Overview

Black Friday is a stock market game where players are speculators trying to accumulate the most gold before the inevitable stock market crash. Players buy and sell shares in five colored companies, manipulate share prices, and spend cash to purchase gold bars. The game features the M.I.B.S. (Minimally Intelligent Broker Service) as an automated opponent for 2-4 player games. The player with the most gold at the end wins.

Components

• 1 double-sided game board (2-4 players / 5 players)
• 140 shares (25 each in purple, yellow, green, blue, white; 15 black)
• 5 share price tokens
• 2 gold tokens (gold price track + purchased gold bars track)
• 20 big gold bars (value 5) and 20 small gold bars (value 1)
• 5 screens
• 5 double-sided level tiles
• 1 cloth bag
• 4 bonus tiles
• Money tokens (30x $1, 15x $5, 20x $10, 15x $50, 10x $100, 10x $200)

Setup

1. Place the game board matching your player count (2-4 side or 5 side).
2. Place share price tokens on the 8th space of the share price table.
3. Place gold tokens on space “20” of the gold price track and space “0” of the purchased gold bars track.
4. Fill the bag with shares (remove 1 of each color for 2-4 players).
5. Place shares on the share market: 4 per space (2-4 players) or 5 per space (5 players).
6. Randomly draw 20 shares from the bag and add to the share market.
7. Adjust share prices: most scarce color moves to space 10, most common moves to space 6.
8. Place 2 shares of each color and 6 black shares on the “share sale” tracks.
9. Place 9 black shares on the share price table.
10. Each player draws 5 shares from the bag (hidden behind screen) and takes $100.
11. Determine starting player; distribute bonus tiles to non-starting players.
12. M.I.B.S.: Required with 2 players (plays as 3rd player); optional with 3-4 players.

Turn Structure

Players take turns in order. On your turn, you must perform exactly one of the following actions:

1. Buy shares from the share market
2. Sell shares to the share sale track
3. Buy gold

After each player’s turn, the share market and prices are updated.

Actions

Buy Shares

• Buy 1-6 shares of one color from the share market.
• Pay the current price per share (based on the share price table).
• Place purchased shares behind your screen.
• As shares are removed from the market, prices may rise.

Sell Shares

• Sell 1-6 shares of one color from behind your screen.
• Place them on the current share sale track.
• Receive cash equal to the current price per share.
• When a share sale track fills up, the share price level drops, potentially triggering the crash.

Buy Gold

• Spend cash to buy gold bars at the current gold price.
• The gold price increases as more gold is purchased (tracked on the gold price track).
• Gold bars cannot be sold back.

Market Updates

After each turn:

• Draw shares from the bag to replenish the share market.
• Black shares drawn trigger price drops and move the game toward the crash.
• Share prices fluctuate based on supply in the market.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

• The game ends when the stock market crashes (triggered by black shares and share sale conditions).
• When the crash occurs, all remaining shares become worthless.
• Each player counts their gold bars (big bars = 5, small bars = 1).
• The player with the most gold wins.
• Tiebreaker: most remaining cash.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

M.I.B.S. (Automated Opponent)

• Required for 2 players; optional for 3-4.
• The M.I.B.S. follows simple automated rules: it buys shares when prices are low and sells when high.
• It always starts the game as the first player.
• Specific M.I.B.S. rules detail its buying, selling, and gold-purchasing behavior.

Black Shares

• Black shares have no share price and cannot be bought or sold normally.
• When drawn from the bag, they accelerate the crash.
• 9 black shares are pre-placed on the share price table; when share prices drop to these levels, black shares enter the sale track.

Level Tiles

• Double-sided tiles mark the 10 price levels for shares.
• As share sale tracks fill, the price level decreases.

Bonus Tiles

• Non-starting players receive bonus tiles that provide one-time advantages (extra purchases, etc.).

Player Reference

Action	Description
Buy Shares	Buy 1-6 shares of one color at current price
Sell Shares	Sell 1-6 shares of one color at current price
Buy Gold	Spend cash for gold bars at current gold price

Gold Bar Values
Small bar	1 gold
Big bar	5 gold

Game End	Stock market crash
Winner	Most gold bars
Tiebreaker	Most cash