For-Ex

About this board game

For-Ex is a currency-trading board game for 2–6 players that takes about 90 minutes to play. Players become international financiers, trading and manipulating a group of currencies whose values exist only in relation to one another.

Exchange rates fluctuate as players invest and divest. Every adjustment to the game state comes from player decisions: once the game begins, there is zero randomness. This creates an opaque, interconnected market in which even a subtle move can influence later opportunities.

The main way to make money is through long-term contracts. A player agrees to trade a specified amount of one currency for its equivalent in another at an agreed rate, with the contract resolved several turns later. If the exchange rate has changed in the meantime, the original rate can produce a profit.

• Trade among several currencies with values that constantly shift relative to one another.
• Use long-term contracts to seek gains from future exchange-rate changes.
• Make contracts backed by money you do not yet have, creating temporary loans that must be covered before they come due.

Borrowing can provide a short-term advantage, but players must judge whether they can make up the difference in time. The game ends when a player goes bankrupt or when the last dividend has been paid.

At the end of For-Ex, all money is converted into the single strongest currency. The player holding the greatest amount of that currency wins, turning every contract, investment, and obligation into one final measure of financial success.