the game as mortgages.
The object for each player of the game is to achieve their financial goals through property investment by building adequate equity as well as enough passive cashflow to replace their gross income from their job. Each players financial goals are determined by their allocated job card 201 shown in FIG. 2 that is issued at the start of the game. Job cards contain information about each players job 202, equity goals 203, passive income goals 204, starting surplus income 205, credit card limits 206 and tax rate 207.
The first player to achieve their equity and passive cashflow goals wins the game. Equity is calculated as the difference between the value of the real estate owned by the player and mortgages owed by the player to the bank. Passive cash flow is calculated as the difference between the player's rental income and their rental expenses, including tax rebates
The spaces on the general track will now be described starting at “pay day” space 150 and moving clockwise. Pay day space is where the game begins, every time a player lands on or passes pay day space 150 the bank pays the player their surplus income as defined on the players goal worksheet. The player must ask the bank for the payment before the next player has their turn otherwise the player forfeits their pay day amount to the bank.
Space 151 “gone fishing” has no effect when a player lands on it whatsoever. Space 152 is an “opportunity” space, a player landing upon this space picks up an opportunity card from either the boom 110, recovery 112 or slump piles 111 depending upon which sector in the real estate cycle clock 102 the hand 106 is pointing to. The player then accepts the opportunity or passes on the opportunity. Landing upon any one of the 14 “opportunity” spaces all marked 152 has the same effect. The opportunity card contents are listed in the tables in FIGS. 7, 8A, 8B, 9A and 9B.
Space 153 is a change space the player picks up a change card from either the boom 120, recovery 122 or slump piles 121 depending upon the real estate cycle clock 102. The player then moves the real estate cycle clock hand 106 according to the instructions 602 on the change card. Landing upon any one of the 10 change spaces all marked 153 has the same effect. The contents of the change cards are listed in the tables in FIGS. 6A, 6B and 6C, the card name 601 and action 602.
Space 154, “holiday miss a turn” requires a player to miss a turn and pay to the bank a percentage of their pay day income depending upon the tax rate that player pays. If a player is on the higher tax rate then they pay 50% of their pay day income. If a player is on a medium tax rate they pay 25% of their pay day income and if a player is on a lower tax rate they pay 10% of their pay day income.
Space 155 is a “wild card” space and, a player landing upon this space picks up a wild card from either the boom 130, recovery 132 or slump 131 piles depending upon the real estate cycle clock 102. The actions on the wild cards are shown in FIGS. 10A, 10B and 10C, each card has a property clock movement 1103 and/or a financial effect 1003 that happens to all the players. Landing upon any one of the two wild card spaces 155 has the same effect For example when a player during the slump cycle picks up a wild card called “Net Migration Increases” every player pays the bank $1000 per property owned.
Space 156 “enter distraction lane” requires a player to enter the distraction lane track as previously described. A player is only required to enter distraction lane a maximum of three times. Each time a player enters distraction lane 108 they mark their goal worksheet 401 at 402 to record the number of times they have entered distraction line. Space 157 “take neighbours advice”, reduces the passive cashflow of the player who lands on this space by 5%.
Landing on or passing “passive cashflow” space 158 enables the player to collect from the bank the equivalent of their passive cash flow amount as recorded on their goal work sheet 401 at the time they land or as they pass passive cashflow space 158. A player must ask for this before the next player has their turn otherwise they forfeit this amount to the bank.
Space 159 is “take professional advice”, this space adds 10% to the passive cashflow payment of the player who lands on this space. Space 160 is “tenants default damage and disappear”, landing upon this space requires a player to immediately pay to the bank 10% of a players pay day payment. The cards picked by the players are returned to the bottom of the respective pile before the next player has their turn.
The game also includes game tokens to represent the players not shown and bank notes in the following denominations: $100, $500, $1,000, $5,000, $20,000 and dice.
To start the game the players elect a banker and the wild, opportunity and change cards for each market condition boom, recovery and slump are separately shuffled and placed face down onto their allocated sections on the playing board. Goal worksheets 401 shown in FIG. 4 are distributed to each player. The job cards 201 shown in FIG. 2 are shuffled and randomly dealt one card face down, to each player. Each player then turns over their job card 201 and enters the information on it onto their goal worksheet 401.
