Flutter Game Review

Flutter

This is obviously a stockmarket game. The board is made of heavy card stock and has holes in rows for the six companies into which pegs sit. These pegs are in two halves. The 'traveller' peg moves up and down the board according to the throw of the dice. The 'parent' peg indicates the current market price. It also serves as the starting point from which the traveller peg operates, and to which it returns after each round of play. Each pair of pegs represents a trading company. A neat way of keeping track of the share price changes.
Each player is given Ł300 at the start of play. The share certificates are limited in each company to the number of players, although extra shares can be issued later as bonus shares. The pegs are placed in the board at the 100 value.
Play consists of throwing both dice. One die is an ordinary six sided die, the other is lettered 'A' to 'F'. This indicates, when thrown, which company is affected and how far the traveller peg for that company moves up the board. So, if the throw is C4, the traveller peg for Captivating Cosmetics is moved 4 holes up the board. The dice are then passed to the next player.
Buying and selling is done before throwing the dice. Shares are bought in multiples of 100, each share certificate representing 100 shares. The broker sells any share certificate available at market price, plus Ł5. The broker buys shares offered at market value, which then become available again.
Certain places on the board have special meaning. A Contingency hole means a 'Market News' card is drawn and this moves that companys' peg up or down. If the peg lands against 'Slump'. the peg drops six holes.
As soon as peg reaches the top of the board, the round ends. The broker then pays out dividends and moves the parent peg, thus altering the share value. Traveller pegs are returned to parent pegs and the next round starts. The game continues until one player has Ł600.
I mentioned Bonus Shares earlier. This are issued when a Parent peg moves up to Ł200 (top of the board). Bonus shares are issued on a one for one basis and the share value is dropped to Ł100. Another nice touch is that when a share reaches the bottom of the board, it is declared bankrupt, ceases trading and is removed from the game. Share certificates held in this company are worthless.
SUMMARY:
This is a simple stock market game and is quite good fun to play. The version I have is an early version, but I have seen more recent versions of this game, so it has obviously stayed popular through the years. A good lighthearted game.
Review by Brian