WORLD EXCHANGERS (2022)

PLAYERS	TIME	DESIGNER	PUBLISHER
2-4	20-40 mins	Romain Caterdjian Smoox Chen	EmperorS4

In this market trading semi Flip ‘n’ Write, Players are a bunch of folk who entertain themselves with the buying and selling of the World’s big cities.

The game lasts for 12 rounds, and each round sees players either buying or selling City Cards.

It sounds basic, but there’s a lot going on.

First off, most cities have a different buy and sell value, as well as a bonus sell value if they leave your collection on certain rounds.

This allows you to plan ahead, knowing when to hold onto something if you want to make a specific amount at the right time.

But why would that matter? Is it not about just making a lot of money?

Well sort of.

Players track their spending on their own board, marking the ups and down of their cash flow.

The board contains symbols, all used for end game scoring, and it’s these symbols that you’re trying to guide your line through.

End game score is made from several sets of income. Leftover cash flow, value of your remaining city cards (making it hard to give some of these up), Trend cards (score bonuses) and multiplying Investment symbols by city card types.

The crux of the game though is that city card market. You’ll have between two and five cards available to purchase, and then whatever you own can be sold.

But you’ll sometimes find yourself stuck making a move you don’t want.

You can’t hoard city cards because at zero cash, you’re forced to sell something.

But you can’t sell everything because you max out at a 1000 and excess is wasted.

So it gets crunchy.

There are times when it’s a little hard to see where you’re scoring. With a lot of symbols to keep track of across boards and cards, you’ll likely miss something.

I also think the rulebook could do with a little expansion in some areas.

Overall WORLD EXCHANGERS is a quick playing game that gives you room for some strategy while also forcing you to make tough decisions. Bright and colourful and a lot of fun.