Understanding Quantitative Easing: A Dive into

What is Quantitative Easing?

Quantitative Easing is what QE stands for. But what does that even mean? It's a monetary policy that central banks use to combat deflation and keep money flowing during economic downturns. Basically, central banks start buying up assets from commercial banks. This makes banks more liquid, allowing them to loan more money out.

A central bank is the entity that manages money production, monetary policy, and credit for a nation or group of nations. In the United States, it's called the Federal Reserve. In QE, players take on the role of a central bank and buy up assets to keep their country's economy going. They have to be careful not to overspend while doing this. QE is far less complicated than this paragraph might suggest. Let’s take a closer look at QE from All Play Games and its expansion, QE: Commodities.

QE Base Game Components

Setup: Getting Started with QE

Setting up QE is super simple. Each player receives a scoring card, a marker, a bidding card, and a random industry token (which they keep secret). This game accommodates 3 to 5 players. Each scoring card shows all the ways to gain points. Essentially, players will want to either collect sets of the same industries or nations, or they will aim to gather sets of one of each industry. The hidden industry token gives each player a random free space in the industry section of the scoring.

There are 21 company tiles that get shuffled and placed face down in the middle. These tiles represent the companies that players will bid on.

Game Play: How to Play QE

The goal of QE is to be the player who has not spent the most money while also accumulating the most victory points. At the end of the game, the player who has spent the most money is eliminated. Each turn consists of five parts. The first player acts as the auctioneer for the round. The auctioneer reveals a company tile from the top of the stack and informs the other players about its nationality, the victory points it's worth, and the industry it belongs to. This information is crucial as it directly relates to the scoring matrix on each player's card.

Next, the auctioneer writes down their bid on the bidding card and places it down for everyone to see. Here's where it gets a bit abstract. You can bid 1 trillion dollars or just 5 peanuts! There’s not much guidance, except that players must bid a positive whole number or zero. The first auctioneer will likely set the tone for the rest of the game with their initial bid. After the auctioneer’s bid is revealed, the other players write down their bids and hand them to the auctioneer. They cannot bid the same amount as the auctioneer, and these bids remain secret.

3-4 and 5 player scoring cards

The auctioneer then writes the winning bid amount on the back of the company token, which is awarded to the winning bidder. If a player bids zero, they can mark 2 victory points on their player card.

Scoring in QE is a "point salad," meaning there are many ways to score points. Part of the strategy lies in how players choose to score. Players can earn points for having companies that match their country, for holding multiple companies in the same sector, for having groups of four companies from different sectors, for bidding zero, and for the points marked on each company or commodity. Additionally, having the lowest total of money spent counts too! The secret token players received at the beginning counts as an industry when scoring. There’s a fair amount of adding up points, but hey, it’s an economic game after all!

Introducing QE: Commodities

QE: Commodities is an expansion for QE. This expansion introduces a commodities market featuring gold, oil, and crypto. After players bid for an industry and the highest bidder wins, the second-highest bidder gets to choose a commodity. They write their bid on the back of the commodity board as usual, but the commodity spend is subtracted from their total spend at the end of the game. Each of the three commodity types has victory points associated with them. Gold and oil are stable, with gold having 6 or 7 points on all the tiles, and oil having 5 or 6 on all of them. Crypto, however, is much more random, with victory points ranging from 0 to 10 on the tiles.

There is no bonus for crypto, just the thrill of its randomness!

This addition brings a lot of chaos to the game. It also complicates tracking other players' spending in your head since they are now subtracting as well. If all the gold commodity tiles are claimed, the market crashes, and all tiles lose 3 victory points. The player with the most oil tiles at the end of the game receives a 5-point bonus. Remember, there’s no bonus for crypto—just the joy of how unpredictable it is! Plus, the original game box is spacious enough to accommodate the expansion components, making it easier to transport.

QE Commodities Components

Thoughts on QE and Its Expansion

QE is a fun game that can swing between being silly or highly calculated, depending on who you're playing with. The concept of Quantitative Easing distilled into a fast-paced game is something I find truly impressive. It takes a moment to learn, and a little longer to grasp the secret bidding mechanics, but by turn two, everyone is usually on the same page, and the game picks up speed.

Adding in the QE: Commodities expansion injects a lot of chaos with the random draws. I recommend playing QE without the expansion first to see how you like it. For those who thrive on chaos, dive into the QE: Commodities expansion and enjoy the unpredictability! Personally, I found it a bit too random and felt it removed some of the strategy. However, it does make the game feel a little more light-hearted.

Back of Game Boxes

QE is a light game that helps illustrate the economic concept of quantitative easing. It’s perfect for anyone studying economics or those who want to understand the concepts better. With a playtime of about 30 minutes, it’s great for the classroom. I had a blast playing this game and learned a couple of things along the way!

Game Details

• Players: 3-5

• Year Published: 2019

• Recommended Ages: 12+

• Time to Play: 30 minutes

  
  

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Bert's Tabletop Games was provided a retail version of QE and QE: Commodities by All Play for this review.