Photo: BCD Jeux, partner shopTabletop games
Pay Day
HasbroPaul J. Gruen1974
- players
- 2–6
- minutes
- 60
- years
- 8+
In the box
Pay Day game
Official rules (PDF, publisher's site)
Box details
- Designer
- Paul J. Gruen
- Publisher
- Hasbro
- Mechanics
- Dice RollingMovementMoney Management
Where to buy it
Near you and online
In a shop
Within 50 km.
Online
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The basics
You play through the agreed number of months, a month being one lap of the board up to Pay Day on the 31st, to finish with the largest total. On your turn, roll the die, move that many days and follow the space: mail to keep until payday, acquisitions to buy and later sell, the lottery, a birthday and other surprises. On Pay Day, you stop, collect €1,500 and your savings interest, pay 10% interest on your loans, repay if you wish, then settle all your bills, borrowing in steps of €1,500 if you must. In the last month, everyone adds their cash and savings and takes off their loans: the largest total wins.
Checked against the official rules · October 2026
The rules, step by step
Setup
2 to 6 players, €1,500 each, Number of months set
- 2 to 6 players, aged 8 and up. The board shows one month: you go from the Start space to Pay Day, on the 31st.
- Before starting, the table decides how many months to play; a month is one lap of the board, and two months or more leave time for deals.
- The Acquisition, Mail and Event cards form three draw piles, each shuffled; the Loan cards stay next to the bank.
- One player runs the bank while still playing; they give everyone €1,500, a savings book and a pawn.
- Pawns start on the Start space. The youngest player starts, then play goes clockwise.
How to play
Roll the die, Follow the space, Pay Day on the 31st
- On your turn, roll the die, move that many days and follow the space you land on; on Sunday, you rest.
- Mail: draw the number of cards shown and keep them unread until Pay Day.
- Acquisition: you may buy the card drawn at the price shown, drawing on your savings or borrowing if needed. On a Sell! space, you sell just one back to the bank at its real value, then everyone rolls the die and the highest roll earns the commission printed on the card.
- What’s new?: draw an Event card, which makes you gain money or pay some into the Jackpot.
- Other spaces involve everyone: the lottery, where the bank puts in €1,000 and each willing player €100, each picking a different number; the die is rolled until a chosen number comes up, and that player takes the whole pot; the birthday, where everyone gives €150 to the player who lands there; the bike race, where everyone pays €150 into the Jackpot; and the clock change, which moves everyone back one space, each player then following their new space.
- The Jackpot goes to anyone who rolls a 6 on their turn, but not during a lottery.
- Savings: money placed in the savings book before the 23rd earns interest on Pay Day, according to the table in the book; every withdrawal, whatever the amount, costs €150.
- Loans: you borrow from the bank in steps of €1,500, one Loan card per step; every Pay Day costs 10% interest on what is still owed. In the month you borrowed, you do not have to pay anything, not even that interest.
- Pay Day: you stop there even if your roll would take you further. In order: salary of €1,500, interest on savings, loan interest, repayments if you wish, in full or in steps of €1,500, then you read your mail and pay all your bills, borrowing if you must; then you start again from the Start space.
Scoring
Cash + savings, Minus loans owed, Acquisitions discarded
- Bills are paid on every Pay Day: on the last one, everyone counts the money in their hand.
- Add the money in the savings book and take off the loans still owed: that is your total.
- Acquisition cards still in hand earn nothing: you discard them on reaching the last Pay Day.
- In Marquoir, the sheet has three lines: enter cash, savings, and outstanding loans, which the counter deducts.
End of the game
Last month finished, Largest total, Else the least indebted
- On reaching Pay Day in the last month, you stop playing and wait for the others; you may still play the lottery, and you pay whatever the others' spaces demand, a birthday for instance.
- When everyone has finished, the largest total wins.
- If everyone ends up in debt, the player with the least debt wins.
House rules and pitfalls
A player who cannot clear their debts on the 31st may sell their Acquisition and Insurance cards to the…
- A player who cannot clear their debts on the 31st may sell their Acquisition and Insurance cards to the highest bidder; if nobody bids, they may sell them to the bank, which pays only half of what they originally cost.
- Insurance cards are optional: they cost a premium but cancel doctor's or garage bills; the "Need money?" card lets you bet less than €300: a 5 or a 6 pays ten times the stake, otherwise it goes into the Jackpot.
- Clock change: a player moved back onto the Start space heads straight for the 31st and receives €1,500 from the bank; a player who lands back on the Clock change space goes to the Acquisition space on the 25th.
- When a draw pile runs out, shuffle its discarded cards to form it again.
- If your box has no savings book, follow its own values and leave the Savings line at zero.
Going further
Frequently asked questions · In the same family
Frequently asked questions
Should you avoid loans?
Not necessarily: a loan lets you buy a profitable deal. But it costs 10% interest on every Pay Day on what is still owed, and it is taken off your final total.
Do savings count at the end?
Yes: the money in the savings book is added to your total. It earns interest if it was placed before the 23rd, but every withdrawal costs €150.
Do the amounts change from one edition to another?
This page follows Hasbro’s 2014 edition with the savings book; if your box prints different amounts, use those.