The player also enters their “auditor”, being the player on their immediate right, who checks their goal worksheet calculations.
The banker distributes starting cash to each player. The amount distributed is equal to their income on pay day as defined on a player's job card. The real estate cycle clock is set to 11.00.
Each player selects a game token (not shown) to represent them on the playing board 101 and places it on the pay day space 150. Each player then rolls a dice and the player with the highest number starts the game. Play then successively passes to the player on the left. Each player rolls a dice on their turn. The first player rolls dice and moves around the general course 107 in a clockwise direction the number of spaces indicated by the dice, the others players follow. Landing on the same space as another player has no effect on either player. If a player lands on an opportunity 152, wild 155 or change 153 space, the player draws a corresponding card for the current time indicated on the real estate cycle clock. For the other spaces landed on, the directions stated in the individual spaces are to be followed.
Whenever there is a change in the real estate clock caused by either the change or wild cards all the players record on their goal worksheet the changes as indicated by the real estate clock. At 12 o'clock, “Booming Real Estate Values”, all players increase the value of their currently held property portfolio by 20%. At 1.30, “Raising Interest Rates”, all players decrease their passive cash flow income by 5%. At 3.00, “Falling Real Estate Values”, all players decrease the values of their currently held property portfolio by 10%. At 4 o'clock, “Falling Rents”, all players decrease their passive cash flow income by 5%. At 6 o'clock, “Falling Real Estate Values”, all players decrease the value of the currently held property portfolio by 15%. At 7.30, “Falling Interest Rates”, all players increase their passive cash flow income by 15%. At 9.00, “Rising Real Estate Values”, all players increase the values of their currently held property portfolio by 15%. At 10.00, “Rising Rents”, all players increase their passive cash flow income by 10%.
When a player lands on an opportunity space having picked up the card corresponding to the real estate cycle clock the player must decide whether or not to accept an opportunity. Once a player has accepted an opportunity they are unable to change their mind. Each opportunity space card has a deposit to be paid. This may be 10% or 20% depending upon the opportunity card.
Opportunity Cards 301 shown in FIG. 3 consist of an address 310, a purchase price 311, a registered valuation 312, the amount required for a 10% deposit if available 313, the mortgage amount if 10% deposit paid 314 and the passage cash flow generated by the property if the player is on a high tax rate 315, on a medium tax rate 316 or a low tax rate 317. If 10% deposit can be paid there is a bank fee 318 to the bank for the increased risk. If a 20% deposit is required then the deposit is listed on line 320, the mortgage on line 321, the passive cash flow for a high tax payer on 322, the passive cash flow for a medium tax payer on 323 and the passive cash flow for a low tax payer 324.
Each row of FIGS. 7, 8A, 8B, 9A and 9B represents one opportunity card. For each card the address is taken from column 701 and entered in line 310, the property purchase price is taken from column 702 and entered in line 311, the registered valuation is taken from column 703 and entered in line 312 the ten percent deposit amount is taken from column 704 and entered on line 313 the passive cash flow returns depending upon the tax rate are taken from column 706, 707 and 708 and entered in lines 315, 316 and 317 respectively. The bank fee for 10% deposit 705 is entered at 318.
For a 20% deposit the deposit required is taken from column 710 and entered in line 320. The mortgage on a 20% deposit is taken from column 714 and entered on line 321. The passive cash flow for tax rates are taken from columns 711, 712 and 713 and entered into lines 322, 323 and 324 respectively.
If a player pays a higher deposit they add 10% of the additional amount to their passive cash flow amount. For example if a player pays $10,000 additional deposit they can add $1,000 to their passive cash flow amount.
A player can at any time during their turn reduce their mortgages by a multiple of $10,000.10% of every repayment is added to a player's passive cash flow. So for example if a player repays $10,000 then they can add $1,000 to their passive cash flow.
A player can also increase their borrowings by multiples of $10,000 for every $10,000 that a player borrows they reduce their passive cash flow by 10%. So for example if a player borrows $10,000 they reduce their passive cash flow by $1,000. A player can only increase their mortgage borrowings to a maximum of 90% of the properties values.
If, because of an action a player is required to repay part of their mortgage then the passive cash flow increases by 10% of the payment made by the player in reduction of their mortgage.
