How to Play
How to Play The Road to Financial Freedom®
The Road to Financial Freedom® is a physical board game for 2 to 10 players, ages 12 and up, that takes about 45 to 60 minutes. Roll, move, and make a real money decision on every turn.
- Players
- 2 to 10
- Ages
- 12 and up
- Play time
- 45 to 60 minutes
- Format
- Physical board game
Watch: how to play The Road to Financial Freedom in a few minutes.
What is The Road to Financial Freedom®?
The Road to Financial Freedom® is a physical tabletop board game published by Poindexter Digital LLC that teaches the rules of money through real life financial decisions.
It is a board game, not a mobile app or a video game. Players move around a board, draw cards, and make decisions about saving, budgeting, credit, debt, investing, real estate, taxes, insurance, and risk. The consequences play out at the table, so the lesson lands without a lecture.
How many people can play?
Two to ten players can play a single game.
Smaller groups of two to four move quickly. Larger groups take longer, and classrooms and workshops often run several games side by side so everyone plays at once.
What age group is it for?
The game is designed for ages 12 and up.
Tweens, teens, parents, grandparents, students, and professionals all play the same game at the same table. Younger children can play alongside a parent. If you can read at a fifth grade level, you can play.
How long does a game take?
A full game takes about 45 to 60 minutes.
A group of two to four players usually finishes near 45 minutes. Bigger groups and first time players run longer. Facilitators planning a session should allow an hour plus a few minutes for setup and discussion.
What is the objective of the game?
The objective is to reach financial freedom by making money decisions that build wealth faster than debt, risk, and life events erode it.
Instead of bankrupting the other players, you are working your own way along the road: earning, deciding what to do with what you earn, and living with the results.
How does a player begin?
Players set up the board, take their starting money and player piece, and decide who rolls first.
No finance background is needed to start. Harriet, the optional digital guide, is available from the first turn if anyone wants a term explained, and the complete game can be played without her.
What happens during a turn?
On a turn a player rolls the dice, moves around the board, and makes the money decision on the space or card they land on.
Some decisions are opportunities, such as investing or buying property. Some are obligations, such as a bill, a tax, or a debt payment. Some are surprises. The player chooses, the table sees the outcome, and play passes to the next person.
What kinds of financial decisions do players encounter?
Players face decisions about saving, budgeting, credit, debt, investing, real estate, taxes, insurance, careers, and unexpected expenses.
Each decision is framed as a real life situation rather than a definition, so a player is choosing what to do rather than reciting what a term means.
What concepts can players learn?
Players pick up how credit scores work, how debt compounds, how index fund investing and real estate build wealth, how taxes and insurance affect a budget, and how career choices change income.
Most players walk away with vocabulary and frameworks they did not have an hour earlier. Scanning a card brings up Harriet, who explains the concept behind it in plain language with no app to install and no account required.
How do you win or complete the game?
The game is complete when a player reaches financial freedom along the road; the rest of the table finishes the round and compares where their decisions left them.
Many families keep playing past the finish to talk through what they would do differently, which is often where the best conversation happens.
Can teachers or facilitators use it with groups?
Yes. Teachers, professors, after school programs, youth organizations, credit unions, nonprofits, and community programs run the game with groups.
Classrooms typically split into tables of four to six and run several games at once inside a single class period or workshop block. The Classroom 5-Pack and the School or Organization 10-Pack are built for exactly that.