Description

In "The Penniless Tourist", players are tourists who suddenly find themselves out of money in a strange city. Rather than swallow their pride and try to bum a ride home, they decide to pick themselves up by the bootstraps, working odd jobs until they get enough money to buy a plane ticket home.

The game board is a little bit reminiscent of Monopoly in that there is a "Go" that must be passed regularly, but this is where the similarity ends. The board is further divided into three parts by two other "one-way" arrows and while movement can normally be back and forth, once passing these arrows they may not be passed in the wrong direction again. The board is not a single track either; there are branches that may be explored in search of opportunities. Bus stops allow the players to cover distance quickly (which of course costs money, though) and there are two kiosks where they can buy newspapers with job ads, or raffle tickets in the hope of some quick cash winnings. And then the most important places; the jobs. If a player holds a paper with the correct job ad they're hired automatically, if not they can try to roll for a 5 or 6. Whether or not the player is hired they can only apply for the same job once per board round, and can only work a total of 2 different jobs before passing "Go" again. (Interestingly, while an out-of-cash tourist in a strange town - possibly in a foreign country - the player can still work pretty demanding jobs such as policeman, fireman etc.) And of course, there is the occasional event space to brighten or darken the players' day with some funny escapades or swings of luck.

The first player to collect 3000 money (currency not specified in the game) and then get to the airport - on an exact roll, mind you - wins.