Credit card limits are determined on each players job card 201 received at the beginning of the game. The limits on the credit card can not be exceeded and for every $1,000 borrowed on a credit card an interest rate of 20% applies. Credit card borrowings are recorded on a player's goal worksheet and interest at a rate of 20% is deducted from a player's pay day amount. Upon repayment of credit card borrowings an additional 20% of the amount is payable.
In the event of a player's mortgages exceeding 90% of the value of properties owned by the player and that player being unable to reduce that percentage to 90% or less or the player being unable to meet any financial commitment at any time then the player is bankrupt.
In the event of bankruptcy a player hands over their goal worksheet to their auditor and the auditor conducts an auction of the players total property portfolio and completes an audited auction record card 500 shown in FIG. 5. To complete an audited auction record the auditor takes the existing property portfolio value from the players goal worksheet 401 and enters it in the audited auction record at 510 multiplies it by 50% and calculates the reserve price 511. The auditor transfers from a player's goal worksheet 401 the existing passive cash flow from the property portfolio to line 512. Reserve price 511 is transferred to line 513.
The auditor then conducts the auction and is allowed to bid for the property.
The auditor records the names of the bidders 514 and the bid amounts 515. Bids increase in multiples of $10,000. When the auction is concluded the auditor records the top bid at 516. The auditor then completes the sale details, the sale price and new property valuation 517, the required deposit of 20% of sale price at 518, records the available mortgage 519 at 80% of the sale price, records the passive cash flow 520 by transferring the passive cash flow from 512. The auditor then adds these details to the successful bidders goal worksheet 401.
Calculations made on the goal worksheet will illustrated by reference to FIG. 11. FIG. 11 shows the player having entered their name as Joe Bloggs 1101, entering their tax rate 1102 as M, their occupation 1103, their starting pay 1104, their credit card limit 1105, their passive cash flow goal 1106 and equity goal 1107 all from their job card 201.
The first event shown is row 1110 a player buys a $95,000 property taking out a $76,000 mortgage the ratio of mortgage to property value or loan to value ratio (LVR) is calculated at 80%. The player has one property, and equity of $19,000 being the value of the property less the mortgages. The passive cash flow entered from the opportunity card on this particular property based upon the player's tax rate is $3,000. The player has no money owing on their credit card and therefore no credit card interest owed and their pay day amount is $30,000.
The next row 1120 shows the player increasing their credit card 1120 by $5,000.
The next row 1130 is the player subtotalling after the credit card increase and shows mortgages unchanged, values unchanged, the ratio of mortgages to values unchanged, number of properties unchanged, equity unchanged, passive cash flow unchanged, card debt increased to $5,000, credit card interest increased to $1,000 and the pay day changed to $29,000.
Row 1140 shows the player purchasing a property with a valuation of $150,000, borrowing $100,000 by way of a mortgage, giving a mortgage to value ratio of 66%, equity in the property of $50,000 and $4,000 cash passive cash flow from the property.
Row 1150 shows the player subtotalling after buying the property giving $176,000 of mortgage, $245,000 of property valuation, a mortgage to property value ratio of 72%, number of properties increased to 2, equity to $69,000, passive cash flow to $7,000. Credit cards balance remain unchanged at $5,000. Credit card interest remains unchanged at $1,000 and the payday amount unchanged at $29,000.
Row 1160 shows the player repaying the credit card. The repayment amount being $6,000 consisting of reduction in the credit card balance owed of $5,000 and a reduction in the credit card interest payable of $1,000.
Row 1170 shows the player subtotalling after repaying their credit card Mortgages remain unchanged at $176,000, values remain unchanged at $245,000. The ratio of mortgages to value remain unchanged at 72%. The number of properties owned remains unchanged at 2. Equity remains unchanged at $69,000. Passive cash flow remains unchanged at $7,000. Credit Card owed reduces to 0. The effect of credit card interest payable reduces to 0. And the payday payable increases to $30,000 because of the reduction in interest payable on credit cards.
Row 1180 shows the player repaying $50,000 of mortgage.
Row 1190 shows the player's position after the repayment being; mortgage reduced to $126,000, property value unchanged at $245,000, the ratio of mortgages to property value reduced to 52%, the number of properties unchanged at 2, equity up to $119,000, passive cash flow increased by $5,000 to $12,000, credit card and credit card interest unchanged, and likewise payday unchanged at $30,000.
The game concludes when one of the players has achieved both their passive cash flow and equity goals as set on their job card 201.
While the game has been described with reference to a board game the game could equally be played on a computer using a computer program. The computer could play the role of one or more players.

