Exchange is a simple and easy to learn stock trading game from Bicycle. Players will attempt to manage and manipulate a volatile market to buy and sell stocks to amass wealth. 

Luckily, while the actual stock exchange is a pretty difficult place, Exchange manages to distill it into a light and easy to learn game!

How do you play?

To begin the game, players first select a stockbroker card that gives them a certain number of stocks and cash.

Each round of Exchange is made up of three phases. 

Phase 1: Stock Selection

Phase 2: Buy/Sell 

Phase 3: Market Influence

Each round players will use cards to make their selections for what they wish to do and slide them into their phase sleeves. Choices are revealed simultaneously after all players have made their selections. 

Players then look at the decisions of others, adjusting their strategies accordingly, before moving on to the next phase. 

So in phase one, you’ll choose which stock (banks, bonds, insurance) you will want to buy or sell. Then everyone will reveal to show what they chose. 

Then you’ll choose a card to signify the amount you want to buy or sell of the stock you chose in phase one. Then everyone reveals together. 

Finally, in phase three, you’ll choose how you want to influence the market. You can move the price of a single stock up or down. 

After Phase 3, a Market Forces card is revealed. This card can cause a final shift in the market. At any point in the game, players may pay $50 to see the Market Forces card to have a forecast of how the market may impact their strategy that round.

Once the prices for each stock have been adjusted, players complete their transactions with the final price. 

Players then reset and repeat this process again. After 5 rounds, the game is over and the player with the most money wins.

What do we think?

I was pleasantly surprised by Exchange!

Initially I thought that it would be a boring money game, however, what I found was a fairly accessible, quick playing stock trading game that really had a party feel to it. The production is top notch, everything looks really nice on the table and fits perfectly into a very well designed insert for storage. 

While playing the actual market is pretty complex, learning Exchange is a breeze, taking only a couple of minutes! The time between opening the box and starting your first game will be very minimal!

Buying low and selling high seems simple enough, and thanks to the main board, you have a good visual to know what you might want to do. 

The challenge starts to come in when you influence the market. Everyone has their own agendas and aims, so while you may want to bump insurance down, your opponents may be trying to increase the price to sell high. 

In Exchange, you really need to watch to see what all of the other players are doing and what moves appear to be in their best interests so that you can adjust accordingly, either to improve your standing or to blindside them with a perfectly timed market bubble burst! 

There can be a lot of backstabbing in Exchange, and that’s really where the fun, laughter, and cries of disappointment come in. 

This is a game where you can plot, plan, and execute a seemingly great move, only to be undone by the moves of other players whose interests don’t align with yours. While this is where a lot of the fun comes in, it can be very frustrating for some players.

For the most part, Exchange moves fairly smoothly, not really taking longer than 30 minutes to play and doesn’t overstay its welcome. Everything stays light the whole time and I see this being a great filler game or even fitting in as a party game for larger groups. It plays up to 6 and truly, the more players you have, the more the market is moving which makes things really interesting. 

Age wise, Exchange is a good fit for players 10 and up. 

Our daughter, (8) was able to play it with us but felt a little lost throughout. While you don’t need to know much at all about the stock market, the money theme was a little intimidating to her and there is quite a lot of mental math you’ll need to be able to do to succeed. 

That being said, she still did really well and was able to play Exchange where other stock trading games such as Stockpile would still be beyond her level. So in that respect, Exchange is a more accessible game for families.

Summary

If you’re looking for a party game with a bit more strategy and enjoy the stock trading theme, we recommend looking into getting Exchange. Because it’s so easy to learn and more accessible for younger players (starting around age 10) this could easily see a lot of play time at the table!

Highs: 

• Quick play 
• Easy to teach
• Great choice for a light filler or party game
• Lots of fun moments and laughter
• Distills stock trading into an accessible family game

Lows:

• Unpredictable. Some definite luck involved
• Need 3+ players to play

Find Exchange on Amazon to bring home a copy for your family!

A special thank you to the folks at Games by Bicycle for providing us with a copy of Exchange for review. As always, our thoughts and opinions are our own. 

Game Info:
Title: Exchange: A Stock Trading Game of Strategy & Wit
3-6 players Ages 10+
Designer: Eric Sillies
Publisher: Games by Bicycle

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like:

Tattoo Stories – Review
10 Great Deduction Games
Great Yard Games to Play this Summer