Intro/First Impressions

A quick disclaimer that this review is based off the old version of the game. The new version is very similar, but it introduces new playing cards, professions, an updated game board, and a new income sheet.

I had heard about this game from reading the book Rich Dad Poor Dad when I was younger. I was excited to try this game because of all the hype at the time. It was dubbed as “Monopoly on steroids”, and I enjoyed steroids Monopoly as a kid.

At the time of playing Cashflow, this was my first new board game since playing games like Sorry and Life as a young lad. So, because of that, my first impressions back then would be a lot different than if I played it for the first time today.

To be fair, I will use those initial first impressions and say that it was super exciting to play something new and to get to prove my smarts in both the investing world and board game world at the same time… Who am I kidding, I would still get excited to do that…

I jumped in to quickly find out that it wasn’t like monopoly at all, but you could still buy properties. It was a really fun take on an old game about investing.

Thoughts

The quality of the board and the pieces isn’t up to the new spoiled standard I have now, as it feels more like the games played in the 80s/90s (in its defense, it was made in 1996). The game mechanics are also fairly simple. So, if you are looking for a game to learn about investing, this is a good thing, if you are looking for a game with layers and lots of strategy, this is not for you.

This is a game about investing and increasing your financial intelligence, so let’s look at that. First off, yes it does do that (in a very simplified manner). You have to save money to invest so that you make more money every month, and not all the investments are good ones, so you have to make decisions on what is right for you. I found that the values of the investments is somewhat out of whack with reality (eg. Duplex for $50,000), but everything else in the game is similar, so it’s all relative.

When you make an investment (known as Big/Small Deals) in the game, you have to update your own financial statements. This means you have to get out the eraser and calculator and change everything manually. You then have to get it ‘audited’ by the person sitting next to you. The point of this is so you learn how statements work and where the numbers should fit. It does work for that. For me personally, I knew this stuff already, and after you learn and play the game a few times this becomes very laborious and time consuming. The do fix this in the electronic version of Cashflow 101.

The way the game is structured is that it is easier to ‘get out of the rat race’ if you have a lower income job like the janitor. This is because they have lower expenses as well, which may not necessarily be the case in real life. The lower income earners are, however, affected more by expenses or ‘Doodads’ as they are called in the game, so the mechanics continue to work.

I played this game recently to refresh my memory, and to see how it faired in the world of board games now that I’ve played a bunch of strategy games. This game doesn’t have a real ‘strategy’ portion to it in the sense of how to play your own game to beat your opponents. Yes, you still want to win, but you are more just looking out for yourself. It does, however, involve some planning, future thinking, and making sacrifices now for gain later.

Cashflow is more fun with lots of players because you get to see more ‘Deal Cards’ and ‘Market Cards’ which can affect your investments, adding excitement and helping you to get out of the rat race faster.

Once you do get out of the rat race, you still have to buy your dream or invest in even bigger deals to win. There is no stress at this point because it is only a matter of time before you land on the spaces you need, and thus win the game. Even though you can make $Millions on the Fast Track, it loses interest for me because I know the inevitable outcome. Again, the point of the game is to help you learn, and teach you if you invest properly that life becomes easy, but still… give me a little more excitement on the outside.

A quick video explanation of the game:

Conclusion

Overall I do enjoy this game because of what it is trying to do and the great mindset that it puts me in afterwards. I have an entrepreneurial mind, so this might not be the same feeling for you. It is quick, easy, and can be played with almost anyone. Would I recommend it to a hard-core strategy gamers? No, probably not, but I would recommend it to people who talk about investing and are looking for something to do to network with other like-minded people.

I gave Cashflow a lower rating because I want you to get the most fun for your money when buying/trying out board games. This is an expensive one that isn’t worth that price, unless you really want to pay for an education (as they market it). If you really do want to try it, there are a lot of local groups that get together and play it for fun and to meet like minded people.