Think you can make it big? Have what it takes to reach the ten million dollar mark? You’ll have a chance to find out in “PURE PROFIT”, a card game that tasks players with carefully managing their hand and growing their bank in the process. It supports 2-6 players & ages 12+ with an average play time of about 15-20 minutes. Before we get started I’m required by FTC regulations to disclose that I was paid to cover this game. As always, any and all opinions are my own.
My copy came with 108 playing cards ranging from $1 million to $10 million along with some “Bankrupt” cards. The object of the game is to be the first player to reach $10 million in their bank. To set up the game, someone will shuffle the deck and deal five cards to each player. A single card is flipped over from the deck to start the discard pile. The player to the left of the dealer goes first. Should the deck ever run out, players will shuffle the discard pile to form a new deck, revealing one again to start a new discard pile.
A player’s turn is as follows:
1. Draw up to a hand limit of six cards. Cards can be taken from the top of the discard pile or from the face-down deck.
2. Should a player have one or more bankrupt cards in their hand at this point, they must resolve them. Bankrupt cards typically task players with discarding both itself and another card of value. If a player is forced to resolve any and all bankrupt cards from their hand then their turn immediately ends.
3. If a player did not have bankrupt cards to resolve then they are free to play value cards to their bank. Players start with the $1 million card first to start their bank, then place cards in ascending order until they reach $10 million (which wins them the game). A player may play more than one of the same card (three $1 million cards) to clear their hand faster but they cannot ascend multiple tiers at this time. Once they play the next highest card to their bank (on a future turn), they must discard the previous valued cards to the discard pile.
4. If a player could not add a card to their bank during step 3 then they discard a card to the discard pile.
Play proceeds clockwise around the table.
To end the game in victory, a player must play their entire hand in some way to hit the $10 million mark. This is the only time in the game where you can ascend multiple tiers on a single turn and discard. For example, a player may play a $7, $8, $8, $9, and $10 (also discarding the extra card) all at once to end the game. This is assuming they had a $6 in their bank already.
Note: The above doesn’t cover all of the rules found in the rules sheet, but should give you an idea as to how the game is played.
Based on the hundreds…thousands(?) of games I’ve played up to this point, I’d have to classify “PURE PROFIT” as a more casual card collection game with a dash of tableau building and hand management. You won’t be buildings sets in front of you like in “Rummy”, “Monopoly Deal”, or similarly-themed games and you won’t be having to buy cards from a public pool like you would in say “Dominion” or “Star Realms”. This is both a blessing and a curse. While it makes the game more simplistic and easier to get into, long standing vets like myself will feel like something is missing.
Take “Mille Bornes” for example. It’s a card game that tasks players with covering a certain distance by laying down travel cards. The only thing stopping players are hazard cards (flat tire, engine trouble, etc.). In the case of “PURE PROFIT”, we’ve got bankrupt cards. These will typically tell a player to discard the highest card or the lowest card in their hand, setting players back a bit as they try to set up for their next highest bank card. There’s no defense to these which I think is a problem. RNG (Random Number Generation) can really mess a player up if they’re consistently drawing them while everyone is lucky and avoids them. This gets back to what I was saying earlier about casual cards games…they are simplistic, but winning usually reliant on luck. As an avid “Chess” player, luck and I do not typically speak the same language.
“PURE PROFIT” is currently retailing for $20.99 as of 10/27/21 on The Game Crafter. The price point is fair all things considered. A typical card game nowadays will price for about $15-25. The card quality is very good, though the rules sheet stretched the card box a bit. I’d recommend taking a rubber band and fastening the rules sheet on the outside of the box after clean-up. The cards were colorful enough to stand out and luckily, are simply aesthetic. Color-blind individuals need not worry about missing out on important gameplay elements. If you’re able to read numbers 1-10 then you’re golden.
Along those lines, the game recommends an age minimum of 12. I think this is fairly conservative. There are no take-that mechanics so I’d be happy to let gifted children of younger ages have a go at this. I mean, you could mess with players a bit by not discarding a card another player could use on their next turn, but that’s the extent of player interaction. Most of your time will be spent trying to build your hand of cards that you’ll then hopefully be able to add to your bank on future turns.
That’s not to say that there isn’t ANY strategy in “PURE PROFIT”. During my playtests I was always conflicted when given a choice to lay down a bunch of the same numbered card or just one. For example, I had the choice to lay down two $3 million cards instead of just one but decided against it. While playing both freed up my hand a bit more to draw more cards on my next turn, it was my lowest number. I wanted some insurance should the bankrupt card that makes you discard your lowest come up. Rather than having to discard my $4 million card, I’d be able to trash a card I didn’t need (in this case, the extra $3 million card that I didn’t play). It was choices like these that gave this game an interesting spin.
It’s casual & light-hearted, but still requires a little bit of thought. If you typically play card games that are light in difficulty then you may want to check this one out. Those who play medium to heavy difficult card games may see this as a nice filler, but it won’t quench the thirst like others will.
“PURE PROFIT” accomplishes what it sets out to do…create a casual economic themed card game that almost anyone can play.
Final Verdict: 7/10 (Good)
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