Fight Your Way To The Top

CONCEPT:

A board game for four to six players CORPORATE AMBITION™ is a game of self serving conspiracy and the quest for power in the ruthless world of big business. The objective is to win the ‘CHAIRMAN’ nameplate trophy by climbing the corporate ladder (defined on the playing board as advancing from the outer circle to the inner circle and then to the position of chairman) faster than your opponents while not getting demoted or fired. Each player assumes the role of a Divisional Manager and Director of the company and is competing against other Directors to become the Chairman of the board. The board design features two circles of playing spaces representative of two levels on the corporate ladder, which are the outer circle and the inner circle. Players begin travelling around the outer circle responding to the playing spaces and collecting votes, eventually advancing to the inner circle and on to win the ‘CHAIRMAN’ nameplate trophy.

STORYLINE:

The untimely death of Sir Alan Scase from breathing amnesia has left Acme Widget Incorporated Limited without its founder and chairman. Acme has world-wide interests in the field of widgets and the contest to claim the deceased chairman’s now vacant seat at the head of the board will be ruthlessly fought as up to six ambitious executives prepare to do whatever they must to head the company.


The executive contenders are as follows:

Sophie Jones

(Red Pawn)

Attractive, promiscuous and ambitious she will sleep her way to the top if she has to.


Julian Jamison

(Green Pawn)

The snappily dressed smart fart yuppie. Cocky and confident, but has he really got what it takes?


Primrose Peacock

(White Pawn)

A relentless piranha who’s father has some influential business connections.


Benjamin Goldberg

(Yellow Pawn)

Clever with financial dealings. He simply believes he is the chosen one.


Steve Gates

(Blue Pawn)

The techno whiz with a computer brain that wants to rule the world.


Madeline Greer

(Black Pawn)

A political feminist determined to crack the glass ceiling



DESCRIPTION OF PLAYING PARTS: -

1    Playing board:




The playing board has forty stepping spaces - twenty around the outer and twenty around the inner circle.

    The 40 playing spaces are split into five different types:

      MEMORANDUM
      PROTOCOL and ETIQUETTE
      PROPOSALS and STRATEGIES
      ETHICS and DILEMMAS
      CONSPIRE TO FIRE

    Centrally placed on the board are six card stack positions for:

      YES VOTE cards.
      NO VOTE cards.
      MEMO cards.
      PROTOCOL and ETIQUETTE cards.
      PROPOSALS and STRATEGIES cards.
      ETHICS and DILEMMAS cards.

2   One normal 6 sided dice. 3   One YES/NO dice (three sides YES & three sides NO). 4   Six YES/NO voting discs (One side YES & one side NO).

5   Six playing (executive) pawns of different colours.

6   Playing cards: - There are three hundred and sixty playing cards of six different types, these being: -

    Sixty YES VOTE (white) cards.
    Sixty NO VOTE (black) cards.
    Sixty MEMO (green) cards.
    Sixty PROTOCOL and ETIQUETTE (yellow) cards.
    Sixty PROPOSALS and STRATEGIES (red) cards.
    Sixty ETHICS and DILEMMAS (blue) cards.

7   One ‘CHAIRMAN’ nameplate trophy.

8   Rulebook.


Winning enough votes of approval for agreeable proposals and strategies, understanding correct etiquette and protocol and handling dilemmas and ethical matters successfully will help each player rise up the corporate ladder whilst collecting memos of information that could help destroy the careers of his or her rivals.

THE PLAYING CARDS.

YES VOTE and NO VOTE cards. These contain vote values ranging from ten (10) to one hundred (100) votes and are representative of shareholders.



MEMORANDUM cards contain gossip and information about various executives with the potential to have them demoted or fired.



PROTOCOL & ETIQUETTE (Cards themselves self-explanatory)
The cards allude to correct manners and correct behaviour opposed to what would be considered a business persons bad manners or bad behaviour in the business world. The cards are used in conjunction with a 1-6 dice.

In receiving one of these cards the card holder will read it aloud.It asks two questions along with requesting a decision from all the other players except the the cardholder who can only break a deaklock depending on how many people are playing the game.

