Round & Revel / Shared-value portfolio timing
The Quiet Dividend
Raise the value everyone can see. Check who owns the benefit.
Take imaginary shares or raise a shared value. Three public dividend moments turn small ownership choices into a quick tactical contest.
Original authored print-and-play game. Time is a planning estimate. This edition has not had a live group playtest.
How to play
The short version
Three fictional clubs pay points to their members. On your turn either take a share in a club or raise its value. Everyone with shares benefits when a dividend arrives.
Set up
Recommended ages 9+. This is an abstract points game: no money, purchase, real investment or financial knowledge is involved. Label three public club records A, B and C. Choose one setup below, then write its initial values and payout schedule where everyone can see them. Club values never exceed 4. Give each player a record for shares in A, B and C, all initially zero. Share supplies are unlimited tallies, but each player may hold at most two shares per club and four shares total. Randomly choose a first player; play clockwise for six laps, so everybody gets six turns. Mark completed laps visibly.
Take exactly one action
- Join: add one share in a chosen club, within both holding limits. This costs no points.
- Promote: increase one club's value by 1, up to 4. You need not own a share in it.
- Switch: erase one of your shares and add one share in a different club, staying within the limits. A switch does not change club values.
You must take a legal action if one exists; otherwise pass. Shares and values are public. You cannot give, trade, promise binding transfers, or remove another player's shares. Nonbinding table talk is welcome. Values cannot fall except for a setup's explicit reset. Points already earned are never spent.
Dividends
Only after every player has completed their turn in a scheduled payout lap, every club pays simultaneously. Each player scores their number of shares in each club multiplied by that club's current value, added across the three clubs. Record that payout separately. Shares remain in place. If the setup calls for a value reset, apply it only after everyone has received that payout. Never pay immediately when a player joins or promotes.
Finish and ties
After the sixth lap and its payout, add each player's three dividend scores. Shares themselves have no final resale value. Highest total wins; tied players share the win. For a rematch, reverse the seating order and choose a different starting player. The scheduled lap ends are public; no hidden event changes the finish.
Worked example
At a payout, A is worth 2, B is worth 3 and C is worth 1. Pat owns two A shares and one B share: Pat earns 2×2 + 1×3 = 7. Mo owns two B shares and earns 6. If Pat had used the last turn to promote B from 2 to 3, Pat's payout rose by 1 and Mo's by 2. A promotion can help a rival more than yourself.
Three replay setups
- Steady: initial values A=1, B=1, C=1. Pay after laps 2, 4 and 6. No resets.
- Early Opening: initial values A=2, B=1, C=0. Pay after laps 1, 3 and 6. No resets.
- Seasonal: initial values A=1, B=2, C=3. Pay after laps 2, 4 and 6. Immediately after the lap-2 payout reset A to 3, B to 1, C to 2. Immediately after the lap-4 payout reset A to 2, B to 3, C to 1. Shares remain unchanged.
Start with Steady. Seasonal makes switching materially different from simply adding holdings. You may rename clubs, but keep the selected numeric setup fixed for the full game. These are deliberately small economies; tactical balance remains to be tested.
Phone, print and access
Keep the setup and rules visible on a shared phone and use scrap paper for values and shares, or print the public record. Large labelled tallies work without colours. A player may announce an action and ask another person to record it.
Original Round & Revel design. Not human-playtested; balance and the 10–20 minute estimate are provisional.
Printable materials
Print this page or copy the materials onto paper. Use your browser’s Print command to save a PDF.
What you need
Paper and pencils only. No counters, cards, money or app are required.
Public board
Selected setup: ____
A value: ____ / B value: ____ / C value: ____
Laps completed: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Circle the selected setup's three payout laps before starting.
One public record per player
Name: ____
A shares: 0 / B shares: 0 / C shares: 0
Maximum two shares in one club; maximum four shares altogether.
First payout: ____ / Second payout: ____ / Third payout: ____ / Total: ____
The three complete value setups and any resets appear in the rules. Copy the chosen one beside the board so a phone does not have to be passed around.