STOCK MARKET GAME
Goal: To have the most Money at the end of the game.
Setup:
• Place out the piles for all the Money cards ($1, $5, $10, $50, $100, $500, $2K).
• Place out 10 different Shares piles, including Milk and Tech.
• Place the Event deck, and mark out a location for its discard, and the Boom /Bust spot (see below).
• Each player takes 8 $1 and 2 Milk shares, shuffling them together; this forms their deck, face down.
• Each player draws 5 cards from their deck, holding them in their hand; this is their hand.
• A player is chosen to go first.
Rules:
Most rules are printed on the cards themselves, but the following are not self-evident:
• Each turn, a player may play any Share cards they wish to, and resolve their effects. Then the player decides whether to Trade, pass an Event, or Consolidate.
• If a player Trades, they sell any stocks from their hand that they wish to, then buy any number of stocks from any number of piles. Bought stocks, and any remaining cards in hand or in play, are put in the player’s discard pile, face up. The player then draws 5 cards again.
• If a player passes an Event, they keep their hand, and reveal the top card of the Event deck, resolving its effect.
• If a player Consolidates, they look through their deck, hand and discard for all their Money cards, and may exchange lower for higher value bills as they like. They then shuffle their deck, and draw 5 new cards.
• The game ends EITHER when all the $2K have been taken OR when any 4 Stockpiles are Bankrupt (see below) OR when only one player remains. If more than one player remains, the player who fulfilled the end game condition finishes their turn, and then each other player takes one more turn, in turn order. The player with the most Money at the end wins.
Terminology:
• Play – most Shares (excluding Milk) have some effect written on them. To play a Share, it must be in your hand. You place it in front of you in your play area, and do what the card tells you to do. Played Shares are not discarded until the player Trades, and may not be sold at that time. Shares will sometimes say “$X this turn.” This does not mean to take $X from the Money pile – that Money is only usable this turn, and does not take the form of Money cards.
• Sell/Buy – during Trade, a player determines the current prices of the Shares in their hand they want to sell (see below), returns them to their respective Stockpiles, and takes the calculated worth from the Money piles. The player then uses that Money, as well as any other Money in their hand, and any Money provided by played Shares, to buy any number of any Shares, provided that they have enough Money for it.
The price of a Share is the sum of the base price (on the card), plus or minus the effect of the Boom or Bust in play (see below), plus or minus the effect of Dirty Business on the Stockpile (see below), the result of which is multiplied by the number of Shares owned by players (represented by tokens next to the pile). If no Shares are owned yet of a pile, assume the number to multiply by is 1, not 0. When Shares are bought or sold in bulk, use the price that would be used for the first Share bought or sold for every Share. Thus, buying in bulk is cheaper, and selling in bulk yields more profits. The last Share in a Stockpile cannot be bought.
• Draw – when told to draw a number of cards, take that number from the top of your deck, and put them into your hand. If you go to draw a card, and your deck is empty, shuffle your discard pile, and put it face down. This becomes your deck. Continue drawing until you’ve drawn the required number of cards.
• Event – the Event pile is full of special cards that can change the face of the game (see below). When the effect of an Event has been resolved, it is placed face up in the Event discard, which is separate from each player’s personal discard pile. A player’s personal discard pile is simply called their discard; the Event discard pile is always called the Event discard. When a player tries to pass an Event, and finds the Event deck empty, they shuffle the Event discard, and place it face down. This becomes the Event deck, and they pass their Event.
• Bankrupt – when a Share’s price is reduced to $0, the Stockpile goes Bankrupt. A Bankrupt Share cannot be bought or sold, and cannot be played.
• Return to Stock – this is listed in the played effects of some Shares. This means returning the card to the Stockpile. This is not Selling, so you do not receive any Money. You essentially paid for the played effect to happen once.
Events:
Unless otherwise stated, after an Event is resolved, it is placed in the Event discard.
• Pension – gives extra Money or extra cards each turn. Place this in front of you – the bonus begins on your next turn.
• Fired! – choose a Pension in front of you. Put it in the Event discard.
• Bonus! – immediately gives Money to your discard.
• Bailout – saves a company from Bankruptcy. If the company’s share price is still $0, it will revert back to Bankruptcy at the end of that player’s turn. Play this event immediately, or put it into your discard.
• Speculate – each player passes their hand immediately to the player to their left.
• Swiss Bank Account – place this in front of you, next to your Pensions. At any time, you may place a Money card on the Swiss Bank Account, and at any time return that Money card to your hand. Only one Money card at a time can be on a Swiss Bank Account.
• Boom/Bust – raises or lowers share prices. Each Share has two rows of three numbers on the bottom of the card. In a Boom, refer to the top row; in a Bust, refer to the bottom row. Booms/Busts can be ±1, 2, 3; this refers to the index of the number on the row on the card, from the left. Add or subtract the relevant number from the base price. Be aware that not all Shares increase in price in Booms and decrease in price in Busts. Also be aware that unless otherwise tampered with (see below), Wheat will always go Bankrupt in a -3 Bust.
When a Boom or Bust is drawn from the Event deck, it is placed in the Boom/Bust spot next to the Event deck. If a Boom or Bust is there already, put the previous Boom or Bust in the Event discard.
