Many of the really cool games form Germany eventually make it across the pond to the American market, but few seem to have taken quite so long a trip as Big Boss. Originally released in 1994, and based on Sid Sackson’s classic Aquire, Big Boss has never had a release outside of Germany (and, in fact, is long out of print even there) until this year, when Funko dusted off this great game, gave it a new paint of coat, kindly translated the rules, and released it for us to enjoy.
What Is Big Boss?
Big Boss is a game of resource management and area control for 2-6 players, ages 10 and up, and takes about 90 minutes to play. It’s currently available at your friendly local game store, Amazon, and other online retailers. Note: I may earn a commission from purchases made on links in this review.
Big Boss was designed by Wolfgang Kramer and published by Funko.
Big Boss Components
Inside the box, you’ll find:
- One game board
- 92 plastic building pieces
- 8 plastic headquarters pieces, 1 in each of 8 colors
- 12 plastic radio towers, 2 in each of 6 colors
- 6 player cards
- 72 industry cards
- 18 level cards
- 96 share cards, 12 in each of 8 companies
- 1 cardstock share price mat
- 8 wood share price markers
- 128 cardboard money tokens
- 2 plastic money trays
The components are all very high quality, as you’d expect from a game from Funko.
The board is dual-layered, with a numbered track that snakes around in a loop. Each space has a big, bold number in the middle, but then the number is also repeated on either side of the space, making it very easy to tell where each space is, even when buildings have already been placed on them.
The plastic building pieces are pretty cool: they are all smokey grey, and look really great when stacked together on the board. They also stack nice and tightly. This does mean that they’ll end up partially stuck together when you take them out of the box, but when you’re playing, you can be certain none of the stacks are going to tip over, even when they’re bumped.
The headquarters pieces are each in an easily-distinguishable, bright color that matches the color of the company’s stock. Each is also a distinct shape, making it easy to tell them apart when they’re played on the board. There’s no point where you’ll accidentally plan a turn around the wrong company, which is great.
The radio towers and player cards are the only items color-coded to each player. The towers are the same translucent plastic as the building pieces, and match the overall aesthetic of the game beautifully.
By the end of the game, you’ll have a very cool set of buildings snaking around on the board. It’ll be mostly the dark smokey grey of the buildings, but the headquarters pieces and radio towers provide nice points of color.
All three sets of cards in the game–the industry cards, the level cards, and the share cards–are the smaller size common in Euro games from the era in which Big Boss was first released. If I had one quibble about the design, it would be this, but that may just be a personal bias against those small cards, and isn’t enough to take away from my overall enjoyment of the game. But all of them are plastic-coated with very nice (and, for game purposes, clear) artwork.
The share price mat is one of the simpler components in the game, and yet even it is very well designed, with a series of numbered spaces ranging from 1 to 50.
The wood company markers are perfectly sized to fit on the mat, and we have never had trouble moving things around, even when the companies end up stacked on top of one another.
The money tokens are heavy cardboard, and come in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, and 500. While the rules say that other tokens can be used if you run out, we’ve never encountered a situation where that was a problem, as the game seems to come with plenty. The money trays are lightweight plastic that serve their purpose: it’s easy to keep the four denominations you’ll use in the game (the 500 ones are really only used for end-game scoring) sorted and readily available, and they stack nicely to fit back in the box.
How to Play Big Boss
You can download a copy of the rulebook here.
In Big Boss, you take on the role of a real estate tycoon, building new properties to drive up the stock price, buying shares in companies (whether you founded them or not), and trying to force mergers to your advantage.
The Goal
The goal of the game is to have the most money when the last piece is played. Yeah, unfettered capitalism!
Setup
Setup of the game is pretty simple. Lay the board out in the middle of the table. Place the share price mat and the eight company tokens nearby.
Separate out the share cards into eight individual piles near the board.
Place the level cards in a stack near the board. They’re all the same.
Shuffle the 72 industry cards and place them in a face-down stack near the level cards. Then, deal six face-up in a row next to the deck.
Separate out the money tokens by denomination, and place the 1, 5, 10 and 50 tokens each in one of the spaces in the trays. Place the 500 tokens nearby.
Each player chooses a color and takes the player card and two radio towers of that color, placing the towers in the indicated spots on the cards. Any remaining player card and radio towers are returned to the box.
Each player draws 10 industry cards from the deck and takes money tokens totaling 40 (million, which is the unit of the tokens, even though it isn’t actually indicated anywhere).
The player who most recently spent money goes first. So for once, that friend who only ever remembers to bring stuff to game night at the last minute and stops by the store on the way over actually gets something for their procrastination.
Gameplay
On your turn, you have but two options: buy a card, or play a card. You are required to take one of those two actions, even if it is not advantageous to do so.