Claims

1. A board game played by two or more players which teaches the fundamentals of wealth creation, wherein each player at the start of the game is assigned financial goals and a predetermined amount of “cash” with the player who first achieves his financial goal winning the game, said board game including: a game board having marked thereon a first playing track, said track being divided into sequential spaces; at least two distinct game tokens, one for each player, which are moved along said track; an economic cycle clock on said board with a movable hand, said clock having sectors representing boom, slump and recovery cycles respectively; a plurality of cards to be shared by all players of said board game and to be drawn by individual players, said cards marked with indica, and comprising a first set of cards corresponding to the boom cycle of the said clock, a second set of cards corresponding to the slump cycle of the said clock, and a third set of cards corresponding to the recovery cycle of said cycle clock, each set of said cards for each cycle of said clock comprising a first sub set of cards designated “opportunity” cards, a second sub set of cards designated “wild” cards, and a third set of cards designated “change” cards; one or more dices rolled by players to obtain an indication of which space on said track they should place their token; said spaces containing directions as to which sub-set of cards a player must draw from (the set being determined by the cycle indicated by said clock) and at least one space containing directions for a player whose token lands on it to be paid a predetermined amount of cash; said opportunity cards representing a purchase which a player may make when they draw said opportunity card; said change cards when drawn by a player including instructing that player to alter position of said movable hand.

2. A board game as claimed in claim 1 wherein said board game is configured for teaching the fundamentals of wealth creation by investment in real estate.

3. A board game as claimed in claim 1 wherein said goal work sheets for each player are included with said board game to facilitate calculation of their financial position.

4. A board game as claimed in claim 1 wherein said board game includes job cards specifying said assigned financial goals and said cards are issued to each player at the start of the game.

5. A board game as claimed in claim 1 wherein said job cards also name an “occupation” and an “income” from said occupation which are assigned to each player for the duration of said game.

6. A board game as claimed in claim 1 wherein said board includes a second track of sequential spaces extending between two intersecting spaces of said first track, the spaces on said second track containing no useful directions to players, with the first intersection space directing players to divert to said second track if their token falls on said intersection space.

7. A board game as claimed in claim 1 wherein said opportunity card provides an opportunity to purchase property.

8. A board game as claimed in claim 1 wherein said financial goals related to said property and income from said property.

9. A method of teaching the fundamentals of wealth creation by playing a board game wherein each player at the start of the game is assigned financial goals and a predetermined amount of “cash” wherein each player's financial position is tracked using a financial position sheet, with the player who first achieves their financial goal winning the game, said board game including: a game board having marked thereon a first playing track, said track being divided into sequential spaces; at least two distinct game tokens, one for each player, which are moved along said track; an economic cycle clock on said board with a movable hand, said clock having sectors representing boom, slump and recovery cycles respectively; a plurality of cards to be shared by all players of said board game and to be drawn by individual players, said cards marked with indicia, and comprising a first set of cards corresponding to the boom cycle of the said clock, a second set of cards corresponding to the slump cycle of the said clock, and a third set of cards corresponding to the recovery cycle of said cycle clock, each set of said cards for each cycle of said clock comprising a first sub set of cards designated “opportunity” cards, a second sub set of cards designated “wild” cards, and a third set of cards designated “change” cards; one or more dices rolled by players to obtain an indication of which space on said track they should place their token; said spaces containing directions as to which sub-set of cards a player must draw from (the set being determined by the cycle indicated by said clock) and at least one space containing directions for a player whose token lands on it to be paid a predetermined amount of cash; said opportunity cards representing a purchase which a player may make when they draw said opportunity card; said change cards when drawn by a player including instructing that player to alter position of said movable hand.

10. A method of teaching the fundamentals of wealth creation by playing a board game as claimed in claim 9 wherein said board game is configured for teaching the fundamentals of wealth creation by investment in real estate.

11. A method of teaching the fundamentals of wealth creation by playing a board game as claimed in claim 9 wherein said goal work sheets for each player are included with said board game to facilitate calculation of their financial position.

12. A method of teaching the fundamentals of wealth creation by playing a board game as claimed in claim 9 wherein said board game includes job cards specifying said assigned financial goals and said cards are issued to each player at the start of the game.

13. A method of teaching the fundamentals of wealth creation by playing a board game as claimed in claim 9 wherein said job cards also name an “occupation” and an “income” from said occupation which are assigned to each player for the duration of said game.

