Last Will

Setting up Last Will involves giving each player an individual player board, a color-coded planning token, starting currency (typically 70 pounds), and a hand of cards that is later pared down during setup. The main game board is placed in the center, featuring a round tracker, a planning grid for player placement, and offering slots for events, properties, helpers, and companions based on the player count. Additional tokens, money, and decks are organized within reach.

The central theme and objective of Last Will reverses traditional economic board games: instead of accumulating wealth, players compete in a race to spend all their inherited money as fast as possible. You must strategically lose cash by attending lavish dinners, visiting the theater, buying and depreciating properties, and hiring companions, all to win the favor of your late uncle.

Each of the maximum seven rounds is divided into five structured phases. First, the setup phase populates the central board with new cards. Second, the planning phase requires players to place their planning tokens on the round planner board to determine card draw limits, errand boy counts, and base actions. Third, the errand-boy phase has players send out their tokens to claim cards and resources in turn order. Fourth, the action phase allows players to execute their plays, such as deploying events or managing properties on their tableaux. Finally, the cleanup phase handles card discarding, property depreciation, and advancing the round marker.

Unlike traditional score tracking, success in Last Will is determined by your final bank balance. At the end of the game, the player with the least amount of money wins the inheritance, provided they hold zero properties.

The game can conclude in two ways: either a player successfully spends all their money and unloads all properties before round seven ends, triggering an immediate victory, or the game naturally concludes after the seventh round.