Startups — Rules, Majority Scoring & Strategy

Startups setup and components

Startups is a 2017 investment-themed card game by Jun Sasaki, published by Oink Games. The publisher lists 3–7 players, a playing time of about 20 minutes and ages 10+. The box includes 45 company cards across six companies, 70 Capital chips, six Anti-Monopoly chips, and point chips for optional multi-round scoring.

1. Shuffle all company cards and remove five at random, without revealing them.
2. Deal three face-down cards to each player as a private hand.
3. Give each player ten Capital chips, with their 1-value sides facing up.
4. Place the remaining company cards face down as the draw deck, with room beside it for a shared face-up market.
5. Put the six Anti-Monopoly chips nearby, ready to be claimed as public portfolios grow.

The five unseen removed cards ensure that even a player who tracks every visible investment does not know exactly which shares remain in circulation.

The two steps of every turn

On your turn, you must take one card, then put one card down. First choose a company card from the face-down deck or a face-up card from the market. Then place one card from your hand either in your public portfolio in front of you or in the market.

Taking a card from the market also gives you any Capital chips resting on it. However, you cannot immediately return a card of that same company to the market on the same turn. Placing it in your portfolio is allowed.

These two actions keep your hand at three cards through most of the game. Shares held secretly can become important at the end when they are added to your public portfolio.

How market payments work

If you choose to draw from the face-down deck, put one of your 1-value Capital chips onto each company card currently in the market, except cards belonging to companies for which you hold the Anti-Monopoly chip.

If the market has four chargeable cards and you only have three Capital chips available, you cannot take from the deck. You may instead take an eligible market card together with all the Capital chips resting on it.

Example: there are three market cards: two from Company A and one from Company B. You control Company A’s Anti-Monopoly chip. Drawing blindly costs one chip on Company B’s market card, not on either Company A card.

This creates a tension between secretly acquiring an unknown card and using a publicly available share to restore your spending power.

Anti-Monopoly chips explained

For each company, the player with the most face-up shares in their portfolio holds its Anti-Monopoly chip. If players become tied, the player who already held that chip retains it until someone has strictly more shares.

While holding a company’s chip, you cannot pick up shares of that company from the market. However, when you draw from the face-down deck, you are exempt from placing Capital chips on those market shares.

Example: you have three visible shares of one company and your opponent has two. You hold its chip, so you avoid market charges on that company’s discarded shares, but you cannot take those shares directly into your hand. A future public investment by the opponent might change who controls the chip.

An Anti-Monopoly chip is a market-access modifier, not an automatic guarantee of endgame majority: hidden cards are revealed later and may overturn what looks like a lead.

When does a game of Startups end?

The standard game ends immediately after the player who draws the last card from the face-down deck completes that turn. Other players do not each receive one extra turn.

Everybody then adds their remaining hidden hand cards to their public portfolio. For each of the six companies, count each player’s total holdings and determine whether one player has a strictly greater number of company shares than anyone else.

Because the missing five cards stayed unknown, final counts can be surprising. A player who seemed to have a weak public position may win a company thanks to several hidden shares.

Majority scoring and 3-value payments

For a company with one clear largest shareholder, every other player holding cards of that company owes the leader three points for each share they hold. Those payments are represented by Capital chips turned to their 3-value sides. The leader does not pay themselves.

Worked example: after hidden cards are revealed, Alex holds four Company A shares, Bea holds two and Chris holds one. Alex is the unique leader. Bea owes 2 × 3 = 6 points and Chris owes 1 × 3 = 3 points, so Alex receives nine points’ worth of payments for that company.

Majority tie: if two or more players tie for the largest number of shares in a company, nobody receives company payouts for it. If a player cannot fully pay, the official game uses plus/minus point markers to track the unpaid amount; recently acquired 3-point chips cannot be recycled immediately to fund the payment.

Add the values of your remaining and collected chips, accounting for any point markers. Highest total wins. If tied, the player with more 3-value chips wins; if still tied, the player who played last wins under the published rules.

Eight Startups strategy ideas

• Watch visible share counts. Even one company with a unique majority can provide significant returns.
• Respect the hidden three-card hands. A public lead of one share may be much less secure than it looks.
• Use the market economically. Market cards with accumulated chips may be worth acquiring even when that company’s majority is uncertain.
• Plan around Anti-Monopoly restrictions. A lead reduces fees but prevents buying that company’s cards from the market.
• Keep reserve Capital. Too few 1-value chips can rule out drawing from the deck.
• Notice the deck size. The last blind draw ends the game after that turn, so investments near the end may be decisive.
• Don’t overlook majority ties. A tie eliminates payout for that company rather than splitting the benefit.
• Distinguish cash from shares. The winner is richest in points, not necessarily the player who wins the most companies.

These are independent editorial deductions from the published mechanics, not claims of firsthand playtesting.

Optional four-round format

The published rules also describe an optional game played across four rounds. After each round, players receive point chips for their placement: first place gets +2, second gets +1, and last place gets −1.

Restore the five removed company cards before shuffling for the next round, and set up the game afresh. The previous round’s last-place player begins. After four rounds, the player with the highest combined point-chip total wins. The tie order is most +2 chips, then most +1 chips, then the winner of the final round.

This format is optional. The standard game finishes after one deck depletion and a single majority settlement.

Startups vs Rights

Oink Games describes Startups as an updated version of Rights, its 2015 predecessor. The publisher introduced the market and Anti-Monopoly chips to add more interaction and new considerations about how to acquire and dispose of shares.

If you previously played Rights, focus on the market’s Capital-chip cost and the ownership restrictions associated with Anti-Monopoly chips. These change the value of a public lead and what options are available on your next turn.

Startups FAQ

How many players can play Startups?

The publisher lists three to seven.

How many cards are dealt initially?

Three to each player, with five company cards removed unseen.

Can you take a face-up card instead of drawing blindly?

Yes. Take a card from the market, along with Capital chips on it, if eligible.

Do you pay when drawing blindly?

Yes: one Capital chip on each market card, except companies for which you hold an Anti-Monopoly chip.

Can you take market shares for a company whose chip you hold?

No.

How do you get an Anti-Monopoly chip?

Have the most publicly invested cards of that company; an existing holder retains it during a tie.

When do hidden cards count for majority?

At the end of the game, when they are added to your portfolio.

What happens in a majority tie?

Nobody receives payment for that company.

How much does each minority share pay?

Three points to the unique majority shareholder.

When does the game end?

After the player taking the last card from the draw deck finishes their turn.

Is the four-round mode required?

No, it is an optional longer competition.

Sources and editorial scope

• Oink Games official Startups product information and credits
• Startups English rules: setup, market, Anti-Monopoly and payouts

Reviewed October 11, 2026. Original explanations and strategy, without claims of personal playtesting. Follow the printed rules from your own edition where components or player counts differ. Editorial policy and corrections.