Honor System

CHARGE IT!

1972 Whitman Publishing

OBJECT•

To be the first player to charge $50,000 worth of merchandise in several rounds of play. (Players try to be the first to charge $10,000 each round in order to win a $2,000 bonus.)

CARDS

CREDIT CARDS • There are four types of credit cards, 7 of each. Each type has been assigned a different credit line (or

A player may accumulate charges UP TO the amount of merchandise indicated by the credit limit for each credit card. For example, a player may place no more than $2,000 worth of merchandise under a PHONEY EXPRESS card. A player may place on the table only one card per turn and may have only one of each type of credit card before him at a time.

Lost Card • There are four types, corresponding to the credit cards, 3 of each:

These may be played by any player during his turn onto any opponents credit card to cancel that credit card and all merchandise accumulated under it. If this is done, the player whose credit becomes lost must discard that credit card and all its merchandise unless he can immediately lay down another credit card of the same type or an INSURANCE card. Once a credit card and all the merchandise under it is placed back into the discard pile, the entire discard pile is frozen (players cannot draw from it) until another card is discarded on top of it. REMEMBER, a player must always have 6 cards in his hand, so if he uses a credit card or insurance card to defend himself when it is not his turn, he must draw another card immediately.

INSURANCE CARDS • There are 4 INSURANCE cards. These cards may be applied to any type of credit card to protect that credit card from ever being lost. When a player, either during his turn or as defense, puts an INSURANCE card on top of one of his credit cards, NO ONE can cancel that credit.

MERCHANDISE CARDS • There are: 12 — $2,000 cards, 14 — $1 000 cards, 10 — $750 cards, 10 — $500 cards, 10 — $250 cards. When a player plays a MERCHANDISE card during his turn it must be placed FACEDOWN underneath a credit card which he has previously played. It is important for each player to remember what the accumulative values are under each of his credit cards, because once he has played the merchandise card, he cannot look at it again at any time during that round. REMEMBER, a player cannot accumulate merchandise cards totaling more than the given credit line on a card.

EXTENDED CREDIT CARDS • There are 8 EXTENDED CREDIT cards. During a turn, they are played in place of merchandise cards—facedown under a previously played credit card. The EX­TENDED CREDIT card increases the maximum credit line of any of the 4 credit cards by $2, 500. For example, if an extended credit card is played underneath a SUPER CHARGE card, the credit line becomes $3, 500 instead of $1,000. ROUND continues until one player has accumulated $10,000 or more worth of merchandise. He then declares the round ended and must turn all of his cards faceup to prove it.

BEFORE PLAY • Dealer shuffles entire deck and deals the cards facedown, one at a time, to each player. He deals 6 cards to each if there are 2, 3 or 4 players, but only 5 cards to each of 5 or 6 players. He then places the remaining cards facedown in the tray, forming the draw pile, and turns the top card over to form the discard pile.

PLAY • Player to left of dealer begins. He draws a card from either the draw pile or the discard pile. He can then play only ONE card from his hand during that turn. If he has a credit card, he may play it on the table in front of him FACEUP, so that in subsequent turns he can start to accumulate merchandise under that credit card. If a player decides that he does not want to immediately play to the table any of the cards in his hand, he must discard one card instead. His turn ends and play passes to the left. When the draw pile runs out, shuffle the discard pile and use it as the draw pile.

SCORING • Each player at the end of a round counts his merchandise cards under each credit card and records his total dollars. The first player who CORRECTLY declares that he has reached $10,000 or more receives his total dollar value PLUS a $2,000 bonus. If he turns his cards over and finds out that he has not reached $1 0,000,he receives NO MONEY POINTS for that round and no player receives a bonus. If he finds that he has gone beyond the credit line in any of his accounts, he receives NO MONEY POINTS for that round and no player receives a bonus, although the other players still receive their MONEY POINTS.

Players start a new round and continue rounds until one player reaches $50,000. He is the WINNER.

HINTS

1. It is better not to place large money value cards under a credit card unless you have at least one matching credit card or an insurance card in your hand, because an opponent may play a Lost credit card on your credit card.

2. Use your Lost cards wisely. Try not to play them on your opponents credit card until he seems to have accumulated a lot of merchandise under it.

3. Try to save an Extended Credit card in case you forget a total under a credit card. You may use more than one Extended Credit card under the same credit card.

4. REMEMBER: A player may have no more than 4 credit card piles (one for each type of credit card) on the table at one.