Stockpile Board Game First Impressions

Stockpile is trading stocks with inside information…

Fairly topical, but it’s a Stock Market game so is it fun?

In Stockpile, players act as stock market investors at the end of the 20th century hoping to strike it rich, and the investor with the most money at the end of the game is the winner. Stockpile centres around the idea that nobody knows everything about the stock market, but everyone does know something. In the game, this philosophy manifests in two ways: insider information and the stockpile.

Stockpile is played over a number of rounds depending on the number of players. Everyone gets a turn at being first and last in a 5 player game. We also played a 4 player game that had 6 rounds.

Each player will get a Company Card and Forecast card… This pair of cards is kept secret for now and they give you some advanced information on how well that particular company will do this round.

There is also one pair of these cards placed on the main board face up for all players to see. With fewer players, more face-down pairs are placed next to the board.

Then, a Market card is placed face up on each company on the main board and each player is also dealt 2 cards.

Market

In turn order, each player adds their market cards to any stacks, one face up and one face down. This will result in a few stacks under those calculator-looking things at the bottom with face-up/down cards.

Next, you bid on those piles by lacing your bidding meeple on a calculator button… You can see some face-up shares, face-up penalties you have to pay and other good/bad things… But it’s those face-down cards you have to fear. Mostly the face-down card will be a trading fee you have to pay that was sneakily hidden by the other players.

Eventually, each player will walk away with a stack of cards. Then players play action cards they won from these auctions. These will adjust the value of stocks; Booms up 2 and Busts down 2.

At this point, I should mention Splits and going Bust.

Splits and Busts

Your stocks are kept face down on the left of your board. If they go up to the top of their track you split them and move any of that company to the right of your board. They’re now worth double the value. Yay!

If it goes all the way to the bottom of the track, the company goes bankrupt and you discard any shares you have of that company. Boo!

Now you have a chance to sell stocks… This is important as it’s done in turn order. Maybe you know the Red stock is going to go bust so you decide to sell… or maybe you just want to sell it to raise a bit of cash…

Either way, you make every other player with Red stock think ‘uh oh! Do they know something I don’t”?

After selling, each pair of cards is revealed at the market and adjusted accordingly.

Then a new round starts with a pair of cards again. After all the rounds have been played there are bonuses for players having the most of a stock, stocks are then sold at their current price with the player with the most money winning.

Stockpile Summary

A FUN stock trading game, yay! To be honest I haven’t played too many and most have been fun… I’m thinking Panic on Wall Street for starters but that was real-time fun, this is turn-based fun.

You constantly fear that you’re going to lose your stocks. You put your head in your hands when the player after you in turn order sells their stocks in a company you are invested in assuming they know something.

But on the other hand, you may see people sell their stock in a company you KNOW is making big gains this round.

Stockpile is a very fun, light game that you can play in 30 minutes. It’s very easy to teach too.

I like it.

Jesta ThaRogue