Pyramid Review
Jacob Marley, Esq.
Published by Cheapass Games
Designed by James Ernest
Original art by Michael O'Connor
60 b&w cards, boards, rules; $7.50
Jacob Marley is not yet as dead as a door-nail. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the review you are about to read. Jacob Marley, Esq. has come to haunt your house pleasantly from the Union workhouses of Cheapass Games.
Jacob Marley, famed Dickensian entrepreneur and a good man of business, has not yet passed away -- indeed, he hasn't even got a partner for his money-lending operation. He's in the market for a protégé, someone he might even come to call friend at some point, provided he's as much a covetous old sinner as Marley himself. He'll give you and your fellow apprentices (three to six of you) a stake of cash, and the object of the game is to score 30 points first by gouging the citizens of London for money.
Loan cards are divided up into different neighborhoods. Each card lists the type (actuarial, legal, criminal -- there are six types, and their first letters spell "fiscal"); the principal (how much you pay to take on the loan); the interest (how much the bank pays -- this is the money you'll hopefully get as profit); and a brief bio of who wants the loan and why. If that category of loan is doing poorly when you take it on, extra interest is added (you're taking a bigger risk, so you stand to make more money). All the money is gathered and stacked on the card. If you don't find a loan that . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: December 31, 2004
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