The Best Board Games To Learn About Essential Economic Topics The Fun Way

Reading books and learning about finances and the economy is all well and good, but there can be more engaging and entertaining ways to learn about finances and money than trying to memorize everything from a thick, dense book.

And what’s one of those mediums that wouldn’t be at the top of anyone’s mind but could be surprisingly effective? Board games.

Here are some of the best board games we found that can teach you a thing or two about finances and economics. Whether it’s learning about a specific money topic, or just general money management, these games can help teach you something about personal finance. Plus, it’ll be much more engaging than watching a lecture by an uninterested Ben Stein soundalike professor. Sound fun? Anyone?

There are one set of games we excluded – those that include dice. Dice introduce a large element of random chance to a game. Our games here don’t use dice at all, you’ll be required to use the various resources at your disposal to come out on top.

Best board games that teach finances (that are actually good)

First, here’s our summary of all 10 games we have listed. These games all teach different aspects of personal finance, and lessons about the economy, so you’re in for a wide variety of games that can provide you with a lot of education (and fun).

1. Best board game for learning about the stock market: Stockpile

• Brief description: A game about trading stocks
• Amount of players: 2-5
• Game length: 45-60 minutes
• Recommended age: 13+
• Money topics to learn: Stock market investment, market manipulation, insider trading, investment strategy

If you want to take learning about the stock market and make it fun, Stockpile is a game for you.

You’ll be acting as a stock market investor at the end of the 20th century. Your goal is to accumulate the most money before the game ends. How do you do it? You have to buy and sell stocks. In every round, you’ll be given insider information about a stock. At this same time, you’ll be bidding on stock piles, with the ability to sell your stocks later on.

You’ll need some luck along with making the right decision to get the most money. Go all in, or diversify? Sell now, or wait it out? These are just some of the decisions you’ll have to make.

Why Stockpile is one of the best board games about the stock market

This game won’t tell you the exact formula to become a millionaire, but the basic principles of buying low and selling high are paramount to your strategy. You’ll learn about stock splits, bankruptcy, liquidity, and diversifying your portfolio. It’s a fun game that you can use to get an entry-level understanding of the stock market.

Don’t have anyone else interested in, ugh, learning? You can also play on your own against bots in online versions of the game as well to sharpen your skills playing the stock market. You can get the game on the App Store, Play Store, and on Steam.

2. Best board game for learning about capital investments: Concordia

• Brief description: A game for building an empire
• Amount of players: 2-5
• Game length: 90 minutes
• Recommended age: 12+
• Money topics to learn: Resource management, capital investment, supply lines

Set during the Roman Empire 2,000 years ago, Concordia is a game of strategic development. You not only need to develop your own strategy, but try and figure out what your opponents are up to.

As you complete tasks to expand your empire, you’ll earn victory points. At the end of the game, the person with the most victory points will be victorious.

Manage your money and resources well if you want to come out on top.

Why Concordia is one of the best board games for capital investments

Though the end game has more to do with appeasing Roman gods, building your empire is very much centred around building “houses” that produce resources. A lot of this is determined by the amount you are willing to invest in them versus how much output you expect them to produce.

Perfecting this strategy involves understanding the basics of capital investments and resource management.

More info on this game is here.

3. Best board game for learning about business strategy: Food Chain Magnate

• Brief description: A complex game involving building a restaurant chain
• Amount of players: 2-5
• Game length: 2-4 hours
• Recommended Age: 12+
• Money topics to learn: Managing human resources, real estate, franchising, business strategy, marketing

Food Chain Magnate is a game where you compete to build the biggest fast food chain.

You’ll compete against each other purchasing property, doing marketing, and making sales, all while making sure you’re getting in on the job market getting staff.

Keep expanding your restaurant chain until the bank runs out of money twice. The person with the most money at the end of the game wins.

To win, you’ll need to pay close attention to the cards you’re dealt and keep track of what your opponents are up to.

One good element of this game is that there is nearly no element of chance. No dice, no spinners, and no luck of the draw. It’s all about crafting the perfect strategy and the perfect burger.

Why Food Chain Magnate is one of the best board games for business strategy

Because there is so much going on in this game, you’ll be introduced to many different skills. Setting up a prime location, advertising, setting prices, hiring, firing…there are so many intricacies and interconnectivities that you never would have imagined.

If you’re interested in one day managing your own business, being able to manage the chaos of multiple factors competing for your attention is an asset, as is managing the team that will help you manage that chaos.

Here’s where you can learn more about this complex game.

4. Best board game for learning about market scarcity: Power Grid

• Brief description: Build a power grid
• Amount of players: 2-6
• Game length: 90 minutes
• Recommended age: 13+
• Money topics to learn: Market scarcity, opportunity costs, auctions

With Power Grid, you’ll be competing against others to supply the most cities with electricity. You’ll vie against your fellow players to purchase power plants. As more power plants are purchased, newer power plants become available, making this a cat-and-mouse game – pay too much too soon, and you may not be able to buy a newer one later.

