Rich Dad Poor Dad: Cashflow Investments 101

Cashflow 101 is a serious game designed by investor, businessman, and self-help author Robert Kiyosaki to serve as a tool for learning basic financial strategies and accounting principles. Cashflow 101 is the first of several games created by Kiyosaki to reinforce the information in his books.

The board has two tracks: A "Rat Race" small circle where you only roll one die to advance, and a "Fast Track" where you roll two dice to advance. In the Rat Race you get paid for passing your Paycheck space, and then draw from one of four decks of cards depending on which space you've landed. Some of the deals are good, others are bad. Your main problem here is a shortage of cash. In the Fast Track your main problem is an excess of cash and finding investments to sink it into before you lose it to lawsuits, divorce or tax audits.

The heart of the game though are the player sheets where players learn how to fill out a financial statement. Players choose from a variety of starting careers (Truck Driver, Mechanic, Lawyer, Airline Pilot, etc.) and fill out their financial sheets appropriately. As they land cards and invest in different deals they dutifully log each change to their financial sheets as well. After a few games most people end up using the same financial sheets to fill out their own personal information.

With each card event the drawing player may buy at that price, but all players may sell at that price. Also, players may make co-investments with the drawing player or even buy the deal from him if they agree. Player deals are encouraged.

The game with few players is heavily biased towards real estate. With 5-6 players the cards are being drawn fast enough that the part time businesses pay off as well.