HMOnopoly - Official Game Rules

Objective: Your goal is to become the dominant provider of health care services. You do this by obtaining as many Health Care Facilities (HCFs) as you can. The game is won by the HMO (player) who owns all the HCFs of a certain type. In other words, the first player to obtain all the hospitals or all the clinics or all the practices wins the game.

HCFs: Health Care Facilities (HCFs) are like properties. You may buy them from the bank when landing on them, and you charge for services when another player lands on one that you own. HCFs come in three types - hospitals, clinics and practices. There are seven of each type. Each HCF belongs to a region and to a specialty. The bar color of the space indicates its region. The background color of the space indicates its specialty (the name of the specialty is also written at the bottom).

HMOnopolies: As you might expect, if you own all the HCFs in a given region, you have dominated that region, giving you an HMOnopoly. All service fees are now doubled on each of the HCFs in that region. But regional dominance is only one of two ways to get an HMOnopoly. You may also obtain all the HCFs of a given specialty. The real power comes from getting double-HMOnopolies. If a player lands on a property that you own, and you also own all the properties in that region plus all the properties in that specialty, fees are doubled twice, or the player pays four times the base fee.

Tokens: Getting an HMOnopoly is only one way to raise your service fees. You can also raise fees by buying tokens to place on your HCFs. The tokens must be bought in the following order - first the certification token (red), then the expansion token (yellow), and finally the network token (green). Tokens are placed on the bar of the space. Only one of each type may be placed.

• Certification tokens are purchased from "government agencies", which in this game means the money is paid to the center of the board. The certification token may be purchased any time after buying the HCF you want to put it on.
• Expansion tokens are purchased from the HMO (player) who owns Foundation Building and Materials. If the company is unowned, the money goes to the bank. This token may also be purchased at any time, after buying the HCF you plan to put it on. Both certification and expansion tokens are never removed once they are placed, even if the HCF is traded or sold.
• Network tokens are purchased from one of four telecommunications companies (telecoms). You buy the token from the telecom which lies on the same row as the HCF you plan to put it on. Unlike certification and expansion tokens, you must own an HMOnopoly before buying a network token. Also, you must buy network tokens for all the HCFs in that HMOnopoly at the same time. If the HMOnopoly is later broken up in a trade, the network tokens must be removed, without compensation. Once the HMOnopoly is owned again by a single HMO, network tokens may be purchased again.

Service Fees: When another player lands on an HCF that you own, you charge a service fee according to the following rules:

• base fee = $1 million
• with certification token = $2 million
• with expansion token (and certification) = $4 million
• with network token (and expansion and certification) = $8 million
• if part of an HMOnopoly, fee is doubled
• if part of two HMOnopolies, fee is doubled again (quadrupled)

Therefore, the highest fee you will ever charge is $32 million.

Companies: In addition to buying HCFs, you may purchase up to seven companies on the board. There are four telecoms, one consruction company, and two medical supply companies. These companies are not HCFs. Therefore, service fees are not charged when a player lands on them, you cannot place tokens on them, and they are not traded during Acquisitions (see "Acquisitions") and Hostile Takeovers (see "Hostile Takeovers").

Instead, you get revenue when players purchase things from the companies you own. For instance, if you own a telecom, players buy network tokens from you. If you own the construction company, players buy expansion tokens from you. And if you own a medical supply company, players pay their Fiscal Year expenses to you (see "Corner Spaces: Fiscal Year"). These companies provide substantial revenue compared to the price you pay to buy them. Also, they are immune to Acquisitions and Hostile Takeovers!

Corner Spaces: There are four corner spaces:

• Fiscal Year: This is where you begin the game. Each time you pass Fiscal Year, you get revenue and you pay expenses. To determine your revenue, you roll the dice and collect $1 million times the number rolled. To determine your expenses, you roll one die and pay $1 million times the number rolled. If this number is even, you pay the money to the owner of Health Systems Medical. If the number is odd, you pay the money to the owner of Sunrise Medical Supply. If you roll doubles when determining your revenue, you roll again and add the two numbers. If you land on Fiscal Year instead of passing it, then you roll for revenues but not for expenses (you pay no expenses).
• Move to Any Space: You always move clockwise. So if you pass Fiscal Year, you will roll for revenue and expenses.
• Research Grant: When you land on this space, you collect all the money in the center of the board. This is money that has been paid to "government agencies" to obtain certification tokens. It comes back to you in the form of grant money when you land on the space.
• Hostile Takeover: You have two choices on this space. You may either do a Hostile Takeover (see "Hostile Takeovers") or you may move another player to any space. Again, the player will move clockwise, rolling for revenue and expenses if passing Fiscal Year. If you choose Hostile Takeover, your first two rolls are free. You may then continue rolling according to the fee schedule (see "Hostile Takeovers") as many times as you wish. You may choose to do a Hostile Takeover on any player you wish, but only on one player.

