The Stacking Benjamins Show:

Board Games That Make You Smarter With Money (Without Feeling Like School)

Episode SB1767 | November 28, 2025
Host: Joe Saul-Sehy (A), "OG" (B), Joe's Mom's Neighbor Doug (C)
Guest: Kylie Primus, owner, Games Unlimited (Pittsburgh)

Episode Overview

This special, fan-favorite Black Friday episode of The Stacking Benjamins Show transforms financial literacy into a game night, literally. Host Joe Saul-Sehy welcomes board game expert and Games Unlimited owner Kylie Primus to the basement card table for a lively, detailed discussion on how carefully selected board games can make you—often inadvertently—savvier with money and financial decision-making. Kylie also shares his top recommended games for play over the holidays, ensuring maximum fun and minimal confusion (or family fighting).

The show features:

• Kylie's top 5 "economic engine" board games (not boring money-lesson games, but games that teach financial concepts incidentally)
• His top 5 family and party games for folks new to modern board games (perfect for holiday gatherings)
• Insights into the intersection of passion, business, and community in both gaming and personal finance

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Kylie's Unusual Journey from Philosophy to Board Game Retail (07:37–14:10)

• Kylie describes leaving academia for something he was truly passionate about: teaching through board games.
  • Kylie: “Your vocation is where your great passion meets the world's great need.” (09:01)
• He explains the mentorship he received from Games Unlimited’s founder, paying for the store over five years with a family loan instead of a bank business loan (12:25).
• He highlights the role of teaching and performance in running a successful, community-oriented game store.

2. What Makes a Board Game "Financial" (14:10–18:17)

• Joe outlines the criteria: Only "real" games—nothing that’s essentially school with dice. “Games that teach you about money, in my opinion, so suck… But I learned so much from games myself just through playing.” (15:53)
• Kylie embraces a broader philosophical view of economics—choosing games where resource management, supply and demand, investments, auctions, or value-judgment are at the center, not games about rote accounting.

3. Kylie's Top 5 “Economic Engine” Board Games

#5: At the Gates of Loyang (19:17–24:24)

• Out-of-print but returning soon; about farming and selling vegetables in 5th century China.
• Core tension: Use money now to gain "prosperity" (victory points) at a cheaper rate, or invest in money-making “engine” for later, costlier success.
  • Kylie: “Games that make you make difficult decisions—that’s the lesson.” (22:09)
• Famous designer: Uwe Rosenberg (“Harvest Trilogy”).

#4: QE (Quantitative Easing) (24:30–30:14)

• A blind-auction game where you can bid “any” amount (print your own money)—but whoever prints/spends the most is disqualified (hyperinflation!).
  • Kylie: “At the end of the game, the person who paid the most is ineligible to win.” (27:42)
  • Joe: “I take this game everywhere there are money geeks.” (28:30)

#3: Ponzi Scheme (30:19–34:47)

• Every round you take loans you must continually service (“in perpetuity”)—think robbing Peter to pay Paul, always balancing on the edge of collapse.
  • Kylie: “You are literally robbing Peter to pay Paul with this game.” (31:49)
  • Secret information and hostile offers: You might make a lowball offer on a company share, forcing others to buy you out if they refuse.
  • Kylie: “It encourages you to stay on that knife edge of bankruptcy.” (33:35)

#2: Dominion (35:30–41:08)

• Modern classic deck-building card game (20 minutes, very accessible). Money is required to buy cards (the “engine”); the goal is victory points, which clog your deck when you buy them too soon.
  • Kylie: “There’s this tension between the tool—money—you need to build an engine, and buying the thing that matters, but the thing that matters clogs your engine.” (37:41)
  • Beginner-friendly and endlessly replayable.

#1: Food Chain Magnate (41:15–48:13)

• Deep, brutal 2–4 hour business simulation: Run a 1950s fast food chain—hire, fire, market, price, expand, all at once.
  • Every decision is punishing: “The first decision you make in the game could lose you the game.” (45:11)
  • Kylie (quoting designer): “If you can’t lose a game on the first turn, what’s the point of having a first turn?” (45:34)
  • Not cheap, but universally acclaimed among hardcore business game fans.

Notable Economic Game Quotes & Moments

• Joe (on Dominion): "It 100% is an economic game… you are investing in these cards, and you have to decide, when do I invest in more engine, and when do I invest in the end—finding that inflection point…” (38:26)
• Kylie (on QE): “The country that prints the most money—their entire economy collapses due to inflation.” (28:13)
• Kylie (Food Chain Magnate): “... It is unforgiving of mistakes. And this is a hallmark of splatter games.” (44:54)

4. Top 5 Family/Party Games For the Holidays (51:05–75:23)

#5: Monikers (52:06–56:58)

• The ultimate party game: Like charades, but so much better—everyone knows the cards are in the deck and play proceeds over three rounds: free speech, charades, and then one-word clues.
  • Kylie: “Every household should have this for gatherings, holidays or otherwise. It is a blast.” (52:06)
  • Hilarity, silly clues, and “everyone can play” factor.

