Long Short
Long Short Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
1 game board, 2 dice, play money, 44 action cards, 16 day-trade cards, 84 price change cards, and playing chips (in 6 different colours, 15 single chips and 3 five-chips each).
Game Overview
This game is built in a form close to reality, following the processes at the commodity futures exchanges. The decisive difference from the stock exchange is that one can make profits both when prices rise and when prices fall.
Each player receives price change cards, with which he can set the exchange prices in motion. In addition, prices change by rolling the dice and through the action cards. During the game the players try to increase their wealth through profitable, quick buying and selling of contracts. The player who has built up the largest capital at the end of the game is the winner.
Setup
The play money is placed on the bank strip in the designated fields (sorted out of the packaging insert). One player takes the bank and gives each player 10,000 $.
The action cards are shuffled, divided into three piles and laid face down on the game board in the designated fields.
The day-trade cards (violet) are managed by the banker and placed on the bank strip.
The price change cards (yellow, red, blue, green) are shuffled separately by colour and dealt face down. Each player receives:
- 4 yellow cards
- 3 red cards
- 2 blue cards
- 1 green card
These cards are kept face down. The remaining cards are removed from the game.
The white chips are used to mark the prices of the individual goods on the price tables.
From the coloured chips (yellow, red, blue, green, orange, violet) each player chooses one colour and takes all chips of that colour as his contract chips.
Basics
The game board presents, with its 6 different goods (wheat, copper, sugar, soja, gold and coffee), a section of the range of goods offered at the commodity futures exchanges.
The goods on the game board are divided into three groups:
- Low speculative: wheat and copper, point value 500 $
- Medium speculative: sugar and soja, point value 1,000 $
- High speculative: gold and coffee, point value 2,000 $
Whenever it is his turn, each player may buy contracts in any good and in either direction (long or short), as many as he has contract chips and the corresponding money for the security payments available. This also applies when another player has already acquired contracts on the same field.
Since the security payment, the margin, for every good is three times the point value for one contract, one should manage one's starting capital of 10,000 $ carefully.
Board and Components
Long (rising prices): on this side of the board all contracts on rising prices are marked with the contract chips, always at the height of the current price.
Short (falling prices): on this side of the board all contracts on falling prices are marked with the contract chips, always at the height of the current price.
The price table (Kurstabelle): the price of a good is marked here with the white chip. At the start of the game it is placed on the middle price field. One field of price movement up or down corresponds to one point. The figures are given to illustrate the point value, e.g. here 1 point = 500 $.
Margin: the margin is the illustration of the security payment to be paid per contract. It is independent of the current price. For example, here for wheat one contract costs 1,500 $ margin. This security payment is paid to the bank.
Day-trade card: day-trade cards are obtained by rolling the dice. They are used to settle larger price gains in advance, or to forestall a larger price loss.
This card entitles its holder to sell (not to buy!) contracts during a round of play. This is done by calling out "Stop! Day trade!" at the moment when another player wants to pass the dice to the next player. Each day-trade card applies to only one day trade and must then be returned to the bank.
Contract chips: with the contract chips, each player marks with his colour, at the height of the existing price, the contracts he has acquired on the game board (see the illustration of the game board). The thin chips each correspond to one contract. The thick chips each correspond to five contracts. The chips are made so that they can also be stacked on top of one another.
- One contract (thin chip)
- Five contracts (thick chip)
Margin per contract: 1,500 $ (for soja and sugar 3,000 $, for gold and coffee 6,000 $). This security payment is paid to the bank.
Special Notes
If the price of a good goes beyond the price table, upwards or downwards, all contracts in this good held by all players are settled. Profits are paid out, losses must be made good. Afterwards the price marker chip is placed again on the middle price field, as at the start of the game.
Among the action cards is a card marked "End of game" (Spielende). With the general agreement of the players this card may also be removed from the game. As a variant of the game, the player who drew it may cancel it for 10,000 $.
Turn Sequence
Play goes clockwise. Whoever first rolls "day trade" with the green die receives a day-trade card and begins the game.
Each player proceeds in turn as follows:
- He may buy or sell contracts. He orientates himself on the price change cards he has received and on the buying and selling behaviour of the other players. If he buys contracts, they are marked on the game board with the contract chips and he pays the corresponding margin to the bank. If he sells contracts, they are settled by the bank, the corresponding contract chips are taken back from the game board and returned to the player.
- He must play one price change card. The price marker chips are moved accordingly.
- He must roll both dice. The results shown on the dice are carried out.
Afterwards the dice are passed to the next player. The game lasts 10 rounds.
Note: in the last round no further purchase of contracts is possible.
Price Change Cards (Kursveränderungskarten)
By playing price change cards, the prices of the goods are influenced, rising and falling. For example, when playing the cards shown, this means:
- Card 1: the gold price rises by 2 points; soja and coffee each fall by 1 point.
- Card 2: the gold price rises by 2 points; the coffee price falls by 3 points.
- Card 3: the gold price rises by 2 points; all other prices fall by 2 points.
- Card 4: only the gold price rises, by 4 points. All other prices remain unaffected.
Dice
The red die is the goods die. The six different goods are printed on it.
The green die is the situation die. Its faces mean:
- day-trade: you receive a day-trade card. The goods die is disregarded.
- action-card: draw an action card. Carry out the instructions on it, then place it back under the pile. If no goods are referred to on the card, the goods die is disregarded.
- limit up: the price of the good shown on the goods die rises by 2 points.
- limit down: the price of the good shown on the goods die falls by 2 points.
Profit and Loss Settlement of Contracts
Example of profit: a player buys 2 wheat contracts at a price of 3,000 on 'long', i.e. on rising prices, and sells these contracts again at a price of 6,000. His profit is calculated as follows:
From 3,000 to 6,000 = 6 points (1 wheat point = 500 $) = 3,000 times 2 contracts = 6,000 $, plus margin of 3,000 $ = total 9,000 $, which he receives from the bank.
Example of loss: a player buys 3 soja contracts at a price of 8,000 on 'long', i.e. on rising prices, but the price falls and he sells again at 6,000. His loss is calculated as follows:
From 8,000 to 6,000 = 2 points (1 soja point = 1,000 $) = 2,000 $ times 3 contracts = 6,000 loss, deducted from the margin paid of 9,000 $ = 3,000 $. He therefore receives 3,000 $ back from the bank despite the loss.
Example of loss exceeding margin: a player buys 1 gold contract at a price of 20,000 on 'short', i.e. on falling prices, but the price rises and he sells again at 30,000. His loss is calculated as follows:
From 20,000 to 30,000 = 5 points (1 gold point = 2,000 $) = 10,000 $ times 1 contract = 10,000 $ loss. Deducted from the margin paid of 6,000 $, a loss of 4,000 $ still remains. This is to be paid to the bank.