Bailout! The Game is a board game created in 2008 by Jordy and Shari Sopourn. The Sopourns, a married couple living in South Florida, were trying to explain the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP)—better known as the government bailout—to their three home-schooled children. Due to the children's young age (the oldest was ten), they had trouble understanding the concept, so their parents turned it into a board game. According to Jordy, the game "took on a life of its own" and the couple decided to self-publish the game.
Each player chooses a bank to play (examples: "Bankruptcy O’ America," "Worth Farless"), and starts with $2.5 billion. Each turn, players make an investment decision which can cause their bank to gain or lose assets based on die rolls. The game winner is the bank with the largest amount of debt, who wins the "Bailout."
"Bailout!" debuted at the Chicago Toy and Game Fair in November 2009.