- BGG rank
- BGG #10,548
- BGG rating
- 6.6
Exchange
- 3–6 players
- 30–45 min
- Complexity 1.9/5
- 2019
- BGG rank
- BGG #13,530
- BGG rating
- 6.4
Manager
1979
Rules assistance for Manager
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 3–6 players
- 60 min
- 10+
- Complexity 2.5/5
For 3 players
Rules assistant for Manager
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Manager is a board game released in 1979 for 3–6 players, 60 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Burkhardt Münchhagen, Peter Pfeifer, and Waltraud Pfeifer and its main mechanics are Simultaneous Action Selection, Commodity Speculation, and Stock Holding.
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About the game
Manager is a deceptively simple game of economics for up to six players. Each player is the manager of one of the six companies, which are supposed to be manufacturers competing in the same market with identical products. (It is strongly hinted that the products are computers.) The player is responsible for setting the sale price of his product, buying machines to automate production, and buying or selling stock in any of the six companies. The object of each round--usually--is to charge as much as you can for your product without charging too much more than everyone else. Every turn starts with the players secretly setting the price for their product. The person who has charged the least gets to sell. The one who has charged next-to-least also gets to sell--as long as his price wasn't more than 1,000 DM above the person below him. In fact, as long as there isn't a 1,000 DM gap between one player's price and the next, every player gets to sell. But any player who has charged over 1,000 DM more than his next-lowest competitor--and all players who charged more than him--gets locked out of the market. The prices on the stock market vary depending on who got to sell and who didn't. The companies that got shut out of the market lose ground. The companies that sold their product gain, with the one who got the highest price gaining the most. There is room for all kinds of maneuvering in the game. After the first few rounds, you make more money on the stock market than you do running your company, so you can actually drive your company into the ground--advancing someone else's company--and come out ahead.
Categories
Publishers
- Noris Spiele
- Hexagames (I)
Questions and answers
Manager supports 3–6 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Manager is 60 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Manager for ages 10 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Manager has a complexity rating of 2.5 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Manager belongs to these categories: Economic. Its main mechanics are Simultaneous Action Selection, Commodity Speculation, and Stock Holding. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Manager are: Burkhardt Münchhagen, Peter Pfeifer, and Waltraud Pfeifer. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Manager as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.