Market Mayhem Rules

  1. Game Introduction

Welcome to Market Mayhem, a rollicking stock-trading board game that thrusts you into the futuristic world of Dogecar—an innovative (and delightfully canine-themed) electric car company run by the mighty Elron Husk and his faithful sidekick Bark Bot! Your objective is simple: by year’s end, you want to be the wealthiest investor at the table. You’ll roll dice to set prices, flip news cards to ignite market shocks, utilize cunning “Market Shaker” cards to manipulate the board, and ultimately attempt to outwit your opponents in a flurry of asset exchanges with margin loans, stock buys, shorts, and high-stakes decision-making. Are you ready to unleash your inner Wall Street wolf (or, in this case, dog)? Prepare for a turbulent ride full of laughter and fun competition!

2. Components & Setup

In Market Mayhem, you’ll rely on a colorful board festooned that holds a yearly chart for Dogecar (and optionally Space, for an even bigger cosmic challenge). You’ll want to place a new Price Marker after every Price Phase Roll (for every price period), which can also slide up or down following additional Earnings Card and Shaker Card movements. Grab your cash and your Dogecar and Space Shares from “the Exchange,” which should be organized on either side of the table for players to reach easily. Shuffle two special decks: the Earnings Cards that tell us how well each company is performing, and the News Bomb Cards that deliver shocking twists in the blink of an eye.

Each player starts with $2,000 in cash—courtesy of Dogecar’s CFO, the generous “Cash Guy”—plus one Dogecar share to represent your proud status as an early investor.

If it’s your first rodeo, you might skip the Market Shaker cards until you’re comfortable—otherwise, deal two to each player. Finally, set the Dogecar IPO price at $500 and place a marker there. If you want two assets trading, add Space at $1,000 for double the excitement. 

3. Game Sequence

A full game year consists of four quarters: Q1- Q4. 

Each quarter contains Two Time Periods (Mid Quarter and Earnings) each with Three Play Phases: 

1) The Price Roll: Where both company dice are rolls and a new price marker is added to the board. 

 2) Card Play Phase: Where a quarterly earnings card is flipped every other period and players may play their Card Phase Market Shakers (Always replenishing them if they are played). These changes make the Price Marker for that period go up or down based on the card changes.

 3) The Trade Phase: Where the price is now locked in and players may freely trade and reposition their portfolios, pay loan interest or take an options roll. Players may also sell their Market Shakers to raise money for buying assets or repaying loans at $1000 each card (Limit ONE card hand replenish per Trade Phase).

So in overview, you’ll roll dice to shift prices, experience market chaos with cards, then buy or sell shares in the aftermath. You’ll march boldly quarter to quarter —wiser (maybe) and wealthier (hopefully). After Q4’s Earnings flip, tally everyone’s net worth and anoint the Market Mayhem winner!

4. Splits & Dividends

With all these dice rolls and surprise news, sometimes the price of Dogecar (or Space Stock) will shoot through the roof—or sink through the floor. If a stock reaches its upper limit $1000 for Dogecar and $2,000 for Space, then a split occurs. During a stock split, each shareholder doubles their number of shares, and the stock price is cut in half. 

If the new price soared above $2,000 (say $2,100), that extra $100 is instantly paid to each shareholder as a dividend before the split. Only odd pre split prices pay that $100 dividend. Another example would be Dogecar rocketing to $1500. In this case, all Dogecar investors receive a $100 dividend per share which balances out the pre-split price to $1400 and then the stock splits 1 for 2 to become $700.

Whenever a stock splits, rejoice—and maybe gloat if you were smart enough to hold shares at just the right time. In the case of shares sold short, these also double during a split. In these cases this is the only time where a player may have over the short limit of shares for a particular company and still hold them. Short Shares must pay dividends whenever they are issued, including in the case of the odd $100 stock split.


5. Stocks Hitting Zero

Conversely, if the stock price of Dogecar or Space ever plummets to $0, fear not—Jazzy Dimecat of Meow Meow Morgan Bank swoops in to “rescue” the company (and claim every last share in the process). All players must return their shares of that fallen stock to the exchange, effectively losing their stake. But thanks to Jazzy’s generous refinancing, the company isn’t gone for good; it’s promptly re-listed at a cheaper price—$100 below the previous IPO (or re-list price) for Dogecar, and $200 below the previous IPO (or re-list price) in the case of Space Stock.


This means that every time a company crashes to zero, it returns to the board immediately with a reduced tag, offering a fresh chance for players to jump back in (or, if they’re feeling skittish, to stand aside). So by the next Trade Phase, savvy investors can pounce on the newly discounted stock—assuming they’re brave enough to bet on a freshly resurrected enterprise, of course!


5. Loans & Shorts

Sometimes, you just don’t have enough cash to buy the number of shares you crave. That’s where loans come in. On any of your Trade Turns, you can take loan certificates and then immediately receive that much cash. But remember, borrowed money isn’t free: for each $1,000 you borrow, you must pay 10% ($100) interest the next Trade Phase for any loan certificates. Your loan limit increases each quarter to the cap which is firmly set at $4,000 times the current quarter. That means in Q1, you can borrow up to $4,000 total; in Q2, up to $8,000, and so on—yes, it can get wild by Q4!

If you have Options active, please place any loan certificates on your options card to block you from taking option positions. Meow Meow Morgan Bank has declared allowing both would be too risky!

If you’re feeling especially bold, you can also short sell Dogecar (and Space if you’re using it). Short selling means selling shares you don’t own, collecting cash right away in hopes that prices fall so you can buy them back at a bargain. Of course, if the price rises, you’ll have to cover your short at a painful premium—ouch. The short limits are quarter-based, too: 5 Dogecar shares per quarter (so 5 in Q1, 10 in Q2, etc.) and 3 Space shares per quarter. Be sure you keep track, or you’ll end up in a margin meltdown!

