Strategy-Heavy · Tier 2

THE
MARKETS

Six stocks. Hidden portfolios. Every card is a tell.

Every play that benefits you reveals what you hold. Every discard reveals what you DON'T need. The best traders learn to make their losing plays look like winning ones.

Players Required

3–4Sweet 4
30–45 min

The Roles

1 archetype
Trader
Public Role

Trader

Count×all

Each holds a secret portfolio: Long positions (gain on price up, multipliers up to ×3) and Short positions (gain on price down). Plays Market Events to push prices toward their portfolio while reading others' plays.

How a Round Plays

Phase 01

Portfolio deal

Each player secretly draws a portfolio card. Asymmetric: some hold 3 stocks (lower multipliers), some hold 2 (higher multipliers).

Phase 02

Draw 2 cards

Market Event deck has 60 cards: Supply Shock, Tech Boom, War Escalation, Regulation, Merger Rumor, Crash, etc.

Phase 03

Play 1, discard 1 face-up

Play one to manipulate prices. Discard one face-up — others read your discard for hints about your hand.

Phase 04

Resolve & advance

Stock prices update. 10 rounds total. Highest portfolio value wins.

Win Conditions

Highest portfolio

Sum of (final stock price × Long multiplier) − (final price × Short multiplier) after Round 10. Highest total wins.

Designer Notes

Cards have transparent effects but hidden owners. By Round 7 every player is doing three things at once: maximizing their portfolio, inferring others' portfolios from their plays, and playing cards that benefit them while LOOKING like they benefit someone else. Experienced players will play a deliberately suboptimal card just to misdirect. The discard is as much information as the play.

Balance:2-stock players are more volatile (bigger swings, harder to read). 3-stock players hedge more. Playtest shows roughly equal win rates with skilled players, slight 2-stock edge in 3-player.

Strategy

  • Discard high-value cards strategically
    A discard of a Tech Boom suggests you're NOT long TECH. Use it as misdirection — sometimes throw away a card you actually wanted to "prove" your portfolio.
  • Watch the regulation pattern
    Regulation freezes a stock for 2 rounds. Players regulate stocks they're NOT long. Track regulation targets to map portfolios.
  • Crash is a nuke
    All stocks -10. Useful when you're behind AND short on the leader's favorite. Cuts everyone but signals you're losing.
  • Asymmetric portfolios shape strategy
    If you have 2 stocks with x3 multipliers, you live and die by extremes. 3-stock players need balance — adjust your card play accordingly.

Ready to Play?

Pass-and-play offline with friends, or host an online room and play cross-device with anyone.

About Markets

Each player secretly holds a portfolio of stocks (Long / Short, with multipliers). 6 stocks on the board, all starting at 50. Each turn: draw 2 Market Event cards, play 1, discard 1 face-up. Card effects are public — the deception is in WHO plays WHAT and WHEN. The discard is information. So is the suboptimal play.

3-4 players (best with 4) · 30–45 min · Strategy-Heavy

How a round plays out

  1. Portfolio deal

    Each player secretly draws a portfolio card. Asymmetric: some hold 3 stocks (lower multipliers), some hold 2 (higher multipliers).

  2. Draw 2 cards

    Market Event deck has 60 cards: Supply Shock, Tech Boom, War Escalation, Regulation, Merger Rumor, Crash, etc.

  3. Play 1, discard 1 face-up

    Play one to manipulate prices. Discard one face-up — others read your discard for hints about your hand.

  4. Resolve & advance

    Stock prices update. 10 rounds total. Highest portfolio value wins.

Roles

Trader(all)
Each holds a secret portfolio: Long positions (gain on price up, multipliers up to ×3) and Short positions (gain on price down). Plays Market Events to push prices toward their portfolio while reading others' plays.

How to win

Highest portfolio
Sum of (final stock price × Long multiplier) − (final price × Short multiplier) after Round 10. Highest total wins.

Tips for new players

Discard high-value cards strategically
A discard of a Tech Boom suggests you're NOT long TECH. Use it as misdirection — sometimes throw away a card you actually wanted to "prove" your portfolio.
Watch the regulation pattern
Regulation freezes a stock for 2 rounds. Players regulate stocks they're NOT long. Track regulation targets to map portfolios.
Crash is a nuke
All stocks -10. Useful when you're behind AND short on the leader's favorite. Cuts everyone but signals you're losing.
Asymmetric portfolios shape strategy
If you have 2 stocks with x3 multipliers, you live and die by extremes. 3-stock players need balance — adjust your card play accordingly.

What makes it interesting

Cards have transparent effects but hidden owners. By Round 7 every player is doing three things at once: maximizing their portfolio, inferring others' portfolios from their plays, and playing cards that benefit them while LOOKING like they benefit someone else. Experienced players will play a deliberately suboptimal card just to misdirect. The discard is as much information as the play.

Every play that benefits you reveals what you hold. Every discard reveals what you DON'T need. The best traders learn to make their losing plays look like winning ones.

2-stock players are more volatile (bigger swings, harder to read). 3-stock players hedge more. Playtest shows roughly equal win rates with skilled players, slight 2-stock edge in 3-player.