There ain't no such thing as a free lunch

Like I mentioned in my last post, I recently picked up a book titled Rich Dad Poor Dad by supposed real estate guru, Robert Kiyosaki. In the book, he explains how most people are educated in terms of professional knowledge but have very little financial IQ. He also explains that he wishes to educate people on how to develop their inner "financial genius" as a means to easy living. Robert, through his company, Cashflow Technologies, Inc., has created several products that he believes will help the masses attain a level of financial freedom. Among these are numerous books, seminars, live DVDs and a coaching program to boot. Most intriguing to me however, are his line of board games, called Cashflow. He has two version; Cashflow 101 (for beginners looking to learn more about investing in stocks and real estate), and Cashflow 202 (a more advanced version that deals with the technical aspects of investing). I recently obtained a copy of Cashflow 101, and to be honest, I wasn't too impressed. After playing through it a few times, I realized that I had expected a lot more, and so was disappointed a bit.

The first thing I noticed about his two games are that they cost quite a bit more than you might expect for a board game; Cashflow 101 (the board game) is $195 whereas the electronic copy is half that price. Cashflow 202 (played as an add-on or expansion of 101) is still pricey at $50. However, Robert Kiyosaki explains away the high price by saying they produce only a limited amount each year. Still, I found the high price unattractive and a possible point of contention for many prospective customers.

The version I recently obtained was the electronic version, and it wasn't quite what I expected. First off, it's huge! Its bigger than 1 gigabyte, which isn't actually TOO TOO MUCH, but considering its just a board game (presumably not a graphics-intensive one - and it isn't)... =(. Secondly, the "pieces" in the electronic version are represented by 3D walking and talking mice. Kind of cute at first, but it soon gets annoying, especially with all stupid sound effects. Also, when playing the game, the cards you pick up (from rolling the dice and landing on either "opportunity", "doodad", "market", "downsized" or "baby", are often very similar. Especially the "opportunity" cards. After playing the game 3 times, I am almost sure I have picked up every opportunity card possible; perhaps a half-dozen different stocks and maybe 5 to 10 properties? I keep finding myself getting the 3BR/2BA card; every single time! Also, the game finishes pretty fast. The site says that a game takes 1 hour to 3 hours to finish, but playing against 3 computer players, I beat the game in maybe 25 minutes! Another point I'd like to make is that although the game does introduce the novice investor to certain concepts - such as buying stocks low, and selling high, as well as the emphasized purchasing of real estate and consequently renting out the property to pay for the mortgage costs - it really isn't too helpful. Sure, it shows us how to purchase and rent out properties but it misses the most important step; finding those cheap foreclosure properties! It also doesn't go into the finer details of hiring a "property manager" to take care of your property either. Lastly, this game isn't very realistic at all. First off, it forces you to buy "doodads" - perks and rewards for yourself that, if you were serious about investing for your future, you'd forgo anyways. Secondly, all the rent generated from properties is enough to cover the mortgage payments, with a little left over. This is nice in theory, but it is extremely rare these days to find a property where, after paying the down payment, the rent money will exceed the mortgage payments. Thirdly, the game can be beaten quickly if you abuse the stocks. When you draw a stock opportunity card, it conveniently shows you the price range, so you know if you're buying high or low. You don't actually need to do any work and or research to find out whether the stock will go up or down; you just wait for it to go up!

With all these detriments to Cashflow, I must in all fairness say that it was an interesting game that has some merit. It introduces the player to the concept of an income statement and a balance sheet; key pillars of accounting and bookkeeping. It also forces the player to manually remove or add items to these two charts. After a couple times through, you get used to recognizing what goes in your income, expenses, assets and liabilities columns, something that is actually useful to know in the real world.

Personally I think I would have been fine without playing this game, but if you've got the dough (and maybe someone who wants to get started in basic investing and accounting) you might find it a good investment (haha) to purchase this game. Although the E-version is cheaper (half as much as the board game!), I'm sure it has been stripped down a lot. Add to that the fact that the board game is playable with friends, I would definitely go for the real deal.

kamster