If a stock goes bankrupt, return the value of that stock back to its original starting position, the darkened circle. When playing with the second side of the board, each stock follows a different value track. It is helpful to realize the worth of Stockpiles in the Demand Phase without having the investor abilities take effect. For additional information about the game go to strongly suggest not playing with the Investors expansion or the "Advanced" side of the board for your first game.
If the world of finance and economics sounds exciting, Stockpile is a solid choice. Round everything off with hefty cardboard player boards, a double-sided game board and wooden meeples for an impressive presentation. They are durable glossy cardboard and look fantastic. The money and stock certificates are not paper. The thing that most impressed me about the game was the absolutely stellar components. Players must have a steady flow of cash to take advantage of buying opportunities. An additional factor to consider is cash flow. At the end of the game the majority stockholders in each company get a hefty bonus so even if a player knows a stock is going down, he or she may want to hold on to it. But stocks can also go up and split, doubling their value. Should a player buy, hold or sell? If a stock goes bankrupt, players lose all of their stock certificates in that company.
The rest of the game requires making plenty of critical decisions.
This part of the game is filled with bluffing, excitement, disappointment and strategy.
Players can strategically place negative cards face down in a pile full of stocks or positive cards that appear face up. Some of the stockpile cards are face up and face down so players never know what they will get. However, cards are added at random from the market deck as well as from players. One stockpile is created for each player, and players bid against each other for the best piles. The market deck consists of cards showing shares of stock, fees and ways to manipulate the market. The coolest part, however, is the unique core mechanic where players form piles of cards (stockpiles) from a market deck. There are also optional rules to add more flavor to the game such as playing as a special-powered character from the world of finance. The rules are easy to understand and dont take long to master. Armed with this information, players go about buying and selling their stock with knowledge of only two of the six stocks. Also, one stock is shown to all players with accompanying information about how it will perform. Figuring out which stocks to purchase requires knowledge, and every turn each player receives a different piece of solid inside information about one stock from six potential stocks. Stocks in the game can go up or down, so players try to figure out which way a stock is going, get in while its good and get out when it gets bad. Accommodating two to five players and lasting about an hour, Stockpile places players in the role of stock market investors trying to accumulate the most money. Stockpile is a financial board game about the stock market that marries quick, player-interactive gameplay with deep thinking and hidden strategies for a fulfilling experience. However, once in a while, a game comes along that breaks through the mundane. Board games about economics are tough to create because finance is not the most exciting theme to design a game around.