A board game called 'Sell Me A Sasquatch', developed by NPR's Planet Money in partnership with game company Exploding Kittens, has reached retail shelves. The game is rated for players aged 10 and older and is built around concepts drawn from George Akerlof's 1970 economics paper 'The Market for Lemons', for which Akerlof later received the Nobel Prize in economics.
Planet Money and Exploding Kittens release economics-themed board game 'Sell Me A Sasquatch'
A board game called 'Sell Me A Sasquatch', developed by NPR's Planet Money in partnership with game company Exploding Kittens, has reached retail shelves. The game is rated for players aged 10 and older and is built around concepts drawn from George Akerlof's 1970 economics paper 'The Market for Lemons', for which Akerlof later received the Nobel Prize in economics.
The collaboration between Planet Money and Exploding Kittens was documented in a podcast series. The game centers on players taking turns as a buyer evaluating deals from other players with only partial information — a structure the creators say mirrors the asymmetric information dynamic described in Akerlof's paper.
Akerlof's paper used the used-car market to illustrate how a gap in knowledge between sellers and buyers can cause higher-quality goods to exit a market over time, a process economists call adverse selection. The game incorporates bluffing, bargaining, and trading of creature and cryptid cards in place of used cars.
Several cards in the game reference specific economic concepts. One card, 'The Laffer', depicts a curved hyena and references the Laffer Curve, a theory associated with economist Arthur Laffer, which holds that tax rates can reach a point where they reduce rather than increase government revenue. The theory and the location of its proposed optimal tax rate remain subjects of debate among economists.
A card called 'Scabby' references an inflatable rat of the same name used on picket lines in the United States. The term 'scab' is used in labor contexts to describe a worker who crosses a picket line. The card is also tied to a previously broadcast Planet Money episode on labor strikes.
A card called 'The BullBear' combines the symbols of bull and bear markets — rising and falling stock markets, respectively — into a single creature. The concept was submitted by a Planet Money listener named Christina.
A card called 'The Veblen' depicts a peacock and references economist Thorstein Veblen, who introduced the concept of 'conspicuous consumption' in his 1899 book 'The Theory of the Leisure Class'. The concept describes purchasing behavior driven by status display rather than utility. An extension of Veblen's ideas, the 'Veblen good', describes a product for which demand increases as price rises.
The creature card concepts were drawn from a listener submission process that received more than 1,600 entries, according to the article. Planet Money states that a further episode in the board game series is planned for August 21, with a focus on how stores select products for sale.
- The article does not state the retail price of the game
- The article does not identify which specific stores carry the game
- The article does not state the total number of cards in the game or the complete rules
- The article does not provide a release date for when the game became available in stores
- The article does not state how many units have been produced or sold
- The article does not name the game designers at Exploding Kittens
- The article does not specify what design changes Exploding Kittens made beyond a general reference to increasing fun
- The article does not confirm whether George Akerlof has seen or responded to the game