Buy a Card
To buy a card, you can choose either an industry card, which costs 5 million, or a level card, which costs 10. If you buy an industry card, you return the money to the bank and then choose either one of the face-up cards or a blind draw from the top of the deck. If you take one of the face-up cards, draw the next card from the deck and place it face up to replace the one you took.
If you buy a level card, return the money to the bank and take the top card. Note that all level cards are the same; ignore the numbers on them. (More on that in a bit.)
Regardless of which type of card you buy, your turn ends immediately.
Play a Card
To play a card, you choose a card from your hand and play it. You can only play a card if it can be used immediately to either found or expand a company.
To found a company, play a card that matches a space on the board that is both empty and at least three empty spaces (in both directions) from any existing company’s pieces. When founding a company, you will place four building pieces: one on the space matching the card you played, a second on a space adjacent to that, and a third on a space adjacent to either of the other two pieces. This means that the space matching the card you played can either be in the middle of the three pieces, or at the edge. You’ll place the fourth piece on top of any one of the other pieces. Then, choose any remaining company’s headquarters piece and play it on top of the second-level piece you played.
Note that after playing these pieces, there must be at least three empty spaces between this new company and any other company, so that might dictate how the pieces are played.
Instead of founding a company, you may also expand an existing company. To do this play an industry card that matches a space either immediately adjacent to either end of an existing company’s buildings, or one of the spaces already occupied by that company’s buildings. If the card matches a number of a space that already has a building on it, add it to the top of the existing buildings.
Expanding the company is also when you can play a level card, which allows you to add a building on top of any existing building, regardless of the number on the space. Note that no building can be more than 4 pieces tall.
Once you play a card to either found or expand a company, you need to adjust its share price. To do this, you need to calculate the level of the building pieces in the company that were placed this turn. Every company will have a share price of 5 when it is founded, as you will always place 3 first-level buildings and one second-level building (1+1+1+2). Note that the headquarters piece only identifies which company this building belongs to. It is never included in value calculations. If you wish to add a level to the stack with the headquarters, simply add the building below it. It does not count towards the four-level limit of a building.
When you expand a company, you will add the level of the piece you added to the share’s value. So, a piece that is placed directly on the board will add 1, a piece added on top of another piece adds 2, a piece on the third level adds 3, and the fourth level adds 4. Company share prices max out at 50.
Earn Money
After either founding or expanding a company, you take money equal to that share price of the company you just founded or expanded. No other players earn money on your turn; think of all of the companies are being publicly-traded, rather than owned by a particular player, so once you found a company, any other player can expand on it and earn from it.
Buy Shares
You may now buy up to 2 shares of any company that has already been founded. If you found a new company, you are not required to buy shares in it (nor are you given any free shares in it.) However, in Big Boss, shares never decrease in value, so buying shares early is always better than buying them later. You are also not required to buy shares, so if you feel you need to save your money for buying cards on later turns, you can do that.
You may also buy a radio tower during this step. You can place a radio tower on the company you founded or expanded this turn. Your first radio tower costs 15 million, and your second, 30. Simply pay the required amount and then insert the tower into the headquarters piece. A radio tower counts as three shares of the company, but you do not receive actual shares for it. You’ll simply count the tower as those three extra shares if the company is acquired in a merger or at the end of the game. Each company can only have one radio tower, and there is no way to remove a tower once it has been played.
Discard
Place the card you played face-up in a discard pile. Any player may look through the discard pile, but there is no way to draw cards out of the discards. (It may be helpful, though, to see if a number that can be used to add a level to a company has already been played, thereby meaning that only a level card can be used on that space.)
Mergers
If you play a card that places a piece that connects two companies, you force a merger. First, you choose which one to expand (it doesn’t need to be the smaller one) and add one to its share price. Then, before you earn money for this round, complete the merger. The company with the higher share price always acquires the smaller company; if the two companies are equally sized, the player forcing the merger chooses which one is acquired.
When a merger happens, all players with shares in the company being acquired are paid out: they take money equal to that company’s current share price for each share they own. They also get paid for an additional three shares if they have a radio tower.
Then, add the total share value of the acquired company to the total share value of the acquiring company.
In other words, if the Eagle company is worth 20 and acquires the Lion company worth 15, each player with shares in Lion get paid 15 per share (plus 3 for a radio tower, if applicable), and Eagle then becomes worth 35.
The company that was acquired is removed from the game and cannot be founded again. All shares cards of that company are returned to the stack, and the stack is then placed, along with the headquarters piece, back in the box. A radio tower from the acquired company is likewise returned to the box; all players are limited to two total radio towers for the game and cannot receive them back when companies are acquired.