The first (specific) question only asks "Who? Did this or that"?

The second question (common on all of the P&E cards) asks:-

Will? Get "X" number NO VOTE/S as a penalty and for players to respond using their YES/NO disc tablets to decide. A "YES" majority means a penalty.

Apart from the specific first question all sixty cards have basically the same remaining information printed on them.

The only other difference will be that some will have either the numbers 1, 2 or 3 in inverted commas on them which represents the seriousness of the penalty for bad behaviour.

Each card displays the penalty as either, "1", "2" or "3" NO VOTE card/s

Of the sixty P&E cards there are 25 with "1", 20 with "2" and 15 with "3" on them

Each card also has the numbers 1 to 6 matched to a particular pawn color.

The last sentence on the card says:- Now throw the dice and find out.

(The dice does not get thrown before the penalty decission. Only after.)

PROPOSALS & STRATEGIES (cards themselves self-explanatory)
Some of these cards suggest a business proposal to vote on. Others will suggest a strategy or offer one to back stab or have someone else do your dirty work for you. Some others will give a simple instruciton. In responding to this type of card players will generally use the YES/NO dice at other times they 1-6 dice and sometimes no dice.
At times if not playing with an even amount of players a card holder not initially be involved in a vote may need to break a dead lock by throwing the appropriate dice.



ETHICS and DILEMMAS cards contain a dilemma or an ethical question and in responding to this type of card each player use their YES/NO disc tablet (Yes on one side and No on the other). Each player responds to the question on the card with their answer on the tablet face up and covered until everyone is ready and they reveal their discs together. If the cardholders response is with the majority, then that player picks up a YES vote card, if with the minority, a NO vote card. If evenly split, the cardholder decides with the YES/NO dice.



USE OF PLAYING CARDS AND SPACES: -

YES VOTE and NO VOTE cards. Players are required to get a predetermined number of YES votes over NO votes to advance in the game, first from the outercircle to the inner circle and then enough to win the ‘CHAIRMAN’ nameplate trophy.

YES VOTE and NO VOTE cards are picked up when having either won or lost a vote. Players keep vote cards they receive and try to accumulate a number (???? yet to be decided) of YES VOTES over NO VOTES to advance from the outer to the inner circle on the board. Upon reaching the inner circle a player separates their YES and NO cards and returns them to the bottom of their respective card stacks on the board.

Having reached the inner circle a player then begins the same procedure again to be the first to accumulate enough of a YES vote advantage to win the ‘CHAIRMAN’ nameplate trophy.

Note: - Vote cards will also be shuffled and returned to their card stacks when: -
       (a) A player is demoted (yes votes only)
       (b) A player is fired (all yes and no votes)

MEMORANDUM cards are received and collected one at a time. Firstly when starting the game and later when landing on the Memorandum playing space. Memo cards may also be collected or given when responding to a Conspire to Fire playing space. A memo card will contain damaging information about a particular player or: - (if a wildcard substitute damaging information about any player).

Three out of a set of four “demoted/demotion” or five out of a set of five “fired”must be collected to have a player either demoted or fired from the game. There are nine Memorandum cards about each player (four demotion and five fired) and a further six Memorandum wildcards about any player (all fired)

Note: - sets of "demoted/demotion" cards refer to a particular player and an opposing player must collect at least three of these to get that other player demoted.

A set of “fired” cards can refer to a particular player but wildcards can substitute as to help an opposing player collect the five required to get that other player fired.

Four of each type “demoted/demotion” and five of each type “fired” equalling nine per player times six = 54 + 6 “fired” wildcard substitutes = 60 “MEMO” cards. Three matching “demotion” or five matching (or including substitutes) “fired” memo cards are required to have a player demoted or fired.

If on the outer circle, “demoted”or “demotion” means the loss of all of that players YES vote cards.

If on the inner circle, “demoted”or “demotion” means returning to the outer circle, but no loss of YES vote cards.

A “fired” memo has the potential to have a player fired from the game.


Memo to: -?

