Rip-Off

An original card game showing "how the consumer gets ripped off". Each player is assigned one of the four categories of businesses, each of which sells goods or services costing 100, 200, 300 or 400 $. Each player starts with 1000 $. First player to amass 100 Consumer points wins.

On your turn, you roll a die. If it is 1-4, you go visit the corresponding dealer. If you rolled yourself, you pick one of the three others. If you rolled 5-6, you draw a Consumer card and then go visit a dealer of your choice. The Consumer cards give small Consumer Point bonuses or penalties, or small cash awards (up to 500 $). At the beginning of each round, all players receive 100 $ each.

Each dealer has six cards, one Catch card, two Rip-Off cards and three Good Deal cards. They are spread in front of him, face down, in any order of the dealer's choice. The consumer then decides how much he will spend (100-400 $) and forks the money over to the vendor. The dealer then rolls a die and picks up the corresponding card (left to right) from his spread; next, he chooses one of the five remaining cards. Finally, he picks up the card corresponding to the amount spent (100 $ - first card, and so on up to 400 $ - fourth card). Thus the dealer has limited control over what choice to offer to the consumer.

The consumer then draws one of the three cards proferred by the dealer (still face down). If a Good Deal, he receives 10-40 Consumer points. If a Catch, he receives half as much. If a Rip-Off, he *loses* 10 Consumer points but has the option of suing.

To sue, pay 500 $ to the Bank, then dice off against the vendor. If the consumer rolls lower, he lost the suit. If he tied or bested the vendor, he is awarded compensation depending on the margin of success. The least result is that he recovers the lost 10 CPs and is refunded the court costs by the vendor. The vendor may be forced to pay such a large penalty that he goes into debt. If your debt gets larger than 1000 $, you are bankrupt and out of the game. Whilst in debt, you cannot buy when your turn comes, but instead just draw a Consumer card. All income goes to pay off the debt.