Stockmarket, San Juan
Last night, four of us played Stockmarket, a 1987 game I picked up from a BoardGameGeek math trade. I was expecting something like Buy Low Sell High or Executive Decision, games about supply and demand, but instead Stockmarket is more about double guessing.
The rules are simple. Players can invest in six different companies. Every round each player gets 10 cards with stock price movements, for instance “Legal & General -50p” or “Nat West +£2” and money to invest in shares. In each round there are three phases where players can either buy or sell one company’s shares. At the end of the round all cards from all players are pooled and added together, so that each company’s share price fluctuates. These prices fluctuations mean that player’s stock becomes more or less valuable. When buying stock, players only know the price changes in their hand of cards and the stocks that other players are investing in, so they have to follow market trends, just like in real life. There are a few other rules, like cards allowing you to stop a price movement in a single stock, rights issues, currency fluctuations and directorships, but the game is won and lost with the stock movement cards.
The psychology of the stockmarket’s herd mentality is interesting, it’s fun to be a 1980’s yuppie, but there is a lot of slow, fiddly arithmetic, the decisions are fairly obvious and there is a lot of luck. Executive Decision and Buy Low Sell High are slightly better options.
5/10
We finished with a 3-player whirl through San Juan. I still think it is a classic.
Five out of ten for Stockmarket?! I’ll tell you sometime about our game of Stockmarket! at Baycon; what a laugh. I’d give it seven at least.
The way to play is to use your skills to bluff other opponents into buying into something you know is going under and throw them off the scent of something you know is going to pay off. I don’t think it’s got too much luck; but that’s another discussion and more to do with hidden info mechanisms.
I amassed a great fortune in our last game, due to misleading others into thinking I was taking the worst deal.
fellonmyhead
25 May 06 at 12:58
I know what you mean about the bluffing. That’s the best thing about the game, but I still think there are other much better games for that than this one – Kuhhandel for instance.
Don’t forget that I’m a stingy rater. Right now, my BGG average is 5.7, while yours is 6.7.
Iain
25 May 06 at 14:04
That’s nothing to do with being a stingy rater – just your tendency to buy rubbish occasionally
I, on the other hand, am much more discerning…..
Michael
100%Blade
25 May 06 at 15:14
I hadn’t thought of that.
I must remind myself to read more reviews on the internet – that’s just what I need…
Iain
25 May 06 at 15:43
Yes, I like Kuhhandel a lot; just the right length for that kind of game too. Also significantly more portable than Stockmarket!.
fellonmyhead
26 May 06 at 06:28