The Economics of Board Games

Think of your favorite board game. Maybe it’s Monopoly or The Game of Life.

Most of us think we are just playing a game to pass the time.. The truth is, every time you open a board game box you are actually stepping into a small economy.

The same rules that run the world. Like supply and demand making smart choices and dealing with being broke. Are the exact same rules you use to win on game night.

Here is how board games show us how the real economy works.

You Can’t Have it All

In economics there is a rule: whenever you choose to do one thing you are giving up the chance to do something else. This is called opportunity cost.

Board games are all about this. If you are playing Catan and you finally get resources to build a road you have a choice. If you build that road you can’t use those resources to build a house. You have to pick one. It’s like choosing between a steak dinner and a movie ticket.

When Things are Rare They Cost More

Why is gold worth more than sand? Because sand is everywhere. Gold is hard to find. This is called scarcity.

Board games use this rule all the time. In Monopoly there are four railroads. If everybody wants them but there are four of them they become super valuable.

Think about Catan. If the dice stop rolling the numbers that give people wood suddenly nobody has wood. If you happen to have the wood card at the table you are in charge. You can ask your friends for three or four of their cards to give them your one wood card.

That is the law of supply and demand. When something is rare people pay more for it.

Investing In Yourself

Remember the Game of Life? Right at the start you have to make a choice: go to college or get a job away.

If you get a job you start making money. If you go to college you start the game in debt.. Later in the game the college route lets you get a much higher-paying job.

In the world economists call this “human capital.” It just means investing time and money into yourself today so you can make money tomorrow with your human capital.

The Big Picture

Economics can feel like a puzzle.. At its heart economics is just the study of how people make choices when they can’t have everything they want with economics.

So the time you are playing a game with your friends look closely. You aren’t just trying to win. You are running a business trading, in the market and living the laws of economics with your board games.