Stockmarket

About this board game

Stockmarket is a trading game for 2–6 players, played in around 90 minutes, in which players compete to make the most money by buying and trading shares in six UK companies.

Each player receives information about share price movements, but no two players have the same information. This means every decision depends not only on your own cards, but also on interpreting the actions of your opponents. Guessing and bluffing are central to the contest as players try to determine what the market may do next.

The game unfolds over a series of trading periods known as Bargain Periods. During each period, players trade shares using the information available to them. When the period ends, everyone pools their information, creating the basis for the actual movement of each share price.

• Trade shares in six UK companies.
• Use private information while watching the choices of other players.
• Pool information at the end of each Bargain Period to determine market movements.
• Gain influence by holding a larger percentage of a company’s shares.

Owning a larger share of a company can allow a player to become its Company Director or even its Chairman. These positions let the player exert personal influence on that company’s share price, adding another way to affect the market and the value of competing portfolios.

After up to 10 trading periods, players calculate their total value. The player with the greatest value wins. Released in 1987, Stockmarket combines changing share prices, incomplete information, player interaction, and calculated deception in a focused stock-trading game.