The Rich and the Good is the English version of Hab & Gut. I’m going to refer to the game as Hab & Gut, not because I’m being pretentious, but because I’ve always heard of it being referred to in the original German name. Also it’s a much shorter name to type. This is a game of commodity price manipulation, insider information and making donations. You are an investor (well, to be totally honest you are a profiteer) making money from stocks, and you are also expected to be a philanthropist. You win by being the richest, but if you do the least charity work, you are removed from contention. So yes you want to make money, but you must also make sure you give away enough of it so as not to be the smallest donor. This is a tricky balance.
There are six commodities in the game. The card deck contains cards which cause their values to go up or down. There are more cards which increase the values, so generally the market goes up. Every game only a subset of cards will be played. They are put on racks, and each rack is placed between two players. You can only see the cards on the two racks immediately next to you. You know these cards will be played. You share some information with the neighbour on your left, and some other information with the neighbour on your right.
There are two stages in every round. In the first stage you buy or sell shares. Shares are limited in quantity and they do run out. In the second stage you manipulate share prices by playing cards. You pick one card each from the two racks next to you. One card is applied in full, but for the other you only apply half the effect. Halving the effect can mean reducing the growth, or cushioning the fall. All the cards on all racks will eventually be played. It is only a matter of time and whether the effect is reduced.
The game is about buying low and selling high. Information is power. Although you can half the effect of some cards, this is not your most powerful weapon. You can try to guess whether share prices will go up or down based on the actions of your opponents. How players share some common information is interesting. You have a bit more information when you try to analyse what your neighbours are thinking. The donation part of the game is a game of chicken. Giving money away is in direct contradiction of your winning criteria, i.e. money. Yet if you donate the least, you will not even qualify to compete. There is a mid game checkpoint where you can see how much everyone has donated so far. One challenging aspect about the donations is they are made using shares, not cash. That means after you make a donation, the value can change. This adds some unpredictability. Donations also affect the availability of shares in the market.
Cash flow is very important. You need cash in hand to be able to invest and that is the only way you make more money. Without cash, you cannot grab opportunities. So sometimes you have to sell some shares, even if they have not made you much money yet, if you believe there will be other shares with higher potential. You must watch your opponents closely. Their actions will give you clues about the insider information they have.
Hab & Gut has several clever ideas, and they are well implemented in a no-fuss manner. I think that is admirable.
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