UPSTART is a board game that simulates the UPS and DOWNS of setting up and sustaining a business. It equips players with the tools & insights to have them take their business to the next level. Players learn lifelong lessons in an environment of fun, collaboration and play.
UPSTART works like a role-playing game (RPG). You start by choosing a background that gives you various advantages and disadvantages while you build your business (e.g. full-time employee has steady income but less time while full-time entrepreneur has no income until the business profits but has time).
You then roll and navigate through the board and make choices or deal with chance. Chance is dictated by various cards like life, breakdowns and breaks (opportunities).
You are then given the chance to put fate into your own hands by taking actions with the two currencies of the game: time and money. You will make decisions on whether to focus on revenue streams or followers or even whether to take care of yourself and raise your vitality or risk getting sick.
Here is the turn sequence guide to give you a picture of how a turn goes. Each turn is equivalent to roughly one week in the real world:
Also one of the unique gameplay aspects of UPSTART is that with enough players you can assign a “game master” (much like the dungeon master in Dungeons and Dragons). This “game master” which we call “The Invisible Hand” can re-interpret the rules, create new scenarios and challenges and even add new cards to the game. The Invisible Hand is pretty much like God in the game and also affects players by pulling out “God’s Hand” or “Market Shift” cards.
via KickStarter