"Rich Uncle" the game

 

Parker Brothers released the game of Rich Uncle in 1946. This is a stock market game of buying and selling stocks, with the first player to increase his money from 5k to 50k declared the winner. This is a fast paced dice game which can be played in 30minutes for 3-5 players. 

Each player starts by owning 4 stock cards. The remaining stock cards are placed on the stock board for purchase later in the game. Two dice are used to play, a dark and a light die. The dark dice is always read first. A dark 5 and light 2 would be 52 read as hundreds, making it $5200.

Players take turns rolling the dice. If the player owns the stock of the number he rolls the treasurer must pay him from the pool the dividend listed on the card. If another player owns the stock, the holder is payed the dividend from the pool and the owner pays $500 to the player that rolled the dice. If no one owns the stock card the player must buy the stock at Market - Price. If doubles are rolled 3 actions take place. First the treasurer changes the Market - Price by moving the current price card to the back. Second, the roller refers to the board and follows the instructions listed. Third, the roller takes a copy of the Daily Bugle from the news-stand and players whom the instructions apply must follow the instructions.

The Daily Bugle features advice from Rich Uncle Pennybags. He is the owner of the newspaper and most of this fictional town. The Daily Bugle cards most closely resemble the chance and community chest cards from monopoly. 

Players call sell their stocks back to the pool at the beginning of their turn, before rolling the dice. This sale will be done at Market - Price. If a player finds himself in debt, he may also sell back to the pool at Market - Price to pay his debts.

The game play seems simple enough. The game was introduced after WWII, when the American economy and stock market was experiencing a boom. This most likely appealed to the American public for that reason. 

I'm not sure I would enjoy this game as much as Monopoly. It doesn't seem to involve as much strategy. The dice rolls seem to dictate most game play. It is noted in the instructions that it is an advantage to acquire several stocks of the same color group since the dividend will be payed by the multiple of the number of that color stock owned. However I don't think this reflects real stock market investments, unless I'm missing something. I think the better games offer more of an imitation of real life.