The game of credit

Dane Cook - a comedian who, at one point, was funny and now just stars in bad movies - used to do a bit about "Monopoly." He said playing the board game was all good fun until nine hours later it's, like, three o'clock in the morning and you're yelling obscenities at your relatives over a 2"x3" square of cardboard "property."

Sounds like a classic family moment, right? And if you're interested in reliving this sort of scenario, but with a modern, recessional twist, The Economist magazine has developed a game for you called "Credit Crunch."

According to Kevin Kallaugher, the game's creator, "Our board game pits players against each other and encourages them to pick on the weakest, kick opponents when they are down and generally manifest all the characteristics that bring success in the financial world."

And these are just the lessons we want to highlight from the string of bad decisions that got us into this financial debacle, right?

Here are some highlights of the game:

1. Pennies replace dice - Instead of throwing dice, in "Credit Crunch" you cast real pennies. Heads means you move forward and tails means you go back. I assume this is because pretending that fake money is real kinda parallels the thinking that got Americans into this mess.

2. Make your own money - You can print your own money - but not too much, because that could be bad for your "economy" - and it comes in denominations of millions.

There are also "Financial Risk" cards that bring you tidings of both good and bad economic karma like, "Get out of Chapter 11," or "Genealogists discover you are related to Freddie Mac, Move another player ahead two spaces."

3. Escape into Chapter 11 - If you need money, you can borrow from the bank or another player - everyone sets their own interest rates. If you're in so much debt, and can’t persuade anybody else to lend to you, you can declare bankruptcy. In the game, you can go bankrupt three times before you lose. Unfortunately, there is no "Government Bailout" card.

4. Takeover! - The idea is to be the last solvent player remaining, so eliminate your competition by any means necessary. Kicking players when their down is rewarded, especially when you can put them in a hole of debt so deep, they have no choice but to give you all their remaining assets.

So, this holiday season, when you're fretting about how to fix that Ike-riddled roof, or worried about the money you lost in your 401K, or concerned that there's not enough in the bank to pay your son's/daughter's tuition bill, remember that the good people at The Economist think you should look for the humor in it all. I assume Dane Cook would be proud.