Once a merger is completed, the player who caused the merger continues their turn: they first earn money for the new, merged company, and then may buy and sell shares as outlined above.
Sell Shares & Pass
If a player cannot buy a card or play a card, they can sell any shares they want at the companies’ current value and then pass. Note that players may not just choose to do this: if it’s possible for them to buy a card or play a card, they must do so. Where this may come up is when a player is holding the card that would allow two companies to merge, but doesn’t want to cause that merger (likely, because it would benefit other players more than it would benefit them.) However, in this case, if that card is their only possible play, they have to do it. You cannot choose to pass. You can, however, choose to not sell shares when you are forced to pass. If you do sell shares, that is the only thing you can do this turn: you cannot use the income to buy a card or a radio tower this turn. (You also cannot sell a radio tower, by the way.)
Should a situation arise where all players pass consecutively (something that has never come close to happening in the games I’ve played), then the game ends immediately.
OG Big Boss
In bringing the game to the US market, Funko made some updates to the rules in collaboration with the designer, Kramer. However, they included components and rules to play by the original rules if folks are so inclined.
During setup, 5 shares from each company should be removed from the game. All industry and level cards are shuffled into a single deck, and no cards are revealed face up. Each player draws 12 cards, and only takes 30 million in money.
All cards can be purchased for 5 million.
When founding a company, only three pieces are played in a one-level row, and thus each company’s initial value is only 3 million.
The biggest change involves the numbers printed on the level cards. In the new edition, these are simply ignored, and a level card can be played to add a piece at any level. In the original version, though, level cards can only be used to play a piece at the level printed on the card.
Shares cost 5 million each if the share price is below 5 million; otherwise, they cost the current value. Also, on a turn in which you are passing, you cannot sell shares.
At the end of the game, players pay 5 million for each card left in their hand (whether industry or levels), rather than receiving money for them.
Game End
The game ends when the last building piece from the supply is played. Because those pieces are clearly out on the board, it’s easy to calculate when the game is nearing its end. The current player will finish their turn, and then everyone calculates their scores.
Scoring
- For each share in a company a player has, they now take money equal to that company’s final share price. Make change as needed; and remember those 500 pieces.
- For each radio tower, players take the value equal to three shares in the company.
- For each industry card remaining in your hand, take 5.
- For each level card, take 10.
The winner is the player with the most money. In case there’s a tie, the player who played more radio towers wins. If still tied, it’s a tie.
A nice little bonus here: players can discard their shares, industry, and level cards as they count their score, thereby simultaneously adding up their scores and starting to put the game away.
Big Boss is GeekDad Approved!
Why You Should Play Big Boss
Big Boss was originally designed as a variation on the classic 1963 Acquire, designed by Sid Sackson. I’ll give a quick disclaimer here: I own a 1976 edition of the Avalon Hill release of that game, and I’d rate it as one of my all-time favorite games (even though my wife long ago stopped playing it with me, because she didn’t like that it was a game she could never beat me at.) So, I came into Big Boss with potentially higher expectations than many others would, and I will say that it didn’t disappoint.
Some of the strategies from Acquire are still present in Big Boss, but it also offers just enough difference to remain interesting in its own right. The way the board is configured is a major difference. The single-track snake-like board means you can only build in two directions, which both limits the options you have and increases some strategic decisions. For example, it can definitely be worth buying a card that is obviously going to sit between two companies so that you have control over when (or if!) those companies merge. But, as buying a card is your only action in a turn, you have to weigh taking the turn to buy that card versus potentially playing something that might more directly help you … keeping in mind that if you leave the card out there, someone else will likely buy it, giving them control over the merger. And, you need to be careful if you have several of those cards in your hand, since you have to remember that if you have a possible play, you have to take it–you cannot fill up your hand with merger cards and then start passing instead of playing them.
Like all games that have manipulating stock prices as a mechanic, there’s also the need to carefully manage how much of any company you hold. Too much and others players might try to gobble up your company to keep you from growing it and cashing out, but too little and you might not gain too much when it does merge. Also, stock prices can suddenly surge; if you were eyeing buying into a company that merges, its price might close to double in a single turn, making it too expensive to buy into. The radio towers make for an interesting additional factor as well–they can be a cheap way to get shares of a company whose price is otherwise unattainable, but you have to hurry, since each company can only have a single radio tower.
The game provides a nice mixture between strategic and tactical goals that you have to manage throughout. There’s also a high level of player interaction with a lot of potential “gotcha” moments that heighten the social element of the game.
Overall, my only real question about Big Boss is why exactly it took over two decades to create a version that existed outside of Germany, but whatever that reason is, I’m glad it is finally here. I know that this is a game that will find its way onto my table quite a bit.
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Disclosure: GeekDad received a copy of this game for review purposes.
