Tag: Stock Holding

Games with a Stock Holding mechanic allow players to buy a portion of an entity and then acquire various resources based on that ownership.

1880: China

| T3d-1978
1880: China

1880: China

In 1880: China, based on 1829 by Francis Tresham, the players become railway barons in the far east, experiencing China’s railway history in a game that was designed to represent related historical events as correctly as possible within its own game mechanisms. Being a classic 18xx game, the players compete to become the richest. In order to gain money, they buy and sell shares of China’s historical railway companies, build and expand their railway network, and let trains travel on the networks. Shares of successful companies are worth more, and owning them will increase the chance to win the game. In the end, the player with the highest wealth combined from cash and shares wins.

Game Mechanics:

  • Auction/Bidding
  • Economic
  • Network Building
  • Stock Holding
  • Tile Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 7 Players
  • ~300 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 4.29

Skymines

| T3d-1978
Skymines

Skymines

Fifty years ago, humanity began mining the Moon and the asteroids, and for decades that task was firmly kept in the hands of the World Government. But the turmoils of recent years have caused this enterprise to collapse. Now, adventurous companies and private investors take to the sky to revive this mining network.

As investors, you try to earn the most CrypCoin over the course of seven rounds. You do this by investing mined resources in companies and by spreading their outposts. You can improve your earnings by supporting your scientists’ research and by having them collect precious helium-3.

The heart of Skymines is a unique card programming and hand management system that requires careful and clever planning. It provides deep player interaction by letting you invest in any of the four companies as you see fit.

And as the combination of company abilities changes each game, there are endless synergies and strategies to explore.

Game Mechanics:

  • Area Control
  • Campaign
  • Deck Building
  • Economic
  • Hand Management
  • Open Drafting
  • Stock Holding
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 75 – 150 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.71

Maracaibo

| T3d-1978
Maracaibo

Maracaibo

Maracaibo, a strategy game for 1-4 players by Alexander Pfister, is set in the Caribbean during the 17th century. The players try to increase their influence in three nations in four rounds with a play time of 40 minutes per player.

The players sail on a round course through the Caribbean, e.g., you have city tiles where you are able to perform various actions or deliver goods to. One special feature is an implemented quest mode over more and various tiles, which tells the player, who chase after it, a little story.

As a player, you move with your ship around the course, managing it by using cards like in other games from Alexander Pfister.

Game Mechanics:

  • Action Points
  • Campaign
  • Economic
  • Hand Management
  • Narrative Choice
  • Set Collection
  • Stock Holding

Game Specifications:

  • 1 – 4 Players
  • 30 – 120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.89

1848 Australia

| T3d-1978
1848 Australia

1848 Australia

1848 Australia, is a semi-historical railroad game from the 18xx set, and to which the designers credit some of this games’ systems to the originator of the series – Francis Tresham.

The game consists of two separate series of actions repeated until the game ends, these are stock rounds and operating rounds. During stock rounds, shares in the various railroading companies are bought & sold by players and are tracked on the stock market mat. During operating rounds, the player/directors of those railroading companies are allowed to build track & place station markers on the map, and then may buy trains from which to earn capital from running those trains along routes on the map. The capital earned may be paid out as dividends to shareholders or retained by the company for future expansion.

The game ends at a pre-determined point, whereupon the player with the most worth,(cash on hand & share certificate value) wins.

As with many games in this series, there are similarities within the rules, but many feature slight differences, and it is these that give each individual 18xx game its character.

1848 features an interesting array of differences described above. These include how private companies are purchased, the inclusion of The Bank Of England as a public company that extends loans and administers railroads that are in receivership, dealing with different track gauges between states and ‘The Ghan’ special train.

Game Mechanics:

  • Auction/Bidding
  • Economic
  • Network Building
  • Stock Holding
  • Tile Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 3 – 6 Players
  • 180 – 240 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 3.82

Stockpile

| T3d-1978
Stockpile

Stockpile

Stockpile is an economic board game that combines the traditional stockholding strategy of buy low, sell high with several additional mechanisms to create a fast-paced, engaging and interactive experience.

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 centers on 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.

First, players are given insider information each round. This information dictates how a stock’s value will change at the end of the round. By privately learning if a stock is going to move up or down, each player has a chance to act ahead of the market by buying or selling at the right time.

