Alternate Ways to Play

You can bet on it.

 If you are playing with four or more (risk-tolerant) people, give each of them an investment chip at the start of the game. Inventors can "bet” this chip for an opportunity to pitch their product in a round where they were not selected to pitch. If that inventor ends up winning the round, they keep their chip and earn one more. If they don’t win the round, they lose their chip to the winner. Inventors can bet as often as they have chips to bet.

Sharing is caring.

Some people get very excited about their ideas and really want to share them – even if they are not selected to pitch their products. If this sounds like the people you are with right now, instead of the investor selecting two people to pitch their product ideas, he/she can invite all of the inventors to make a pitch.  

Team work makes the dream work.

If you have a big crowd, form teams of two. One member of the team draws the prototype and the other pitches the product – without communicating with each other! The team members who are playing the role of the investors must come to a consensus about which team earns the investment.