Ratna's Business 5-in-1 (box designs vary)Photo: FirstCry
Board, coins, houses and cards (deluxe pack)Photo: FirstCry
Multi-game boxes come with several boardsPhoto: FirstCry
Video

Traditional game

Business

India's own property game: buy cities, collect rent, build hotels

2–4players · best with 3-4
1–2.5 hrsplaying time
8+recommended age
Learning curve
Easy2 / 5
EasyDemanding
Luck & skill
More luck than skill
LuckSkill
Interaction
High
Set-up
About 10 min
Reading
Some

The quick verdict

Full verdict ↓

Great for Families with children of about 8 and up who are ready to handle money

Think twice if You have under an hour; a full game often runs two hours or more

How we rate it

Learning curve. The basic loop is simple, but building evenly, mortgages, Jail and bankruptcy add a few more rules than a pure family game. Like Monopoly, it sits with Ticket to Ride on our scale.

Luck & skill. The dice decide where you land and so what you can buy. Skill shows in which cities to buy, when to build and how hard to bargain, but luck usually matters more.

Interaction. You pay each other rent, haggle over cities and gang up on whoever owns the hotels; the aim is to bankrupt everyone else.

Set-up. Choose a banker, sort the money (coins take longer than notes), give everyone their starting amount, shuffle the Chance and Community Chest cards and put the tokens on Start.

Reading. Property cards and Chance and Community Chest cards have short English text that one player can read aloud for younger children.

Learning curve: 1 = UNO or Connect 4; 3 = Catan; 5 = a heavy strategy game. These describe the experience, not an overall score.

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Is Business right for you?

Great if

  • Families with children of about 8 and up who are ready to handle money
  • Long holiday afternoons and Diwali evenings with cousins
  • Teaching children to add, make change and think about whether a deal is worth it
  • Parents who grew up on 'Business' and want to pass the same game on

Skip it if

  • You have under an hour; a full game often runs two hours or more
  • You dislike games where players are knocked out; bankrupt players sit and watch
  • You want one fixed set of official rules; Business sets differ from maker to maker, so Hasbro's Monopoly may suit you better

How Business plays

Set-up: one player, or a grown-up who isn't playing, becomes the banker. Everyone gets the starting money given in the rules sheet and puts a token on Start; the property cards, the Chance and Community Chest cards and the houses and hotels stay with the bank.

  • Time to teach: about 10 minutes.
  • Reading and language: City names, property cards and the Chance and Community Chest cards carry short English text that one player can read aloud. Hindi sets have been sold as Vyapar; the Ratna's set we link is listed in English.

Ratna Senior Business Board Game 5-in-1 Unboxing & Review with Plastic Coin Currency · The Knowledge Crusade

Choose a video · Watch right here

If this creator doesn’t allow embedded playback, watch on YouTube ↗.

A turn, step by step

  1. 1
    Roll

    Roll both dice and move. Passing Start earns you your salary from the bank.

  2. 2
    Buy

    Land on an unowned city and you may buy it from the bank; land on someone else's and pay them the rent on its card. Chance and Community Chest cards bring windfalls and fines.

  3. 3
    Build

    Own a whole colour group and you can build houses, then hotels, to push the rent up.

  4. 4
    Win

    Players who can't pay go bankrupt and drop out. The last player left, or the richest when your agreed time runs out, wins.

Read the rules (PDF)Monopoly Classic Game instructions (Hasbro item C1009) · English
The full explanation: how a game of Business goes

On your turn, roll the two dice and move. Land on a city nobody owns and you may buy it from the bank and take its property card; land on one someone else owns and you pay them the rent printed on the card. Depending on the board, there are also railways, airlines and utilities to buy, Chance and Community Chest cards that bring windfalls and fines, tax squares, Jail, and squares such as Club and Rest House that cost money or a turn. Passing Start earns you a salary from the bank.

Own every city in a colour group and you can build houses on them, then hotels, which multiplies the rent. Like Monopoly, most sets make you build evenly across a group. Short of cash, you can sell buildings back to the bank or mortgage a property.

A player who can't pay is bankrupt and out. Families either play until one player owns everything, or agree a time limit and count each player's money and property, the richest winning. Decide which before you start: a game to the end can run two hours or more.

How it differs from Monopoly: the buy-and-rent idea is the same, but Business is the generic Indian game, sold by many makers (Ratna's, EKTA and others), each with its own board and rules sheet, in rupees and often with extra squares like Club and Rest House. Monopoly is Hasbro's own game with one official rule book. Business sets also come in Little, Junior and Senior sizes, with plastic coins or paper notes, and often bundled with other games.

What's in the box

Board, coins, houses and cards (deluxe pack) · Photo: FirstCry
  • 1Business board
    cities and special squares; the exact layout was not confirmed
  • –Plastic coins
    the money for the bank, in place of paper notes
  • –Property cards (title deeds)
    price, rent and mortgage value for each city
  • –Chance and Community Chest cards
  • –Houses and hotels
  • –Dice and tokens
    Business is played with two dice and one token per player
  • –Boards for Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, Car Rally and Cricket
    the four extra games named in the listing title

Ratna's doesn't publish a contents list we could read, and Indian listings for its Business sets say only '1 board game'. This list is what the listing title promises (Business with plastic coins, plus Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, Car Rally and Cricket) and what any Business game needs to play; the counts are unknown. An unboxing video of this Ratna's set is listed with the videos. For comparison, Hasbro's Monopoly has 28 title deeds, 16 Chance and 16 Community Chest cards, 32 houses, 12 hotels and two dice. Ratna's notes version (Business Senior with Notes) swaps the coins for paper money.