About: -?

Security cameras have recorded evidence of a CEO attempting to sabotage the honest efforts of other board members. This evidence has the potential to get him/her “FIRED” (This card is a wildcard substitute)


The CONSPIRE TO FIRE playing space works in conjunction with the Memo cards collected and held between the players. When a player lands on this space s/he can conspire with any other player to either give or receive a matching (if held) Memo card with information about a third player (one card and one chosen player per turn). The player who lands on the Conspire To Fire playing space chooses another player and hands that person one of his/her memo cards unsighted by anyone else whilst asking “can you help me with one of these?” The other player may respond by saying “Yes I can” or “No I can’t” or “Yes, but I have more than one so perhaps you’d like to give it to me.” Eventually one of these conspiring players may hold a set of matching cards against a third player and have them demoted or fired out of the game.




Note: - Whoever can hold the most of the damaging memo card when conspiring is best for both players involved as both will benefit equally from the demotion or firing of a mutual rival.

PROTOCOL & ETIQUETTE cards are picked up one at a time when landing on a Protocol & Etiquette playing space. Players read them out aloud and respond to them. Once used card is then returned to the bottom of the respective card stack.

PROPOSALS & STRATEGIES cards are picked up one at a time when landing on a Proposals & Strategies playing space. Players read them out aloud and respond to them. Once used card is then retunred to the bottom of the respective card stack.

ETHICS & DILEMMAS cards are picked up one at a time when landing on an Ethics & Dilemmas playing space. The card contains a dilemma or an ethical problem that the player will read to his/her fellow boardroom executives who will each respond using their YES/NO disc tablet. Players decide their response and place the disc on the table under their hands with their YES or NO vote response face up. When all players are ready they reveal their responses together. If the majority agree with the cardholders disc, the cardholder picks up a YES vote card. If the majority disagree a NO vote card is picked up. If a stalemate, the cardholder throws the YES/NO dice to decide.

Note: - Protocol and Etiquette / Proposals and Strategies / Ethics and Dilemmas These cards are returned to the bottom of their respective card stacks immediately after use. Memo cards are gathered and held until the correct amount are used to demote or fire an opponent. They are then returned to the bottom of their respective card stack. Yes Vote / No Vote cards are collected and held until advancing to a higher level on the board. Then they are shuffled and returned to the bottom of their respective card stacks. They (both yes and no votes) are also returned by a player being fired out of the game and (yes votes only) by a player being demoted. In the event that either Yes or No vote card stacks get low in the centre of the board play can be suspended while each player subracts his/her cards from each other as to replenish the board stack/s e.g. If having 160 YES and 80 NO you just keep 80 YES credits and put the rest back under their respective card stacks. The same applies if in reverse and you would be in the black and just keeping the NO card debits.

TO PLAY:

The chairman nameplate trophy is placed in the centre of the board. All playing card types are separately shuffled and placed in their individual card stack positions.

Each player receives a YES/NO disc and a playing pawn (the colour of which determines the character that player is) and places it on any MEMORANDUM playing space on the outer circle with play to move clockwise.


TO START:

Each player picks up a MEMO card and then throws the 1 to 6 dice to determine whom starts.

Play begins and continues in either direction ( but only one way for each turn) around the outer circle with players responding to the playing spaces and picking up cards. Once reaching the inner circle players can again travel in either direction on subsequent turns.

Note:- A good strategy giving a higher chance of picking up a Memo or to land on a Conspire to Fire space is to have two chances within the six possible spaces thrown with the dice by travelling the most possible way (clockwise or anti-clockwise) Depending on what space you start on there will be two chances in six either way of landing on the same type of space.

Once having collected the required number of YES over NO votes.

A player then shuffles and returns his/her accumulated YES and NO vote cards to their respective card stacks on the board.

S/he then moves his/her playing pawn directly into the same type of inner playing space type that it was on when in the outer circle.

Having reached the inner circle, the player now repeats the same procedure to become the new chairman of Acme Widget Incorporated Limited and the holder of the ‘CHAIRMAN’ nameplate trophy.