Broker

About this board game

Broker is a stock-trading board game for 2–6 players, with a playing time of about 75 minutes. Buy and sell stock shares, manipulate prices with Market Action cards, and finish with more wealth than your opponents.

Each decision can change the value of your holdings. The winner is the player with the most money in cash and stocks after the last card has been played. However, a player may be eliminated before the game ends if all of their remaining stock holdings crash.

The game combines share trading with strategic market manipulation. Players must consider when to buy, when to sell, and how Market Action cards can affect their own position or damage an opponent’s. This creates a contest where a strong portfolio can still become vulnerable to a sudden change in prices.

• Players: 2–6
• Playing time: approximately 75 minutes
• Components in the listed editions: 160 stock certificates, 68 Market Action cards, 4 price markers, play money, and a stock price board

Originally published in 1961 by the Spencer-Murray Corporation of Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, Broker was later republished by Otto Maier Verlag in 1967 and appeared in further editions, including the Ravensburger Casino Series. Some editions provided rules in German, English, and Italian.

The 1983 ninth edition, published by Ravensburger AG under the title Börsenspiel, substantially changed the original rules. It added 18 risk cards that replaced 18 market cards; these event cards immediately change the market and force the player who draws one to play it instead of a market card, adding a notably chaotic element to this long-running stock market game.