how to play

The easiest way to play the game, as an individual, is on line. Go to the web-site - http://www.partysmart.org/cbap - and open a game account. It's all free, of course, and if you like you can play it through without anyone knowing who you are, so even bankers and economists can play without revealing themselves.

However, community money can also be explored in a group context, and the most powerful means to learn is through a playshop. The guidelines for running a playshop are not difficult - keep it simple, play the game, teach the game, and let people come to their own conclusions. But while that seems simple, it isn't as easy as perhaps it might sound. The line between teaching and preaching is subtle, and playshop organizers need to be very careful not to cross it.

The guidelines for running playshops are on the web-site. It is highly recommended that you study these, and rehearse with a friend or colleague, before jumping into action. But it is also highly recommended that you do jump into action. It's the most powerful way you have to change the world.

If the on-line game is not available to you - perhaps you only have intermittent internet access - you can play entirely by yourself by downloading the basic game materials. A solo game - the solitary pursuit of knowledge - only requires that you devise a random manner of playing with yourself, and refrain from cheating.

You alternately buy and sell items from the trading list, following the rules of the game. You have choice over your purchases - but your sales, and thus your income, have to be a matter of chance. For each sale, you must randomly pick a number between 1 and 4 to determine whether you have made a $100, $200, $300 or $400 sale, and another between 1 and 10 to select the % section of your income, and hence the proportion of cc$ to fed$. You can use a phone book and a pin to find your numbers.

The solo game is less predictable than an interactive game, and it will, on average, provide the player with a higher income than is typical playing with other people, so it is the least effective method of play. But it is about as free as it can be.

So, what are you doing right now?