Guest Author - Megan Romer
Patential is a high-level game dealing with the pharmaceutical industry. The object of the game is to collect patents on as many medications as possible and sell those medications. The first player to become a billionaire wins.
This game is not for everyone, but business and medical students and professionals might enjoy playing a Monopoly-like game that deals with their field of expertise.
The diseases that players are trying to patent medications for are Diabetes, Cancer, Cardiac Disease, Alzheimer's, Infectious Diseases and Arthritis.
At the beginning of each turn, the player has the option to choose another drug to develop and get funding for. It costs a lot of money to develop a drug, but revenue cannot be earned if each player doesn't develop at least a few of them. Each drug must go through FDA approval and players must find investors (through rolls of the money die) to fund their projects.
This game was invented by Richard Warburg, who is both a Ph.D. and a lawyer, and the game reflects the high intelligence and business know-how that someone of that level must have. He invented the game after finding he had a difficult time explaining to his children what exactly he did for a living.
PATENTIAL AT-A-GLANCE:
GAME BOX INCLUDES: Game Board, 18 double-sided invention cards, 18 double-sided invention pieces, 12 colored stands to hold invention pieces, money in 7 denominations, game instructions, a glossary of terms about the biotechnical and pharmaceutical industries.
YOU'LL NEED: Nothing
SUGGESTED RETAIL PRICE: $34.95
TRY IF YOU LIKE: High-level games dealing with very specific subjects.
PERFECT FOR: That "smart guy" friend of yours who always complains that board games are too dumb; a medical, biotechnical, law or business student.
RATING: Four FDA Approvals out of Five
