Stalk Exchange Board Game Review

When we looked at the components for Stalk Exchange we noted that it was one of the better produced games we’ve seen in a long time. With the recent launch of this title and Gnome Hollow (LINK components article), The OP has been knocking it out of the park on the production side of things. While a good production goes a long way to making me enjoy a game more, it is not the end-all-be-all, and a good game needs to exist somewhere behind that glossy cover. And thankfully, there is something nice buried beneath!

In Stalk Exchange, players will be moving bulb/flower discs into the garden to create surrounded clumps of plants, which will then be transferred to the main board track which will ultimately bring the end of the game. Players can also swap flower discs or take discs into their personal supply (hidden from other players) in hopes that those flowers will be worth the most points at the end of the game. As the game implies, this is a stock exchange of sorts, just with stalks…flowers. You are trying to raise the stock of the flowers behind your player screen, in order to maximize your points.

The name is definitely clever, and someone deserves a lot of kudos for making a stock exchange game fit into a flower theme. And this is a theme my family has been loving lately. The really appealing thing about Stalk Exchange isn’t that it’s flower and nature themed, but that it is so easy to teach and play. Yes, there is some strategy here that will keep more veteran board game players entertained, but it’s not so heavy as to scare away novice or new players.

In reality, this game is about making good decisions. Do you grab a plant behind your screen, or place it to surround some flowers and boost the number of points a specific flower is worth? How do you come to terms with the fact that whichever flower is the most valuable at the end of the game, is actually only worth half the points when final scoring begins. It is these decisions that make this experience so exhilarating. And because it plays so quickly – or at least it seems to play quickly – it’s a game that can easily fit into your regular board game night without taking over from a bigger, more immersive experience.

Everything here just seems to fit so nicely. A fantastic production is thanks to a great theme, and that theme of flower trading matches so nicely to what actually happens on a stock exchange. This is a brilliant package that is simple yet elegant, inviting yet intense. It is a game that will both bring together a group for a fun evening, while turning players on each other as the stock of specific flowers rise and fall.

This is a brilliant game – I love the experience it provides me and our family, and it’s one that will stick around for a long while!