Overview

Burn Rate is a card game themed around the dot-com era, where players are CEOs of startup companies trying to survive longer than their competitors. Each player manages employees, plays action cards, and tries to burn through cash as slowly as possible while forcing opponents to hemorrhage money. The last company standing wins.

Components

• Employee cards (various departments with skill ratings: Finance, Marketing, Engineering, etc.)
• Action cards (6-card hand)
• Cash tokens/chips (starting money depends on player count: $80 per player in a 4-player game)
• Contractor cards
• Bad Idea cards

Setup

1. Each player drafts a starting team of 4 employees from the employee card pool.
2. Distribute starting cash equally (e.g., $80 each in a 4-player game).
3. Shuffle the action card deck and deal 6 action cards to each player.
4. Determine a starting player.

Turn Structure

On each turn, a player:

1. Draws action cards to refill their hand to 6.
2. Plays up to 4 action cards (if they have employees with the required skills).
3. Pays payroll for all current employees.
4. Resolves any ongoing Bad Ideas or other obligations.

Actions

Play Action Cards:

• Each action card has a skill prerequisite (a department and skill number). To play the card, you must have an employee in that department with a skill level equal to or higher than the prerequisite.
• Up to 4 action cards can be played per turn.

Funding Cards:

• Play to gain additional cash for your company, helping you survive longer.

Force Hire:

• Play to force another company to hire additional employees, increasing their payroll costs.

Bad Ideas:

• Pin “Bad Idea” cards on opponents. The targeted player must assign engineers to work on these money-draining projects or hire expensive contractors to deal with them.

Layoffs:

• Reduce your workforce to lower payroll costs, but at the expense of losing the ability to play certain action cards.

Payroll:

• At the end of each turn, pay salary for every employee in your company. More employees means more capability but higher burn rate.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

A player wins when all other players have run out of cash. The last company with money remaining is the winner.

There is no scoring system — it is purely an elimination game based on financial survival.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Contractors: When you don’t have the right employees to handle Bad Ideas, you can hire contractors at a premium cost. Contractors handle specific tasks but are expensive.
• Employee Skills: Each employee has a department (Finance, Marketing, Engineering, etc.) and a skill number. Higher skill numbers allow playing more powerful action cards.
• Burn Rate Balance: The core tension is between having enough employees to play strong action cards versus keeping payroll low to conserve cash.
• Dot-Com Theme: The game satirizes the dot-com era, with Bad Ideas representing the kind of wasteful projects that sank real startups.
• Drafting: The initial employee draft is crucial — picking the right mix of departments and skill levels sets up your strategy for the game.

Player Reference

Action	Requirement	Effect
Play action card	Employee with matching skill	Various (funding, attacks, etc.)
Funding	Finance employee	Gain cash
Force Hire	Varies	Opponent must hire more employees
Bad Idea	Varies	Opponent must spend resources
Layoff	None	Remove employee, reduce payroll

Win condition: Last company with cash remaining Hand size: 6 action cards Cards per turn: Up to 4 Starting employees: 4 (drafted)