Bicycle Exchange A Light Strategy Board Game for Ages 10 and Up

My new favorite game!!! My game group loved it we played it 3 times in a row!!! It plays just as good with the minimum of 3 as it does with 6 players. The game is never the same. This game is full of social deduction, anticipation, guessing, bluffing, and strategy!!! This is a high quality product with endless replayability!!! I am looking forward to more games by Bicycle.

This is a fun game with some issues. First the instructions are incomplete and very hard to follow. But, there are videos online that do explain clearly and dully how to play the game; just Google it! Also, the game was missing the piece that keeps track of which round you are on, but we just used another small trinket in its place. Basically, each player has 3 sets of cards, (1) the 3 tradeable securities, banks, bonds, and insurance, (2) 1-9 cards that say buy on the to and sell on the bottom, and (3), the influence cards - the 3 securities banks, bonds, and insurance with +1 at the topa ad -1 at the bottom. Each person will pick a character, and you start with that character's wealth. Usually that includes some cash that you are dolled out from the bank, plus a certain number of each - banks, bonds, and securities which are noted on the players score card. Then there are 5 rounds. In the rounds, all player choose what there are trading, bands,bonds, or insurance by flipping their chosen cards simultaneously. Then each player will decide how much they are buying or selling (from+/-1 to +/-9), again flipping simultaneously. Finally, each player influences the market by choosing banks, bonds, or insurance to move up or down one price point. The person with the most cash gets a second influence card. Once all the players adjustments are reflected in the price (up one here, down one there, etc), the marker influence card is flipped directing final market price adjustments. Them each player must buy or sell whatever they previously chose at the price it is now. This basically happens 5 times (and everyone cashes out by selling whatever banks, bonds, or insurance at the then price) and then whoever has the most money wins. Note, if the price gets to 90 a share, it bursts down to the bottom ($10/share), and vice versa. If you buy more than you have cash to pay for in a round, you must sell something to the bank at half of its then value to get the cash to pay, and if you don't have enough to cover your order even after selling, you are out. Its pretty fun once you understand these directions! And all five rounds can be finished in about half an hour when playing with 2 10 year old and 3 adults. There is not enough cash to pay everyone at the end, so we just kept track of our final accounting with pen and paper.

I loved this game. We had to do a practice round and take each line of the instructions step by step. Once we figured out the rules, we started over and played for real. It turned out to be fun but the instructions were kind of confusing at first.

We've played this game several times and it is alright. It is well-made with solid pieces and clear printing. It all stores well in the box, but there aren't separate compartments for each type of card. They need to be sorted before each time we play.The first time, we had some trouble understanding how to set up the game for play. I found the instruction booklet to be a little lacking in details. After an initial trial game, it made more sense. It is a fun strategy game. All the players have the ability to affect play for everyone else with each round. Depending on the cards played by each player, the additional lobbyist, and the card drawn from the pile, the trading prices of three commodities move up or down. There are five rounds and the player with the most money at the end wins.There isn't a whole lot going on with this game. It's not nearly as complex or strategic as something like Monopoly. The game goes quite quickly and can be played in about 20 minutes. It's for ages 10 and up and I think it is a good way for young kids around that age to learn a little bit about how the stock market works. It can certainly invite a deeper conversation for anyone who is interested. Overall, it's an okay game and we'll play it now and then when we have family game nights.

Calling all investors that love board games! I played this with 4 players in total in which we all invest to a degree. So the theme was a big hit with this game. The gameplay is simple enough where anyone could pick it up, but I do think it would be a bit boring if you don’t like investing. I could be wrong, but if a person doesn’t like / enjoy business or finance, then you may want to consider avoiding this game. That being said, with the right group, this game can be a big hit! It took a game to get used to everything but after that it was a blast! It seems so simple on the cover, but there’s a surprising amount of depth to this game where it really makes you think of a lot of factors when trying to maximize equity/liquidity! We’ve also certainly had some dramatic finishes (winner won within <$100). I feel the price is a little bit steep based on the components, so if you’re just a casual player you may want look elsewhere but if it’ll hit all the right strokes, definitely give this game a shot!

If you know boardgames you should know who Tom Vasel is. He says "this game has no right being as fun as it ends up being". I totally agree with Tom. It's a stock market simulation but somehow Bicycle games made a family friendly game that hits the sweet spot of fun, accessible and with a surprising amount of strategy. I don't write many reviews but I felt compelled to support this game with a positive review because it is the perfect style of light strategy that fits well with my family and most gamers I know. It's probably a filler game for hardcore gamers but one that they would enjoy also for that spot in their rotation.