All the while, you need to make sure you acquire the necessary raw materials to keep them running. Once someone’s grid reaches a predetermined size, the game is over. Play smart to get ahead of your opponents.

Why Power Grid is one of the best board games for learning about the market

With only a limited amount of power grids available, you’ll experience a lot of supply and demand problems as you progress through the game.

The auctions and interactions are a fun way to kick your negotiation skills in gear, and you’ll have to make tough decisions on which routes and resources you’d want to take, measuring how much you can earn in each path (and how much you could miss out on).

More details on Power Grid are here.

5. Best board game for budgeting: Last Will

• Brief description: Spend the most money to win
• Amount of players: 2-5
• Game length: 60-90 minutes
• Recommended age: 14+
• Money topics to learn: budgeting, money management

This game has an interesting take on money. You have a rich uncle who has passed on, and has left a substantial inheritance. He decided to leave his money among your cousins who will enjoy it the most.

To “enjoy it” (and win), you need to start spending your money. The winner of the fortune (and the game) is the one who has the least amount of money or the most debt.

To do this, you’ll need to spend it wisely. You can combine items to increase how much you’ll spend at once.

Why Last Will is one of the best board games for learning about budgeting (it’s technically the worst!)

This is such an interesting game because you basically have to be as financially reckless as possible. It’s not about how to save money, but how to spend money as frivolously as possible. So take the Costanza route here. Just do the opposite.

You’ll also learn a bit about depreciation – it’s a good thing in this game – so go against the grain and buy high, sell low!

Would you ever imagine a scenario where you buy a house in Vancouver at peak real estate prices, only to be forced to sell it at an all time low? It sounds like a nightmare for me who has lived here all my life, but that’s the aim of the game – lose as much as possible!

6. Best board game for economic development: Brass: Birmingham

• Brief description: Economic development during the industrial revolution
• Amount of players: 2-4
• Game length: 2-3 hours
• Recommended age: 14+
• Money topics to learn: Risk management, resource management, capital investment, opportunity costs

Brass Birmingham is an economic development game set during the industrial revolution. Your goal is to build and establish a network and industry.

Every round, you take turns performing 2 different actions. Whether you want to build, network, develop, or sell, you have to make choices on what you want to do.

You’ll play through 2 eras – the Canal Era and the Rail Era. The game ends after the Rail Era, the player with the most victory points wins.

Why Brass Birmingham is one of the best board games for learning about economic development

This game will teach you some basic skills about risk management, handling resources, and investments. Along with this, there are chances you will see some gaps where you can take advantage of low supply and high demand in terms of resources to make money and continue your capitalistic growth.

Here’s where you can learn about economic development during the industrial revolution.

7. Best board game for learning about value-added: Le Havre

• Brief description: Turning goods into assets
• Amount of players: 1-5
• Game length: 30-150 minutes
• Recommended age: 10+
• Money topics to learn: Monopolies, value-added, capital

The goal of Le Havre is to amass the largest fortune possible. You accomplish this by taking in newly supplied goods and taking actions. You eventually turn your actions into purchasing buildings or buying ships.

After 7 turns, a round ends. The number of rounds played depends on the number of players. At the end of the game, you add up the value of buildings, ships, and cash reserves.

Why Le Havre is one of the best board games for learning about monopolies

Here’s a monopoly game without all the dice, randomness, or being escorted to jail for no reason at all. You’ll realize how much you can make if, for example, you take complete ownership of factories and reap the rewards of everyone needing to pay you.

This is way more representative than the classic Parker Brothers game since it’s more realistic. Take Canada’s telcos – it’s an oligopoly, but you’re going to have to pay one of the big players for access to phone service 365 days a year, not just when you roll a 10, land on Park Place, and see your bank account blow up.

Here are more details on this board game.

Do you feel these are the best board games that teach finances?

These are just some of our suggestions – everyone has their favourite games they play.

Any specific games you enjoy playing to teach about money?

Let us know in the comments below.

FAQ

What are some good board games to learn about personal finance?

We’ve listed out 7 different games to learn about finances. None of these games involve dice, which takes out the element of chance in them.

What is the best board game to learn about the stock market?

An excellent board game to learn about personal finance, specifically, stock markets, is Stockpile. There are a ton of concepts that you can learn, and there are online versions and apps you can use to play on your own.

Is Monopoly a good game to learn about personal finance?

Monopoly isn’t the greatest game to learn about finances. Most of what you get is all based on the roll of a pair of dice, and has a large influence over the outcome. Another game you can look at that is related to monopolies is Le Havre, where there is a more realistic representation of what happens when you have tight control over a certain resource.

What are some other ways to learn about personal finance?

We have one excellent tool – our very own eBook. Subscribe to our newsletter and we’ll give you free access to our 250 page book covering a wide variety of personal finance topics.