6. Roll Phase and Game Dice

Every new price period starts with a roll of the dice! 

Dogecar’s die is less volatile with smaller price moves (▲▼ $100 and $200), one News Bomb (which triggers a News Bomb Card), and Momentum (which will keep the stock moving $100 in the same direction that it last moved). 

Space has more volatile price moves (▲▼ $200 and $300), and two News Bomb sides.

As soon as the roll happens, place new corresponding Price Markers for each stock at their new prices. Then the card phase happens

News Bombs

If a News Bomb is triggered—either by the die or a Market Shaker—turn over the top News Bomb card. 

Momentum

Momentum in Market Mayhem always starts up, including when a company re-lists. If the stock was flat between periods then the last up or down move before that is the current momentum.


6. Earnings Every quarter ends in thrilling fashion with the Earnings Card flip, signifying Dogecar’s (and Space’s) real-world performance. Maybe it boosts the price by $200 plus a dividend, or reveals a dreaded profit slump that axes prices by $300. You never know!

Survive (or profit from) this quarter’s close, then stride into the next quarter with new checks unlocked and bigger loan/short limits.

7. Market Shakers

To make the game more strategic, add in the Market Shaker deck! At the beginning of the game deal out 2 Shaker Cards to everyone just like you’re dealing out a Texas Hold’m Hand. 


You may always look at your Market Shaker hand.  please use it to make strategies for your trading. On each market shaker it indicates when it can be played for card phases. There are earnings ones and mid Quarter ones if that is listed, you may only play that market shaker in those specific phases.


On each card phase, you may play one or both of your market shakers in any order among the players. So anyone may lay one down to start shaker action anytime after the roll or earnings flip depending on the period. You may confirm the completion of the card phase by saying “Any More Cards?”


Replenish your Shaker Cards after the Card Phase to the amount you started with at the beginning of that Card Phase.


During the Trade Phase, you may sell any Market Shakers for $1000 each, you get to replenish up to 2 Market Sharkers per Trade Phase.


8a: Trade Phase

During the Trade Phase the only thing you must do is pay your current loan interest. For simplicity you may place the interest you own on your short card to indicate negative cash. A player may have no more than $1000 in negative cash on their short card.


You may also do any of the following:

  1. Take out margin loans up to the current loan cap

  2. Buy and sell stock (Including Short Selling)

  3. Play a Trade Phase Market Shaker

  4. Sell Market Shaker Cards for $1000 Each

  5. Take an Options Roll (Or TWO Option Rolls in the second half of the year - Q3 and Q4)


Each Trade Phase ends when everyone is done with their Trade Phase activities. Players can call out “Any Final Trades?” to check in on the status of the group.



8. Options

For an extra dose of thrills, Options can be added to Market Mayhem. They are an optional tool, just like stock shorting that are not necessarily needed to do well in the game. 

You may use them during any Trade Turn. 

How to do it: Place an option bet by putting cash on your Options Card. Then you (and any other players who placed a bet) roll the Options Die individually —each bet is resolved in ascending order, from smallest to largest. The high volatility roll result will tell you what happens.

Limits: Option rolls are limited to players who are free of Margin Loans. Please place any held loan certificates on your Option Card to block you from accidentally taking an options position. In the first half of the game ( Q1 and Q2) you are limited to ONE Options Roll. In the second half (Q3 and Q4) you may do TWO Rolls (back to back). Beyond that there are no limits to how much you can bet but it is always smart to avoid an odd $100 because of rounding effect potential (see next section).

Outcome potentials: Land a 2× and you effectively double your staked cash; hit a 3× for a delicious triple. Rolling GONE or LOST will result in a brutal loss of all capital wagered and watch out for that pesky 0.5×—where you’ll forfeit half your precious stake (rounded down)!

Option roll winnings: If you roll 2x, then collect the exact same amount as you placed on your options card (ending your cash balance with double what you started with). Similarly, on a 3x, collect twice what you placed on the options card. 

The average math folks say the expected return is roughly a 25% gain, but that’s if luck smiles on you over the long run. If you’re feeling cautious, or don’t want to risk your grocery money, you might keep your options bets small. Or, if your middle name is “YOLO,” push all your chips in for a heart-pounding roll of the dice!

9. End of the Game

You’ll continue rolling, trading, flipping news, and unveiling earnings until the end of Q4. After the final Earnings Card is applied—and everyone pays any lingering interest or collects last-minute dividends—the markets close for good. It’s time to count your fortune:

1. Cash on hand (including any last-minute check or options winnings).

2. Market value of all your shares (number of shares × final price per share).

3. Outstanding debts (hopefully zero by now, but if you’re in the hole, it detracts from your net).

Whoever wields the greatest net worth is declared the Champion of Market Mayhem—and presumably gets to brag, bark, or meow all the way home (depending on your chosen spirit animal).

10. Conclusion

In Market Mayhem, your path to victory can be paved by cunning trades, perfectly-timed Market Shakers, fortuitous earnings flips, and the occasional dash of luck. Whether you’re a cautious “buy and hold” stalwart or a dice-rolling thrill-seeker going short every chance you get, this game welcomes all strategies with open paws. Just remember to keep an eye on your loans and short positions, brace yourself for those bombshell news events, and decide whether your next move is to double down or cash out.

Thank you for playing, and may the bullish bark of Dogecar stock guide you to untold riches—or, at the very least, a story you’ll be telling for years. Now, dive in and make your market moves with gusto. Welcome to Market Mayhem!