Wouter & Ymke 
In 1971 the world left the gold standard. Since then money has felt a bit… abstract. Inflation creeps up, markets go up and down, and most of us just try to keep up. Then in 2009 Bitcoin showed up. First it was a joke. Then it was pizza money. Then it was suddenly worth more than your car. I mean… that escalated quickly.
Age of Bitcoin takes that whole story and turns it into a strategy game about investing, timing and, very importantly, panic.
You play as different characters trying to build a valuable portfolio. You invest in bitcoin, gold, property, businesses, collectibles. Sounds stable. It isn’t. Markets move, hype builds, crashes happen. And when they happen, they usually hurt everyone.
If you like economic games where you watch the board and think, “this is probably not going to end well,” then this might be for you.
👥 1-4 players, ages 14+
⌛ Playing time: 60-120 minutes
📝 Designer: BitToon
🎨 Artwork: Sumetha Dongkhuntod
🏢 Publisher: Four Comma Game (prototype copy provided)
Gameplay overview
The game lasts five rounds. Each round has three phases. Preparation, actions, end of round. No points are counted during the game. Everything is scored at the very end. For us, that means you never really know who is ahead. Someone who looks behind might actually be in a great position.
At the centre of the table there’s a global bitcoin trust track. It runs from zero to four. As it rises, bitcoin becomes easier to use and eventually scores better. If it reaches the top, it can’t go down anymore.
Each player board has trust tracks for bitcoin, gold and investments. These are basically storage limits. If your trust is full, you cannot buy more of that asset. So you’re not just investing. You’re deciding how much risk you’re willing to carry.
In the preparation phase, you resolve a news card, inflation goes up, and sometimes learning effects push other tracks. In round four, the game switches from era one investments to era two. The card mix changes. It feels like the market shifting rather than a reset.
Then comes the action phase.
On your turn you place one worker to perform an action. You cannot repeat the same action twice in a row. You either buy or sell in that action, not both. You can trade multiple pieces at once, but that only pushes the hype track once. That detail matters.
And this is where people start watching each other.
The markets
Let’s start with bitcoin.
There is a market area and a supply. When you buy bitcoin, you take from the bottom row of the market and pay the current price plus the fee printed next to that row. The price comes from a small stock-style price board with green and red candlesticks. Yes, it really looks like a mini trading screen.
If you empty the market completely, the price jumps up two steps and six new tokens refill from the supply starting from the top row. That refill order is not random, by the way.
When you sell bitcoin, you place it back into the lowest available market space and receive cash based on the current price plus the fee of that row. If the market becomes full, the price drops two steps and five tokens go back to the supply.
Every bitcoin transaction pushes the bitcoin hype track up by one. Not per token, per action.
If that track reaches the top, the crash happens immediately. Bitcoin price drops two steps, gold price goes up one, everyone loses one bitcoin trust, and global bitcoin trust goes down depending on player count. If you lose trust and that space had a bitcoin token, you must sell it at a penalty.
You can see it coming. That’s the interesting part. It’s not random. It’s caused by the players.
Investments work in a similar way, but with more consequences. You buy one card per action, paying the card price, any fee, and the current inflation. You can use bitcoin to pay if global trust is high enough. Selling gives you the card price minus two plus inflation. Always cash.
If investment hype reaches the top, there’s a sequence. Gold price goes up. If global bitcoin trust is at the maximum, bitcoin price goes up too. Everyone loses investment trust. Maintenance costs must be paid. Some cards might be forced sold at a larger penalty. Then the bottom row of the investment market is cleared and refilled.
This can feel harsh. If you stretched too far, the game does not protect you.
Gold is simpler. Buy from supply with cash. Sell to supply for cash. Hype increases. If it crashes, price drops two steps and gold trust goes down. Forced sale if needed. Even gold isn’t a safe corner here.
Learning cards let you increase trust and gain experience. You buy one, apply the effect, discard it. If learning hype reaches the top, it pushes the other hype tracks up one by one. Crashes can chain. Then a block marker is placed and learning resets.
So yes, reading books can indirectly cause market chaos. That feels like a strange life lesson.
Mining machines are bought one at a time. You pay the cost and flip the switch on your board. At the end of the round you roll a die and compare it to the rightmost operated mining machine only. If the roll is lower, you gain one bitcoin. Just one check, no stacking per machine. If you don’t have space in your trust, you get nothing.
It helps over time, but you won’t win by mining alone.
If you’re done or can’t act anymore, you take the rest action. You get immediate cash and it determines turn order next round. Going earlier or later can matter a lot, especially when a crash is one step away.
End of round
At the end of each round a card increases all hype tracks in different amounts. If a track reaches the top, you resolve its crash immediately. Then players receive income from experience and investment cards. Mining happens. Hype tracks that reached the top reset. Turn order adjusts.
There’s a fair amount to process here. The first game can feel like you’re juggling multiple plates at once.
Final scoring
After five rounds, you count everything.
Bitcoin tokens are worth one point each unless global trust reached the top. Then pairs are worth three points. Gold is one point each. Every twenty dollars cash is one point. Investment cards and character abilities add more. There are majority bonuses for most bitcoin, most gold, most investments and most cash. Highest total wins.
Artwork and components
We played a prototype, so keep that in mind.
It definitely stands out on the table. Bright yellows and bold colours. The upright price boards stand out immediately. You can read them from across the table, which is helpful.
The wooden gold bars feel solid. The bitcoin tokens are clear and easy to distinguish. The sliding mining switches are a small detail, but they do add something physical to the action.
It looks modern and financial without going over the top.
Our experience
For us, the most interesting part was how much you watch the board and the other players.
You see the hype tracks creeping up. The market almost empty. Someone sitting at maximum trust with no room left. And you think, if I do this, will it push everything over the edge?
There’s this shared awareness at the table. Nobody says it out loud, but everyone sees what’s coming.
The game is not light. There are multiple tracks, inflation, maintenance, price boards, trust limits. You need a group that is ready for that. This is not something I’d introduce to casual players on a random evening.
It can also feel punishing. If you misjudge the timing and are overexposed, you can lose ground quickly. Some players won’t enjoy that. It’s part of the design, but it means you have to accept that your plan might collapse. It worked best when everyone accepted that instability is the point.
Our thoughts
Age of Bitcoin is a system-driven economic game about exposure and timing.
For me, the trust limit is what makes the whole thing click. You can’t just pile up assets. You need space. When crashes reduce that space, you feel it immediately.
Honestly, everything revolves around those hype tracks. Every action moves the system closer to something happening. Crashes are caused by players, not by random events.
But I can already tell it’s not for everyone. If you prefer stable engine building where your plan unfolds step by step, this will feel messy. It doesn’t reward perfect planning. It rewards adjusting when things go wrong.
Mining helps, but it won’t carry you. Inflation changes the math over time. Turn order can decide who triggers a crash.
What I ended up liking most was that you can look at the board and read the situation. You know what might happen. The question is who will act first.
Is it flawless? No. Is it interesting? Definitely.
📝 We received a prototype copy from Four Comma Game.