Second, players purchase their stocks by bidding on piles of cards called stockpiles. These stockpiles will contain a mixture of face-up and face-down cards placed by other players in the game. In this way, nobody will know all of the cards in the stockpiles. Not all cards are good either. Trading fees can poison the piles by making players pay more than they bid. By putting stocks and other cards up for auction, Stockpile catalyzes player interaction, especially when potential profits from insider information are on the line.

Both of these mechanisms are combined with some stock market elements to make players consider multiple factors when selling a stock. Do you hold onto a stock in hopes of catching a lucrative stock split or do you sell now to avoid the potential company bankruptcy? Can you hold onto your stock until the end of the game to become the majority shareholder, or do you need the liquidity of cash now for future bidding? Do you risk it all by investing heavily into one company, or do you mitigate your risk by diversifying your portfolio?

In the end, everyone knows something about the stock market, so it all comes down to strategy execution. Will you be able to navigate the movements of the stock market with certainty? Or will your investments go under from poor predictions?

Game Mechanics:

  • Auction/Bidding
  • Economic
  • Open Drafting
  • Stock Holding

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • ~45 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.11

Pan Am

| T3d-1978
Pan Am

Pan Am

In Pan Am, players compete with Pan American Airways and others to build an air-travel empire. Outbid rivals for lucrative landing rights, buy planes with longer range to reach the far corners of the world, and use insider connections to advance your interests. As you bump up against the ever-growing Pan Am, you can sell your routes to the company to earn a tidy profit, with you then using that money to invest in other growth or to purchase Pan Am stock for what’s sure to be a big payout down the road.

Pan Am is a game of global strategy that spans four decades of industry-changing historic events.

Game Mechanics:

  • Auction/Bidding
  • Economic
  • Stock Holding
  • Worker Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 4 Players
  • ~60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.46

Aviation Tycoon

| T3d-1978
Aviation Tycoon

Aviation Tycoon

In Aviation Tycoon, players buy stock in four airline companies as they fly passengers across various airline routes. When an airline route is used, that airline gets paid. When dividends are paid, those with stock get paid — and keep getting paid until the airline has no money left (assuming the funds can be easily divided among the shareholders). Special event cards can close airports, double payouts for using routes, etc. Special player cards give each player access to a special ability (which all share during a round).

Game Mechanics:

  • Economic
  • Stock Holding

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 5 Players
  • ~60 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.00

Acquire

| T3d-1978
Acquire

Acquire

In Acquire, each player strategically invests in businesses, trying to retain a majority of stock. As the businesses grow with tile placements, they also start merging, giving the majority stockholders of the acquired business sizable bonuses, which can then be used to reinvest into other chains. All of the investors in the acquired company can then cash in their stocks for current value or trade them 2-for-1 for shares of the newer, larger business. The game is a race to acquire the greatest wealth.

Game Mechanics:

  • City Building
  • Economic
  • Hand Management
  • Stock Holding
  • Tile Placement

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • ~90 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 2.50

Monopoly: David Bowie Edition

| T3d-1978
Monopoly: David Bowie Edition

Monopoly: David Bowie Edition

Relive the fame and take things over in a special edition of the fast dealing, property trading game that pays homage to the Thin White Duke! MONOPOLY: David Bowie gathers the ultimate collection of the rock superstar’s greatest records for fans to buy, sell, and trade albums such as The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars. Build Arenas and Stadiums atop Bowie’s discography with six custom sculpted tokens representing memorable studio albums: Major Tom, Black Star, Black Tie White Noise, Aladdin Sane, Diamond Dogs, and Ashes to Ashes. Sound and Vision cards will take you on the musical journey to be the furthest above the moon with any money to win!

Game Mechanics:

  • Auction/Bidding
  • Economic
  • Negotiation
  • Player Elimination
  • Set Collection
  • Stock Holding
  • Trading

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 6 Players
  • ~120 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.80

Monopoly

| T3d-1978
Monopoly

Monopoly

Players take the part of land owners, attempting to buy and then develop their land. Income is gained by other players visiting their properties and money is spent when they visit properties belonging to other players. When times get tough, players may have to mortgage their properties to raise cash for fines, taxes and other misfortunes

Game Mechanics:

  • Auction/Bidding
  • Economic
  • Negotiation
  • Player Elimination
  • Set Collection
  • Stock Holding
  • Trading

Game Specifications:

  • 2 – 8 Players
  • 60 – 180 Minutes
  • Difficulty Weight 1.63