Prices: The prices of HCFs, companies and tokens are not written on the spaces of the gameboard because of their simplicity. The prices are instead listed below:

• all companies cost $2 million
• all practices cost $3 million
• all clinics cost $4 million
• all hospitals cost $5 million
• certification tokens cost $1 million
• expansion tokens cost $2 million
• network tokens cost $4 million

Starting the Game: Each player begins on Fiscal Year with $18 million. Players may roll to determine who goes first. Play continues in a clockwise fashion.

Loans: Loans may be withdrawn in increments of $10 million up to a maximum of $40 million. You may not take out a loan until you have passed Fiscal Year (gone around the board once). After that you may take out a loan only when you pass Fiscal Year or when you face a payment you cannot make. Each subsequent time you pass Fiscal Year, you pay the bank 10% of your current loan amount. Alternatively, you can pay back your loan in full and pay no 10% fee. In fact, you may only pay back loans when you pass Fiscal Year. This rule prevents players from paying back a loan just before passing Fiscal Year and then taking out a new one when passing Fiscal Year, thus avoiding the 10% fee (you cannot both pay back a loan and take out a loan on the same Fiscal Year).

Players may also take out a loan when they face a payment they can't make (this does not include optional payments). In this case, however, the player pays an upfront surcharge of 10%. After that, the player continues paying 10% at each Fiscal Year. Loans must be paid back in increments of $10 million. The banker is responsible for keeping track of loan amounts.

Bankrupcy: There is no such thing as mortgaging properties in this game. After reaching your loan limit, you have two choices when facing payments you can't make. First, you can try to cut a deal with your debtor or another player. Second, you may begin selling your properties back to the bank for the original price. Note that you are not compensated for tokens. If you choose to declare bankrupcy, you must return all your money, companies and HCFs to the bank, thus forfeiting the game. You cannot declare bankrupcy by giving all your stuff to another HMO!

Directives: There are two types of cards you will draw when landing on their respective spaces. Directives cards instruct you to do something, such as moving somewhere or paying/collecting a fee. Most Directives cards have positive consequences for the player who draws them. Directives cards cannot be traded!

Acquisitions: As the name implies, the Acquisitions cards force one or more HCFs to change hands. HMOnopolies are constantly being broken up in the game because of Acquisitions. These cards are meant to disrupt normal play, destabilize the game, and stir up controversy. In other words, they make the game more fun! They are a key factor in tipping the balance of the game, and may even determine who wins. As the game proceeds, players will get more nervous each time an Acquisitions card is drawn.

Important Clarifications Concerning Acquisitions:

• Acquisitions cards must be activated immediately, before play continues.
• All acquisition decisions are made by the player stated on the card, including which HCFs are traded, unless specifically mentioned otherwise on the card.
• Cards labeled "Optional Acquisition" are the only cards for which the acquisition does not have to take place. This decision is made by the player stated on the card.
• Acquisitions cards cannot be traded! Furthermore, the player must not enter into negotiations with other players when making acquisition decisions. For example: a player who draws a card which allows him/her to acquire an HCF from another player may not negotiate with a third player before making the acquisition (the third player may have an HCF the card-drawing player wants, and thus the card-drawing player tries to cut a deal before the acquisition to obtain an HCF to trade with the third player - this is not allowed!). Note that this rule applies unless a specific exception is stated on the card.

Hostile Takeovers: Rivaling the fear that Acquisitions cards instill in your mind is a strategy known as the Hostile Takeover. This is a technique in which you attempt to takeover another player's HCFs or money. You may do this only when landing on a space already occupied by another player or when you land on the space Hostile Takeover. This is how it works:

1- you land on a space already occupied by another player

2- you choose to do a Hostile Takeover and roll the dice

3- you pay for each roll (to the bank) accordingly:

• $1 million for the first roll
• $2 million for the second roll
• $4 million for the third roll
• $8 million for the fourth roll
• etc...

4- if you roll doubles (other than double sixes), you may take $1 million times the number rolled from the other player or one of his/her HCFs (of your choice)

5- if you roll double sixes, you may take all of the other player's money or one of his/her HMOnopolies (of your choice); if he/she has no HMOnopolies, you may take only one HCF.

If you land on the space Hostile Takeover, you follow the same steps described above, with two exceptions. First, you may choose any player (but only one) to do the Hostile Takeover on. Second, your first two rolls are free, then you start paying. You may continue rolling for as long as you choose, even after you've already rolled doubles once.

Winning the Game: The game is over when one HMO (player) owns all of the hospitals or all of the clinics or all of the practices. Normally this only happens as a result of an Acquisitions card or a Hostile Takeover, since no player will ever trade an HCF that he/she knows will end the game.

Complete Game Board

Game Cards

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