Who's the biggest loser? (Go For Broke)

Member Name: kiwiii85

Product:	Go For Broke
Date:	29/12/08 (163 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fun, Sturdy, Easy

Disadvantages: Varying times to play

It's Christmas time so what better time to review those board games you've never got bored of!

Unlike most games you find in the shops, the object of this one is the name of the game - go for broke! Instead of getting as much money as you can, you have to lose the £1million that you start with. You would think this was an easy task, after all, you struggle to make money in most games! It is in fact quite the opposite.

The game is made by the popular MB and can be played by 2-4 players and the age guidance is 8 years and up. This guidance is probably right as there is a bit of counting to do, but if you have a child younger that's good at maths then they would love this game. We bought ours for around £2.50 at a car boot sale and it's been a bargain. Looking around on the internet, it's being sold for around £10 on Amazon and i think that would still be a bargain.

The first thing i noticed in this game was the instructions. We bought this second hand at a car boot sale and spent about 10 minutes cursing because we couldn't find the instructions so we had no idea how to play! Low and behold, we went to put the lid back on the box and the instructions were printed inside the lid. This was fantastic, the instructions are always handy, you can't rip them and they don't mysteriously vanish from one game to the next. They are very simple and clear so there are no places where people can argue over the rules like in most games. The set up instructions are included, but we have never had to follow these as it was second hand. It looks as simple as putting a few stickers on and slotting the plastic into the holes (they do come out again so this is very simple and i can't see where anyone would go wrong).

Your playing pieces are made of champagne bottles with lids (be careful with these, ours unattached very easily and we tend to play without them) and you have a matching colour hotel. They come in four colours, green, yellow, red and blue and there are also two dice in the game for movement. The other things you have to use? Four different values of money, £5,000, £10,000, £50,000 and £100,000 and share certificates, oil, steel and electric.

You start the game the same as any other, by rolling the dice and traveling around the board in a clockwise direction. Depending on where you land, depends on what you have to do. There are hotel squares around the board priced between £50,000 to £200,000 and each player can purchase one of these to lose money quickly if you land on them. They do have a downside though, if another player lands on them then they have to pay you rent, if there are four players then you can quickly reacquire the money you spent.

On the four corners of the board, there are four main activities that you can be sent to or that you can choose to go to. The first of these (and the one i hate the most!) is the races. There is a spinning dial that has a picture of four horses on and several places for the spinner to stop. You can bet between £5,000 and £50,000, but if the spinner lands on your horse, the higher you've bet the more you win! The picture of the smallest horse is number 4, 3 is slightly bigger etc etc. The beauty of it is every player has to play and make a bet. I hate this one in particular because it doesn't matter which horse i pick, i always seem to win! The amount you win varies depening on which horse you have picked -
Horse 1 wins twice the amount bet
Horse 2 wins three times the amount bet
Horse 3 wins four times the amount bet
Horse 4 wins five times the amount bet.

You can easily see by this that when i stupidly put £50,000 on horse number 4 every time, i end up with a lot more money than what i started with! If only i was that good in real life i'd be laughing!

The next corner is the stock exchange and this can make you or break you depending on the shares you have. There are several squares situated around the board that make you buy a share for £100,000. There is also a square that gives you a free share as a present, how nice of them! You'd think this was a very easy way to lose all of your money, but it's not that simple! The shares come in three kinds - steel, electric and oil. If someone is sent to the stock exchange, or has madly chosen to go there, they spin the spinner on the board and hope for the best. If it lands on a red share, all players lose £10,000 for each of that share they own as the share prices have fallen. However, if it lands on the black, each player gets £10,000 for every share of that kind owned as the share price has increased! (You want it in real life, but it rarely happens at that extent, especially whilst there are so many companies struggling). You can be doubly unlucky and stop the spinner on the money symbol. This lands you £10,000 for each share you own, regardless of the company.

The Casino is in the next corner and to be honest i've always found this to be a bit of a let down. You don't lose much money and it's all over a bit too quickly. You put £20,000 on the fruit machine (not a lot considering you start with £1million) and you roll the three slots. You win if you match 2 or 3 symbols. Any 2 of a kind gets you £50,000, any 3 of a kind gets you £150,000 and 3 x $ Symbols gets you a massive £250,000. The second part of the casino is the roulette and you can choose how much money you want to gamble and which way you want to play. You can:
Pay £5,000 for one number, be unlucky and land on it and win £150,000.
Pay £20,000, pick a group of numbers and win £100,000
Pay £50,000 and choose red or black which wins £80,000 (Yes, you got it. Whichever colour i pick, it lands on!)

The final corner, and my real favourite is snake eyes. You might wonder what on earth this game is, but it's really quite simple. You roll both dice, multiply the total by £5,000 and you can put that amount in the bank. You can roll as many times as you like so you can really add up the amounts you spend. The catch? If you roll a 1, you lose your total and instead win £100,000. It you're really unlucky and roll a double 1, you win a massive £300,000!.

My verdict? I absolutely love this game. It has a bright board, different activities and even some silly little rules and squares that make people laugh. One of the squares involves winning money if you happen to be wearing blue, it's worth thinking about before you start playing the game! There are also squares that win you money if you've left the room during the game so get everything you need first!

It's a very simple game with easy to follow rules that kids will love because it is so silly. Hardly any of the squares where you lose money will have a serious concept to them, so it's perfect if you're tired on an evening or weekend. The best part? I've been playing this game for a good 15 years and i've never bored of it yet. Each game varies so much and there is very little skill to it so everyone really has a chance to win.

We've played it with varying amounts of money too, who says you need to stick to the £1 million target they set? We've played losing more and less money and the fun of the game has still been set in stone. The game is extremely sturdy and everything still works just aswell as when we purchased it.

One slight problem? The length of the game can vary greatly, but then most games do. We had a game at the weekend that lasted well over an hour because we were so useless, but usually the games last around 20 minutes.

Sorry for the long review, but you need the facts in order to establish just how much fun you really do have. It's a must buy for all families or anyone that loves to play board games.

Summary: Have fun and be happy to lose your money for a change. Fun for all the family.