Pay Day (board game)

Pay Day

Box cover and game layout, Winning Moves 30th Anniversary edition
Designer(s)	Paul J. Gruen
Publisher(s)	Parker Brothers Winning Moves
Players	2 to 4
Age range	8 and up
Setup time	5 minutes
Playing time	45-60 minutes
Random chance	Low
Skill(s) required	Roll-and-Move Money Management

Pay Day is a board game originally made by Parker Brothers (now a subsidiary of Hasbro) in 1975. It was invented by Paul J. Gruen of West Newbury, Massachusetts, United States, one of the era's top board game designers. It was Gruen's most successful game, outselling Monopoly in its first production year. Pay Day is currently marketed by Winning Moves.

The object is to be the player who has the most cash and savings at the end of the game. The length of the game is decided by the players. With four players, a 3 month game takes about an hour and a 6 month game takes about 2 hours.

The game is played with game board, one die, four playing pieces, play money (denominations of £100, £500, £1000, £5000, £10000), 16 "Deal" cards, 72 "Mail" cards (some editions have 64), and a "Savings and Loan Calculator" (older versions have a "Savings and Loan" pad plus a table to calculate savings interest at 10% or loan interest at 20%), and four purple pegs for "savings and loans" pad (if old version).

Each player starts with $325 (or one $100 bill, two $50's, three $20's, four $10's, and five $5's). One player is selected to go first. Players roll the die and advances their playing piece from 1 to 6 spaces as indicated on the die. The player follows the instructions shown on the calendar space on the game board. There are 31 days in a Pay Day month.

If a player lands on either a "Deal" or "Mail" space, they will then select the appropriate card(s) from the top of the specified deck.

The player has the option of purchasing the "Deal" for the cost indicated immediately or returning the card to the bottom of the deck. (One may take out a loan to pay for the deal.) The "Deal" is held until that player lands on a "Buyer" space at any time during the duration of the game. A "Deal" card has no value if it remains unsold at the end of the game. Whenever a "Deal" is purchased, all players have an opportunity to win the "Commission" indicated on the "Deal" card. Each player in turn rolls the die, with the highest roller collecting the "Commission" from the bank.

Mail cards have varying content, just like real mail. Some mail cards are bills, some are fortuitous collections, and some are just entertaining (postcards and advertisements.)