I've played this at least a dozen times, and have to admit that the game itself is imperfect.However, it HAS taught me a number of things which Kiyosaki does not make clear in his books, and is essential practise for anyone wanting to take the next step after first having read the book.
My tips:
1.Read the book first before playing, otherwise it will probably all seem boring and too weird.
2.The game makes clear:The way to make passive cashflow is NOT on the positive cash flow from rental properties. (Suprised?)The rental income only secures the property, which you must be able to sell for a profit.The money made on the gains from selling the houses is then used to buy businesses these are what give you the passive cashflow to finally "get out of the rat race."
3.Take the income statement sheet you've used playing the game and fill it out for your own life.You'll be surprised how little your free cash flow, and passive income really is.Use the excel worksheet to track your progess month to month.An excellent motivator.
Game Design Problems (and Fixes):
1.The cards which allow you to buy insanely low priced shares of stocks for $1, which you can be certain will go up to $20 or $40 later when the right card comes up.Life is not that predictable. Remove these cards from the deck.
2.Other players will frequently advise on what is a good deal or not.This is a mistake, because it doesn't allow other players to MAKE mistakes, and takes much of the fun out of the game.Instead, allow each player to make their choice to buy a property (or not) WITHOUT input, and only after let the other players give their opinion on this course of action.
3.The game takes a loooong time with 5-6 players.Since the players actions don't really affect each other, it is advisable to play with 3 players.
4.The game seems to suggest that the bank will allow you to borrow to purchase a business, this is usually not the case. Make it a rule not to allow this.
5.The interest rate charged on loans is excessive in the game.Set a more moderate rate of 1 % a month on all loans.
6.Don't get stuck playing this game over and over again, too afraid to apply the lessons in real life.(I've seen people paralyzed by fear, who keep playing the game instead of applying its lessons).Use it as a teaching tool, not a substitute!
Like my title suggests, try the software version first.It allows you to play with multiple players on or off-line or vs multiple computer players.Plus the software version is cheaper.You can even use the multiplayer mode for yourself and use the different players to try different strategies.I found this technique very educational. I have the board game also to play with my wife and others and have yet to crack the wrapper.I stongly suggest going to the Rich Dad website and getting the software version before investing in the board game.The one draw back is that you must have the cd in your drive while playing, so if you want to load it on multiple computers you can only play it on the comnputer that has the cd.
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I bought the game a year ago, and have played it at least six times with 2 5 players.I like to get some friends together, eat a meal, and then spend a couple of hours playing the game.It's interesting to see how my friends approach financial decisions in the game – some are confident, others are very cautious.
This is a good way to help you think in a financially healthy way.You see that spending money on "doo-dads" doesn't help your bottom line, that borrowing from the bank is sometimes necessary to purchase a good property, that the stock market can dramatically grow or shrink your capital, what to look for in rental properties, and you get an appreciation for the "big picture" – that you have to work toward increasing your passive income and not sweat little expenses.It's all about helping you and your friends train your minds to think "passive income is preferable to a paycheck from my employer".
Some people have criticized the game for using dice (like Monopoly), for not allowing people to decline the purchase of a "doo-dad", and for having a bias toward using large stock market profits to catapult players into the fast track.The game is not perfect, it's not identical to real life, and there will forever be ways to improve it.
Cashflow succeeds in it's mission to teach you and your friends some of the roads to financial freedom.
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No, I'm not the wealthy real estate investor that is going to tell you what you really need to learn how to become wealthy... but I can identify a few things that won't help (and unfortunately, many are in this game).Like the previous reviewer noted, a lot depends on luck (a whole lot).But what's worse is that you can get lucky with things that will never really happen.For example, when you draw and opportunity card that allows you to buy some stock and it gives you a trading range (i.e. OK4U is selling at $5/share and has a trading range of $5-$40/share.)Who would not invest in this if you knew what it would be worth later?In the "real world", however, you will never have this type of information (absent a crystal ball).
This is my biggest problem with the game, because after playing it a lot it is very clear that buying these types of stocks and then selling them when the price goes up for huge profits is the best way to get your hands on enough cash to invest in the amount of real estate it would take to get you on the "fast track".This is not the lesson that the game should be teaching (just like the lesson of getting lucky) for people to become wealthy.Robert Kiyosaki even advocates in several of his books how stocks are risky and unreliable b/c of the baby boomers, enron-like companies, yada-yada-yada... and then he includes them as a necessity to winning a game.
If you're like me, you bought or are considering buying this game because you think it will be one of the best ways to condition yourself to think and act in a way that will create wealth.And like me, you either are or will be disappointed if you buy the game and have already learned the basic concept of creating wealth through real estate.(Buy rental properties and rent them out for more than your mortage payments so you obtain "passive income" while you also chip away at your mortgage and the property slowly appreciates.)If you didn't know it yet, you do now, so you can save yourself the price of the game.
One thing that will surely help that is not part of the game that you can control is not blowing money on "doodads" (things you don't need like shopping sprees and boats).The less you spend on doodads, the sooner you will have money for that down payment on your next rental property.In the game you have to pay for doodads if you land on the doodad square and then you buy whatever card you draw, which is not how it works in the "real world".In the real world you get to make educated choices about where you spend your money, and here's a great example:paying $200 for a board game that isn't very fun and doesn't serve much educational purpose is without a doubt what I would call a "doodad"!
It's your call.I hope this (long) write-up helps your decision.
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This game teaches you the fundamentals of leaving the rat race. It isn't very realistic because Robert Kiyosaki made it very simple. It does teach you some great fundamentals of how to invest in real estate and paper assets.
I too had a slightly negative opinion about this game when I played it the first few times. After playing it about 6 times (robert kiyosaki recommends playing it at least a dozen times), I can now see the benefits of this game. The game isn't about buying stocks in the beginning and then buying real estate later (which a lot of people do as their 'strategy'). It's about using the bank's money to get the investments you can't afford, finding good deals on various investments, and so on.
One challenge is to try to consistently get out of the rat race in 1 hour or less. The more you play the game, the more you'll see the basic strategy of how to get out of the rat race in this game and possible in real life.
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Game is great fun, but because the game mat is folded in a box, it doesn't lay flat(which is important). I had to let the game mat sit out for days with telephone books on top of it to get it to lay flat.Needless to say, I won't put the mat back in the box.Friends bought it packaged in a tube and that avoids that problem.
