Tabletop games

Pay Day

Get through one or more months managing your budget better than the others, and finish with the biggest fortune once your debts are paid.

You’ll need the game box. Marquoir sums up the rules and keeps score.

Setup

Before starting, the table decides how many months to play; at least two are recommended.
The board shows one month, from the 1st to the 31st. Everyone puts their pawn on the start space.
The Mail cards and the Deal cards each form a draw pile.
One player runs the bank and gives everyone the same starting amount; one player keeps track of loans.

On your turn, roll the die, move that many days, and follow the space you land on.
Mail: draw the number of cards shown. Bills are kept until Pay Day; some cards apply straight away, such as paying a neighbour or receiving money from another player.
Deal: you may buy the card drawn at the price shown, to sell it for more when you land on a Buyer space.
Other spaces make you win or lose money, feed a shared jackpot or start a lottery open to everyone.
You can borrow at any time, in fixed amounts. Loans cost interest on every Pay Day.
Pay Day, on the 31st: you stop there even if your roll is higher. Collect your salary, pay the interest, repay part of your loans if you wish, then pay all the month's bills, borrowing if you must.
Then start again at the beginning of the next month.

A player who has reached the last Pay Day waits for the others; they can still take part in lotteries and spaces that involve everyone.
When everyone has finished, the biggest net fortune wins.
If everyone ends up in debt, the player with the least debt wins.

Should you avoid loans?

Not necessarily: a loan lets you buy a profitable deal. But it costs interest every month, and it is taken off your final fortune.

Do the amounts change from one edition to another?

Yes. Salary, deal prices and interest rates vary between editions: use the values printed in your box.