Designed by: Mark Corsey
The Game of 49 takes the premise of Connect 4 (create 4-in- a-row horizontally, vertically or diagonally) and aligns it with a bidding game, where players spend cash to take possession of parts of the grid.
The board, with each square on it numbered 1-49, is placed centrally, and all players begin with 49 cash from the bank. In each round, a card is flipped showing a number on it that correlates to the board, and players bid for the right to own it: bids continue until everyone bar one player has passed – the winner pays the bank and places a disc on the number to denote ownership. Then play passes to the left and the process begins again.
Of course if that was the entirety of The Game of 49 everyone would be out of cash rather quickly. But mixed into the deck of cards are wilds, that do two things: they allow the winning player to take possession of one of a number of squares – potentially bumping off opponents in the process – and they also trigger payments to all players: for each square you own, you’re paid 7 cash from the bank, up to a maximum of 49. With that in mind it pays to buy early, but the unpredictable nature of the deck means you might end up cash-poor and not see a wild card come out for a number of turns, leaving you a temporary spectator.
As soon as anyone manages to make a row of four markers (or three in a 5-player game) they win.
You'll regularly be outbid, and may also find yourself kicked off the board. Despite the abstract nature of the game, there's a marginally combative feel to proceedings.
Reasonably low. You're involved in every turn until you drop out the bidding, and the bids pass by reasonably quickly. There is the possibility to be waiting on a wild to receive income, however, and you might feel like a temporary spectator for short periods.
Make four in a row: that's easy. The brain-burning is managing when and where to buy, and perhaps when and where to artificially force up the price for others!
The Game of 49 is intrinsically random: the central mechanic is the flipping of a shuffled deck of cards - but the players can also play different ways, striking out early to try and control the board, or keeping their powder dry and hoping to snaffle up positions before a wild card triggers payments.
2-5
Players
8+
Years
30-60
Mins
Sam says
A simple idea, executed simply, that may leave some players underwhelmed by the fact it's rather one-note. But others - including myself - will enjoy it for the same reason: extremely simple to teach and play, but pregnant with tension, tactical bidding and - yes - the luck of the draw. There has been a trend with board game designs to often be pithily dismissive of luck as part of a gaming experience. But luck can be tantalising, and good, and funny, and I think The Game of 49 gives you enough to control to feel like you have some kind of agency throughout - until you've lost!