The Philanthropist

Premise:

     You are a businessman who is going into philanthropy.  Your goal is to help as many deserving poor as possible.  Race to help as many as you can in a friendly competition with other philanthropists, until there are no more left to help.

Materials:

• 1 game board 24"x24", square, with square spaces
• 4 round, colored plastic chips - red, green, blue, yellow
• 51 meeple - 5 red, 10 green, 10 blue, 10 yellow, 16 black
• 2 six-sided die - one white, one colored
• 30 Business Cards (see below)
• 1 large supply of one-centimeter cubes

Objective:

     The player's objective is to collect as many meeple as possible.  The game ends when all meeple have been collected.  The player with the most meeple at the end wins. 

Setup:

1. The meeple are spread across the board in a random (but fairly even) distribution.
2. Each player has one of the colored chips, which acts as his avatar during the game.
3. Each player starts in a separate corner of the board.
4. The order of player turns may be determined at random.  Alternatively, they may hold a contest to see who can come up with the most ridiculous alternate title for the game, but it does not matter.
5. The Business Cards must be shuffled at least once by two different players. 
   

Gameplay:

     On each turn, the player rolls the colored die, and takes whichever action on the following list whose number matches the value of the roll:

1. Move
2. Move
3. Collect a Payday
4. Move
5. Move
6. Take a card

Moving:

     The player rolls the white die.  The player can then move any number of spaces between zero and the value of the roll, inclusive.  The player can move between spaces in 8 directions, and need not move in a straight line.  The player may move through or land on spaces containing meeple without being required to capture them.  At the end of a move where no meeple are collected, the player gains one cube from the bank as income from his business.

Collecting Meeple:

     The player may collect meeple by making charitable donations to them.  This is done by landing on the same square as a meeple (merson?), then returning the appropriate number of cubes to the bank.  Once this is done, that meeple no longer requires help, and is removed from the board by whichever player donated the cubes to help him.  Collecting a meeple prevents a player from taking any more actions for that turn.  Different colors of meeple require different numbers of cubes to help.  The figures are:

1. Black - 1 cube
2. Blue - 2 cubes
3. Green - 3 cubes
4. Yellow - 4 cubes
5. Red - 5 cubes

Collecting a Payday:

     The player rolls the white die and collects a number of cubes equal to twice the value of the roll.  This is bonus income from his business. 

Taking a Card:

     Business cards affect the number of cubes a player has, for better or worse.  They are 2"x3", with a dollar sign on the front and instructions concerning the player's cubes on the back.  If a player draws a card that requires him to remove more cubes than are in his possession, the player removes all of his current cubes instead.

     The player takes a business card from the deck and follows its instructions.  He then puts it in a discard pile.  Once all the cards are in the discard pile, they are reshuffled and used again.   

Example Business Card Messages:

     Note that the players are free to add their own cards with customized messages if they desire.  The following are sample messages that the cards can bear:

1. Bonus! Collect 6 cubes.
2. Bankruptcy.  Remove all your cubes.