#4: The Gang (“Cooperative Poker”) (57:17–61:18)

• Brand new, simple to teach: It’s Texas Hold’em as a team sport. You want your friends to read your hand ranking right, without secretly signaling or discussing directly.
  • Kylie: “It’s going to revolutionize people. Just have no idea you can do cooperative poker.” (60:11)
  • Joe: “Within three minutes, they know how to play. Oh, this is way simpler!” (60:49)

#3: Boop (Two Player; Cute Cats!) (61:27–64:13)

• Quick, ultra-charming: Move wooden cats (and kittens) on a quilt bed, trying to get three in a row—each placement “boops” neighboring cats off position.
  • Kylie: “It’s the cutest game in the world… you can place one of those cats down, and it’s not moving unless your opponent plays another cat right next to it." (62:20)

#2: Ito (Group Communication Game, 1–100) (64:14–67:15)

• Everyone gets a random number (1–100) and must describe, based on a category (comfort food, stressful things, etc.), where their number fits—then the group tries to order them from low to high in secret.
  • Kylie: “It creates so much conversation.” (65:54)
  • Quick, portable, great for all ages, heavy on laughs and debate.

#1: Hot Streak (Mascot Racing & Betting) (68:23–72:58)

• Showstopper of the year at Games Unlimited. Everyone bets on costumed-mascot races with high chaos, then manipulates the outcome with a little hidden information.
  • Kylie: “You’re not actually the mascot. The players are degenerate gamblers who have been kicked out of all legitimate gambling establishments.” (69:06)
  • Cards move mascots around, races are wildly unpredictable, and everyone gets caught up in cheering and groaning.
  • Bestselling game in store’s history—“It is so much fun. You will not have more fun at your holiday parties this year than you will playing Hot Streak, guaranteed.” (72:12)
  • Great for adults, kids, or big mixed groups.

Notable Party Game Quotes & Moments

• Kylie (on Monikers): “People get INTO these cards—and it is a BLAST.” (54:52)
• Joe: “This is still my favorite party game…it has withstood the test of time.” (55:11)
• Kylie (on Hot Streak): “It’s not a matter of are people gonna buy it. It’s a matter of how many copies they’re gonna buy.” (71:46)

5. Board Game Buying Tips & Philosophy (74:02–75:23)

• BoardGameGeek.com is an invaluable resource, but Joe and Kylie warn: the top-rated games tend to be for heavy gamers; for most people, simpler, crowd-friendly games are best.
• For discovery, Kylie's videos on YouTube/TikTok are highly recommended for honest, audience-specific recommendations.

Timestamps to Key Segments

• [07:37] – Kylie’s career transition story
• [14:10] – What makes a game “about money” (Joe’s rules for the list)
• [19:17] – Economic game list starts; At the Gates of Loyang
• [24:30] – QE explained (“print your own money!”)
• [30:19] – Ponzi Scheme described
• [35:30] – Dominion and its economic lessons
• [41:15] – Food Chain Magnate: The deep end of business
• [52:06] – Family/party game countdown begins: Monikers
• [57:17] – The Gang (cooperative poker)
• [61:27] – Boop (cute cat checkers)
• [64:14] – Ito (creative ordering, groupthink)
• [68:23] – Hot Streak (mascot betting madness! Bestselling game)
• [74:02] – Board Game Geek and finding the right games

Final Thoughts & Memorable Quotes

• Kylie: "You can even in your 30s, stackers, go into the thing that you love." (12:50)
• Joe: "These are games that teach you about money without teaching you about money." (15:53)
• Kylie: "If you can’t lose a game on the first turn, what’s the point of having a first turn?" (45:34)
• Kylie (on community): "There is a percentage of people out there who will buy from us at full price, often paying shipping…because they feel like they’re part of our community." (47:05)
• Joe (on Hot Streak): "If only there were a place where they cared about community where people could buy this game…maybe in Pittsburgh." (73:33)

Where to Find the Games

For links to each game and Kylie's video recommendations, visit StackingBenjamins.com or Games Unlimited’s online store.

Takeaways

• The real financial lessons in games rarely come from “educational” games, but from systems that force tradeoffs, investment decisions, and risk-taking.
• Great games can build financial literacy in kids and adults while strengthening family, friend, and community bonds—no boredom required.
• For the holidays, choose games that welcome everyone and spark laughter, not complexity or conflict.
• Support your local (or not-so-local) game store when you can!

Summary by Podcast Summarizer AI | For questions or clarifications refer to the provided timestamps and original transcript.