World Exchangers - Review
Information:
Player Age: 8+
Player Count: 2 - 4 Players
BGG Weight: 2.50
Year Published: 2022
Introduction:
World Exchangers is what I like to call a stock-and-write game. Players are re-distributing control of the major cities by buying and selling them when the prices are right. Selling and buying at the right time can adjust your chart creating bonuses and different benefits.
Game Anatomy:
Player Board:
This is the board where players will be drawing a sale or purchase line from one round to another.
Any symbols that the line passes through will immediately award that bonus, unless it is specifically used in the end of game scoring. These bonuses may be:
- An increase or decrease in propaganda.
- Investment icons that will score additional points at the end of the game by multiplying the investment icons of one colour against the cities of that colour, then again, multiplied by 100 (to match the other points).
- Credit Zone, which requires the line to stop here to gain the bonus. At the end of the game players will score a certain number of points (shown on the board) based on the number of these bonuses gained.
Propaganda Board:
On the player board, there will be numerous instances where you could gain or lose the propaganda symbol (represented by a folder). Doing this will move you up and down on the propaganda board. At the end of the game, players will score bonus points based on their position when compared to the other players on this board. Sometimes this symbol will be spread out through the city cards, which will adjust your propaganda at the end of the game.
Character Cards:
There are four characters with unique abilities. The A side is best for new players and comes with a starting benefit. 
The B side is much more interesting to me as it has abilities that can be activated once per turn (except for the Wigstan character) by using propaganda. Each character also gives you a starting propaganda of 1 or 2.
City Cards:
City cards come in four colours; green, blue, orange and red. Every card has a purchase value shown in big numbers and this value will also be the sell value (most of the time). At the bottom of the card is a different sale value for when the player finishes their line in the turn shown on the track in blue and red.
The red sections of the track even have a bonus ability called ‘celebration ring’ that will result in the finishing location being circled and capturing any other bonuses that circle touches.
Some of the cards contain the same bonuses as seen on the player board, allowing players additional bonuses at the end of the game.
Trend Cards:
An evaluation occurs in both the middle and the end of the game. This is where the trend cards come into play. Each game will contain a 6 month trend and a 12 month trend. 
The 6 month trend awards the player with the most or least of the requirement a bonus propaganda. When the 6 month trend is resolved, the five city cards in the display will be discarded and refreshed.
The 12 month trend will award or deduct bonus points if the specified conditions are met at any point during the game.
Setup:
- Shuffle the starting city cards (denoted by the ‘S’ on the bottom left).
- Subtract the value of these cards from 1300 and mark the starting cash on month 0 on the left side of the board.
- Shuffle the city card deck and reveal the top five cards to create a display.
- Shuffle and determine the 6 month and 12 month trend.
- Each player will recieve a character card and will together determine if playing on the A or B side.
- Place the propaganda board next to the draw deck. Each player places their corresponding player marker at the 0 space and advance based on their character card.
- The red player (larger player marker) will be the first player.
How to Play:
The game is played over 12 rounds then scoring will commence. On each turn players will either buy or sell one card. If a player chooses, they can cross of a certain section on their player board to either buy or sell twice. This action can occur once for both buying and selling.
Buy City Cards:
The player chooses one of the cards in the display to purchase at the larger value. This will result in the player drawing a straight line in the months column down to the new value they have. Any bonuses passed hrough will be gained and any credit zone stopped at will be gained.
Sell City Cards:
Selling works the same way as buying, however, you are selecting a card in your tableu and drawing the straight line upwards to reach the new value. When a sale on certain rounds, as highlighted by the blue or red value on the track at the bottom of some cards, the player will instead receive the value stated at the bottom of the card.
Scoring:
After 12 rounds scoring will commence. Multiple factors are added together (listed below) and the player with the most points is the winner.
These scoring factors include;
- The value of all the cities in a player's tableu.
- A score in relation to player count and
propaganda track performance.
- Points gained from meeting the 12 month trend.
- Investment icons multiplied by cities of that colour.
- Points matching the amount of credit zones a player gained.
Final Thoughts:
- Engaging set collection of the cities.
- Unique gameplay.
- A stock game that isn't affected by what your opponents do.
As a fan of anything roll/flip and write, I was instantly intrigued by World Exchangers. My only issue was that stock games normally hold a lot of interaction between players that can be quite harsh. This, however, is a stock game that has no reliance on when and how other players manipulate their stocks. The other part I really enjoy with this game is that it is not as simple as making money. Players have to determine when to buy and sell, as well as the abundance, to effectively gain the bonuses they seek. This is a very interesting game with a unique mechanism that seems to have gone somewhat under the radar. It has easily earned a Silver Seal of Approval, and I recommend giving it a fair go on your next game night.
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