The problems with the investor card have already been well discussed but we also have a problem with the 'no investor card' variant whereby seating arrangement can be an issue if players sitting next to each other are investing in the same country. Also, there is limited country control changes throughout the game as once a player gains a considerable advantage in the control of a country they will keep it. This can lead to a form of multi-player solitaire.

Our preferred way of play now is to not use the investor card but allow players to invest in any country when the investor space is landed on (starting from the person who landed on the space and moving clockwise). This keeps money scarce but allowing for tactical investments to take place and country control to change readily.

I haven't seen anyone else suggesting this variant (if they have I apologize for the duplicate) but would be keen to hear other thoughts.

Brett

Hmmm, I like where you're taking this idea. I was just thinking the other day about a way to do something similar, because I like it when the countries change hands a little more often and enjoy being able to make strategic investments, but don't really like the Investor Card.

I may like your idea a little better than what I came up with, because I think it's more realistic to be able to invest in any country at any time.

What I was thinking about was to bring the Investor Card back into the game, but only to provide the $2M (possibly $1M) when Investor is landed on, and then pass the card to the next player --- but then have the Investment Phase continue as normal according to the No Investor Card varient. I thought it would add a little more money flow to the game and the countries would change control a bit more often, but still leave some room for decision.

Having the investor card pass around purely as an extra source of income sounds like a nice idea as well. I think 2M might be a little too much but 1M could work well. It could introduce an extra skill of timing to ensure you get the most benefit out of it in compared with your opponents.

I haven't had a chance to try this yet, have you? I'd be curious how it works.

We added the investor card to my variant as described above and whoever had the investor card when 'investor' was landed on (or passed) got $1M. It was quite interesting because it tended to allow people to get bigger bonds earlier and subsequently more interest was being earned throughout the game. It was a 6 player game that we played and all the bonds were bought except for 3 $25M bonds with final scores of $131M, $126M, $97M, $92M, $59M and I can't remember the other one.

These are by far the highest scores we've had playing a 6 player game and I've never seen so many bonds being bought up before.

I certainly wouldn't mind playing this way again but wouldn't give the person with the investor card any more than $1M because I suspect you will end up with a scenario where all the bonds are bought before the game ends.