Designer: Jun Sasaki

Artist: Hiroko Izumida, Jun Sasaki

Publisher: Oink Games

Starting up is always hard

There are a handful of Oink Games that have received rave reviews, and Startups by founder Jun Sasaki is one of them. Like other Oink creations, the game comes in the signature small rectangular box and includes a deck of cards and a set of tokens. The components may be minimal, but Oink Games often punches above its weight in terms of gameplay.

As the title suggests, Startups revolves around holding, owning, and trading company shares to gain control. Six companies are in play, each with a different number of available shares, ranging from as few as 5 (Giraffe Beer) to as many as 10 (Elephant Mars Travel). Altogether, the deck contains 45 shares across all companies. At the start, players are randomly dealt three shares, and play proceeds with players taking turns drawing a card either from the draw pile or from the marketplace (if any cards are available there).

The marketplace acts as a communal discard zone. Picking up cards from it is free, but drawing from the deck requires players to place a capital chip on each card in the marketplace, making the deck draw increasingly expensive. Capital chips are the game’s currency, and each player begins with 10. After drawing, a player must play one card from their hand, either to their personal tableau or discard it face-up to the marketplace. This simple draw-and-play sequence continues until the entire draw deck is depleted and the game ends.

The anti-monopoly token encourages competition and slows the leader

Without additional mechanisms, the game would boil down to luck of the draw. To make things interesting for the leaders, Startups introduces the anti-monopoly token. Each company has its own token, which passes between players who hold the majority of that company’s shares. Holding the token comes with two effects:

1. The player cannot pick up shares of that company from the marketplace.
2. The player does not need to place a capital chip on that company’s shares when drawing from the deck.

The first effect hinders the monopolist, making it significantly harder to accumulate shares in the company, while the second actually helps, making the token a double-edged sword.

The game ends abruptly when the deck runs out. Before scoring, players must add the remaining three cards from their hands to their tableau. This is an important rule because all shares, even those that are undesirable will be played to the tableau. Then, for each company, the majority shareholder is determined. All other shareholders must pay the majority shareholder, but payout is not linear. Each capital chip has two sides valued at 1 and 3. When payments are made, chips are flipped to their higher value, rewarding the winner more heavily. In case of a tie, no payout occurs. The player with the most capital chips at the end wins.

Impressions

Startups stands alongside Scout, Deep Sea Adventure, and Maskmen as one of Oink’s biggest hits, and I can see why. Compared to lighter titles, this one feels meatier, often forcing players into tough “damned if I do, damned if I don’t” decisions that many will find intriguing (though some may find frustrating).

Like many set-collection games with hidden hands, the early decisions are tricky. Whether to play or hold shares depends on the companies in circulation. For instance, with a small company like Giraffe Café (5 shares total), owning two is a huge advantage. But playing them too early signals dominance and discourages others from competing for the remaining shares. Conversely, a large company like EMT with 10 shares may offer greater potential payout, but competition for majority will be much fiercer. To complicate matters, five cards are randomly removed from the deck at the start, adding uncertainty to the distribution.

In practice, timing is everything. Gaining majority too soon can backfire, as the anti-monopoly token restricts market access and encourages rivals to challenge your lead. Often, it’s better to hold back shares and wait for the right moment to play them.

Once you secure (or appear to secure) a lead, it becomes important to entice other players to compete in your company. Without any rivals, there is no payout. Control often shifts back and forth, and managing when to reveal or conceal shares—while baiting opponents into competing—is the heart of the game. This delicate push and pull is what makes Startups so engaging.

Still, like many games with hidden information, the early stages can feel opaque. Often you must take a leap of faith, committing to a company without knowing if more shares will surface. Once committed, it’s best to go all in, since spreading across multiple companies without securing a majority usually leads to failure. Delaying too long is also risky in such a short game, as every discard is a lost chance to expand market share. Because of the 3:1 payout ratio, aggressive play tends to be more rewarding than defensive stalling.

I enjoyed playing Startups with adults, but I’m less convinced it works well with younger players. The theme isn’t likely to grab their attention, and while the rules are simple, the strategy is not easy to grasp. The subtle metagame may not sustain their shorter attention spans. Time will tell.

Final Thoughts

Average: Startups is a clever and well-regarded game, but I find its strategies somewhat opaque, particularly in the early stages. Hidden hands and luck of the draw heavily influence decision-making, leaving less room for deliberate planning than I’d prefer. That said, the psychological element of bluffing and timing will appeal to some players. Overall, it’s worth trying before buying.