Where to buy

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How to pick a good setSize, pieces and the details worth checking.

Choosing a set

Business is an Indian game, so there's no import to weigh up. Our Amazon.in button goes to Ratna's Business Senior 5-in-1 with plastic coins, from a Mumbai toy maker; Indian listings give India as the country of origin for Ratna's Business sets. If you'd rather have the branded original, Hasbro's Monopoly is made in India too and has its own page here.

Before you choose

  • Size: Ratna's sells Business as Little, Junior and Senior. Senior is the full family game; Little and Junior are smaller, simpler boxes for children. The 5-in-1 boxes add Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, Car Rally and Cricket.
  • Coins or notes: plastic coins don't tear, crumple or blow away under the fan, and small hands grip them easily, but they're slower to count and big rents mean big piles. Paper notes are quicker and feel like real money, but wear out and go missing over the years. Ratna's makes both, so check which one the listing says.
  • Property cards (title deeds): each should clearly show the price, the rent with each house and hotel, and the mortgage value. Every argument gets settled by reading them, so small or smudged print is a real nuisance.
  • Houses and hotels: count them. Hasbro's Monopoly has 32 houses and 12 hotels; a smaller Business set may have fewer, which changes the game once buildings run out.
  • Board: a thick, laminated (some listings say 'water-proof') board survives spilt chai and years of folding better than thin printed card. Check you get two dice and a token for each player.
  • Safety: look for the ISI mark and a BIS licence number (CM/L- followed by digits) on the box; under India's Toys (Quality Control) Order it has been required for toys sold in India since 1 January 2021. Coins and tokens are small, so keep them from toddlers.
  • Storage: a tray with compartments for the money, cards and buildings saves ten minutes of sorting every game.

What reviewers and players say

There are no independent reviews of Ratna's Business, so this draws on how Indian families describe the game and on what reviewers say about Monopoly, its close cousin. People love the same things: buying cities and collecting rent feels grown-up, deals keep everyone talking, and children practise handling money without noticing. The complaints are the same too: dice luck decides a lot, games run long, and players who go bankrupt early sit out. Business adds one catch of its own: rules vary between makers and families, so agree yours before the first roll.

What people love

  • Buying cities and collecting rent in rupees feels familiar and grown-up
  • Children practise adding, subtracting and making change
  • Deals and trades keep the whole table talking
  • 5-in-1 boxes give you Ludo and Snakes and Ladders in the same set

Common complaints

  • Long games, often two hours or more
  • Players who go bankrupt early have to sit and watch
  • Rules differ between makers and families, which leads to arguments
Based on 6 reviews and discussions

Summarised in our own words from the sources above. We don't use Amazon reviews or ratings.

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Why consider itThis game

India's own property game: buy cities, collect rent, build hotels

A different fit

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A different fit

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Best with3-43-42-43-5
Play time1–2.5 hrs1–6 hrs20–30 min15–30 min
Age8+8+5+8+
RulesMediumEasyEasyEasy
Indian editionAvailableImportedImportedAvailable
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Questions people ask about Business

Is Business the same as Monopoly?

It's the same idea, buying property and charging rent, with an Indian flavour. Business sets are made by Indian companies with their own boards and rules sheets, in rupees, and often add squares like Club and Rest House. Monopoly is Hasbro's own game with one official rule book, and it is also sold in an India edition with Indian cities.

What is the Vyapar game?

Vyapar (व्यापार, 'trade') is the Hindi name for the Business game, and Hindi-language sets have been sold under that name. It plays exactly like Business. If you want Hindi cards, check the listing's language before buying.

How much money does each player get at the start of Business?

It depends on the set, so check the rules sheet before you deal it out. One widely read set of Indian house rules, from a 2014 blog post, starts each player with 15,000 and pays 1,500 for passing Start. If you're short of time, Monopoly's trick of dealing each player a couple of property cards at the start works for Business too.

Business game with coins or notes: which is better?

Coins are tougher: they don't tear, crumple or fly away under the fan, and small children handle them easily. Notes are quicker to count and pay out, and feel more like real money, but wear out and get lost. For young children or heavy use, choose coins; for older players who want faster games, notes.

What is the difference between Business Junior and Senior?

Ratna's sells its Business game as Little, Junior and Senior. Senior is the full family game; Junior and Little are smaller, simpler boxes aimed at children, and the 5-in-1 versions of each add Ludo, Snakes and Ladders, Car Rally and Cricket. For a family with older children, Senior is the one to buy.

Game facts

Publisher
Ratna's (Prem Ratna Toys, Mumbai)
In India
Prem Ratna Toys, Mumbai (maker of Ratna's games)
Players
2–4
Language
Some English – City names, property cards and the Chance and Community Chest cards carry short English text that one player can read aloud. Hindi sets have been sold as Vyapar; the Ratna's set we link is listed in English.
Sources & photo creditsThe references behind this guide.

Facts on this page come from the publisher, the Indian maker or distributor, and the sources below. Photos are credited under each one.