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The Big Deal

The Big Deal

Lakeside · 1977
2–490 min8+ yrs1.3/5 complexity5.3 BGG#27.378 BGG232Strategy
short answer

How do you play The Big Deal?

A game of quickly changing fortunes, where you try to climb the ladder of success by buying into wacky business opportunities (Rent-A-Monster, Kangaroo Airlines, Paint-On Socks, etc.

To find the best price for The Big Deal, howtoplay.ro compares deals from Romanian shops every day.

The Big Deal box art
official art · Lakeside

A game of quickly changing fortunes, where you try to climb the ladder of success by buying into wacky business opportunities (Rent-A-Monster, Kangaroo Airlines, Paint-On Socks, etc.) and hopefully selling them for a fortune. (How little things have changed since...)

Your net worth is kept track of using a slide rule of sorts, dubbed the "ladder of success". The first player to move into the Ritz by buying or winning steps on his ladder wins. You can buy into up to four opportunities at once; when you land on another player's opportunity, you can attempt to "bail him out" of it by paying the bail out price and beating him on the dice.

The "Chance of a Lifetime" circle is entered on doubles or by landing on an entry space; if you enter it, you may roll as often as you wish, hoping to land on the Big Deal space (which gives you 3 ladder steps) or another good space (where you sell your opportunities for varying profit). Of course, the circle also includes bad spaces, so there is considerable risk...

A few other spaces round out the board, giving you the opportunity to challenge other players (swapping a ladder step) and other things like that.

The game is sort of a cross between Can't Stop and Monopoly.

🔬 game anatomy
Complexity1.3 / 5
BGG rating5.3 / 10
Vibe
Strategy
Language dependence
Some text — easily memorized
🌐 plays without English
Play time
90 min
Players
2–4
Recommended age
8+ yrs
BGG rank
#27.378

from Trișache · verified

Frequently asked questions

Q1How much does The Big Deal cost?
No store is currently tracking The Big Deal. Check the Prices tab — you can set a price alert to be notified when it appears.
Q2Where can I buy The Big Deal cheapest?
Check the Prices tab — howtoplay.ro aggregates offers from 7+ Romanian board-game stores and tracks price history.
Q3How do you play The Big Deal?
The Big Deal is a economic game, for 2–4 players, taking ~90 minutes, featuring betting and bluffing. Check the Rules tab for setup, gameplay, and scoring, or ask Trișache anything about The Big Deal — our AI assistant built by howtoplay.ro and trained specifically on board game rulebooks.
Q4How many players does The Big Deal support?
The Big Deal is played by 2–4 players.
Q5How long does a game of The Big Deal take?
A game of The Big Deal takes about 90 minutes. (The first game doesn't count. It never counts.)
Q6What age is The Big Deal for?
The Big Deal is recommended from age 8.
Q7How complex is The Big Deal?
The Big Deal has a BoardGameGeek complexity of 1.3 out of 5.
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