• Business as Usual – cancels a Boom/Bust. Fills the Boom/Bust spot, just like a Boom or Bust.
• Illegal plays:
o Dirty Business – inflates or deflates the price of a specific Stockpile. Just like Booms and Busts, Dirty Businesses can be ±1, 2, 3, and operate exactly like a Boom or Bust with respect to the numbers on the Share card. The effect of Dirty Business is cumulative with other Dirty Business, and with the Boom or Bust currently in play. For example, in a -2 Bust, Tools (see below) will have a base price of (9-4)=$5. If a -3 Dirty Business is played, Tools’ price will reduce to (9-4-5)=$0, and it will go Bankrupt.
Dirty Businesses can also be used to block Pensions, or create fake Pensions. A negative Dirty Business placed on another player’s will block it. A positive Dirty Business can be placed in front of you like a Pension, yielding #*5 Money each turn. For example, a +2 Dirty Business will yield $10 to your hand every turn.
Dirty Business can either be played immediately, or put in your discard. Once played, they remain on the board, and do not go into the Event discard.
o Corruption – can be played on a stockpile to immediately Bankrupt it; can be played on a Bankrupt company to immediately Bailout it; can be played on another player’s Pension to steal it; can be played in front of you to immediately yield $100 to your hand. In any of these cases, the Corruption remains on the board, and does not go into the Event discard. Corruption can be played immediately, or put in your discard.
• Legal plays:
o Corporate Transparency – cancels a Dirty Business, putting both cards in the Event discard. Play this immediately, or put it in your discard.
o Legal Action – cancels a Corruption, putting both cards in the Event discard. The player whose Corruption was cancelled receives a Legal Action token. Any player with 3 Legal Action tokens loses. Play this immediately, or put it in your discard.
o Big Brother – immediately cancels all Dirty Businesses and Corruptions on the board, putting them all, and this card, in the Event discard. Players whose Corruptions were cancelled do not receive a Legal Action token in this case.
Shares:
• Milk ($2) – Never bankrupt (+1,2,3; -1,1,1)
• Apples ($3) – Draw 1 card (+1,2,3; -1,2,2)
• Wheat ($3) – Play two of this. If you do, +$1 to discard (+1,1,4; -1,1,3)
• Tin ($4) – +$1 this turn (+1,2,3; -1,2,3)
• Coffee ($4) – Return to Stock. Pass an Event (+0,1,6; -1,1,3)
• Bikes ($5) – Draw 2 cards (+2,4,5; -2,3,4)
• Copper ($6) – +$2 this turn (+2,4,6; -1,2,3)
• Rubber ($7) – +$3 to discard (+2,4,5; -2,3,4)
• Cola ($7) – Draw 1 card, pass an Event (+2,3,6; -2,3,5)
• Fast Food ($8) – Draw 3 cards (+2,4,6; -2,4,4)
• Tools ($9) – Return to Stock. Search Event deck for a card, play it. Shuffle Event deck (+1,1,6; -4,4,5)
• Porn ($10) – Pass 2 Events (+5,10,15; -1,2,3)
• Silver ($12) – +$6 this turn (+3,6,9; -2,3,4)
• Saffron ($15) – Draw 2 cards, +$5 to discard (+5,10,10; -1,1,1)
• Gold ($20) – +$10 this turn, pass 2 Events (+5,10,10; +10,20,30)
• Oil ($25) – Pass 2 Events, draw 3 cards, +$6 to discard (-5,10,15; +5,10,15)
• Houses ($25) – Reveal top 4 Events. For each different Event, draw a card. Play 1 of the revealed Events, discard the rest (+15, 10, 5; - 15, 10, 5)
• Solar ($30) – Draw 5 cards (+10,20,40; -10,20,25)
• Guns ($40) – Return to Stock. Target player’s Pensions are ignored their next turn (-5,10,20; +10,10,10)
• Tech ($50) – pass 2 Events, draw 4 cards, +$10 this turn, +$10 to discard (+5,10,15; -5,10,15)
Components:
The only sheets you need to print multiples of are Money - print 4 $1, 1 $2K, and 2 each of the $5, $10, $50, $100, $500
• 150 Money cards (40 $1, 10 $2K, and 20 each of $5, $10, $50, $100, $500) - keep these in separate piles
• 200 Shares cards (10 for each Stockpile) - keep these in separate piles
• 117 Event cards - throw these all together in one pile
o 21 Pensions (6 +$5, 5 +$10, 6 +1 card, 3 +2 cards, 1 +3 cards)
o 4 Fired!
o 7 Bonus! (4 $10, 2 $20, 1 $30)
o 4 Bailouts
o 2 Speculates
o 7 Swiss Bank Accounts
o 15 Booms (6 +1, 5 +2, 4 +3)
o 15 Busts (6 -1, 5 -2, 4 -3)
o 6 Business as Usual
o 18 Dirty Businesses (4 +1, 4 -1, 3 +2, 3 -2, 2 +3, 2 -3)
o 5 Corruptions
o 6 Corporate Transparencies
o 4 Legal Actions
o 3 Big Brothers
• 3 Bankrupt cards - keep these separate