14. A method of teaching the fundamentals of wealth creation by playing a board game as claimed in claim 9 wherein said board includes a second track of sequential spaces extending between two intersecting spaces of said first track, the spaces on said second track containing no useful directions to players, with the first intersection space directing players to divert to said second track if their token falls on said intersection space.

15. A method of teaching the fundamentals of wealth creation by playing a board game as claimed in claim 9 wherein said opportunity card provides an opportunity to purchase property.

16. A method of teaching the fundamentals of wealth creation by playing a board game as claimed in claim 9 wherein said financial goals related to said property and income from said property.

17. A game for teaching the fundamentals of wealth creation to players, said game comprising: means to assign an initial financial position and goals to each player at the commencement of the game; indicia of a first set of events, each event potentially affecting a player's financial position; means to indicate a current phase of an economic cycle, said economic cycle having two or more different phases; indicia of a second set of events, a subset of said second set of events being associated with each phase of said economic cycle, each event potentially affecting a player's financial position; and means to track each player's financial position from said initial position as said first set of events and said second set of events affect a player's financial position

18. A game for teaching the fundamentals of wealth creation to players, said game comprising: indicia of a first set of events, each event potentially affecting a player's financial position; means to indicate a current phase of an economic cycle, said economic cycle having two or more different phases; indicia of a second set of events, a subset of said second set of events being associated with each phase of said economic cycle, each event potentially affecting a player's financial position; means to track each player's financial position; employed in a process of play comprising the steps of: i. assigning an initial financial position and goals to each player at the commencement of the game; ii. players in turn being pseudo-randomly affected by said first or second set of events; iii. tracking the affect of said events on each players financial position; and iv. repeating steps ii and iii until a players achieves said goal.

19. A game for teaching the fundamentals of wealth creation to players, said game comprising: indicia of a first set of events, each event potentially affecting a player's financial position; indicia of a second set of events each event potentially affecting a player's financial position; means to track each player's financial position; employed in a process of play comprising the steps of: i. assigning an initial financial position and goals to each player at the commencement of the game; ii. players in turn being pseudo-randomly affected by said first or second set of events; iii. tracking the affect of said events on each players financial position; and iv. repeating steps ii and iii until a players achieves said goal; characterised in that said game includes means to indicate a current phase of an economic cycle, said economic cycle having two or more different phases, wherein a subset of said second set of events is associated with each said economic phase and said economic phase affecting which subset of said second set of events affects said players.

20. A game as claimed in claim 17 wherein said initial position includes a predetermined amount of “cash”, a predetermined job and a predetermined income from said predetermined job.

21. A game as claimed in claim 17 wherein said goals include earning a predetermined passive income.

22. A game as claimed in claim 17 wherein said initial position is allocated by job cards specifying said assigned goals and said cards are issued to each player at the start of the game.

23. A game as claimed in claim 17 wherein said means to track each player's position comprises goal work sheets.

24. A game as claimed in claim 17 wherein said assigned goals related to property and income from said property.

25. A game as claimed in claim 17 wherein said phases of said economic cycle include boom, slump and recovery.

26. A game as claimed in claim 17 wherein said phases of said economic cycle are indicated by a clock with a movable hand, said clock having sectors representing each phase.

27. A game as claimed in claim 17 wherein the game includes a least one track of sequential spaces, wherein at least some of said spaces contain said indicia of a first set of events.

28. A game as claimed in claim 17 wherein indicia of said second set of events comprises sets of cards each card representing an event.

29. A game as claimed in claim 28 each subset of cards further comprises three subsets of cards a first sub set of cards designated “opportunity” cards, a second sub set of cards designated “wild” cards, and a third set of cards designated “change” cards;

30. A game as claimed in claim 27 wherein said spaces containing directions as to which sub-set of cards a player must draw from (the set being determined by the economic phase indicated by said clock) and at least one space containing directions for a player whose token lands on it to be paid a predetermined amount of cash;

31. A game as claimed in claim 27 wherein said opportunity cards representing a purchase which a player may make when they draw said opportunity card and said change cards when drawn by a player including instructing that player to alter position of said movable hand.

32. A game as claimed in claim 27 wherein said game includes a second track of sequential spaces extending between two intersecting spaces of said first track, the spaces on said second track containing no useful directions to players, with the first intersection space directing players to divert to said second track if their token falls on said intersection space.