Gandy Dancer Games released their first game, Pacific Northwest Rails, a few years ago and while the game has never attracted much attention it is nonetheless an enjoyable contest that fits somewhere between a family game and a serious [page scan/se=0428/sf=category/fi=stockin.asc/ml=10]18xx. Gandy's newest, Insider Trading, is their third release and it is also called "Pacific Northwest Rails II". It shares some of the mechanics of their first design, but this is an original and stand-alone game. Rail Gamers will like this, but it is more than "just another rail game" so most gamers should give it a try as well.

The goal of Insider Trading is to make money, and you do this by buying and selling stock, earning money for delivering goods, maximizing your stock portfolio, and by earning dividends. As the name implies, it is possible to gain an advantage in the stock trading rounds by the use of insider information. This is the first Gandy Dancer game to feature commodity shipping as part of the game, and they do it in a creative way that adds to the overall feel of the game.

The board looks similar to Pacific Northwest Rails, with an outside track and rail lines heading to the interior. Each of five railroads is represented twice by heralds on the outside track, and from each herald there are tracks leading to the interior city of Spokane. Along the way from the outside to Spokane, depots must be built. These are shown by drawing an 'x' on the appropriate spot. Each railroad can have up to ten depots, five from each of the two board spots, and as more depots are built the line becomes more valuable. Depots are built each time a share of that railroad is purchased, and thus there are exactly 10 shares of each railroad. No player controls a railroad and anyone can buy or sell any of the five lines. When a railroad share is purchased for the first time, its stock price is set on a table from $16-$25. This price will move throughout the game and the stock can split it if gets too high or the railroad can go bankrupt if the stock value falls to zero. Buying and selling at the right times is of course one of the key ideas in the game, and as with their other games the Gandy Dancer team has developed some interesting new ideas in this area.

Players move their pawns along the outside track on the board, and when ready they can make a run toward Spokane and possibly deliver goods at the same time. Movement uses the same mechanic as their earlier games, meaning that players can use a movement card numbered one through six, pay to move specific number, or just roll a die. Landing on a railroad herald creates the ability to buy one share of that line or sell any number of shares of that line. Spaces on the outside track also allow players to take an Insider Trading Card, and these can be very helpful but also can be penalizing. One of the key ideas in the game is the Stock Trading Round, which is initiated when a player with an Insider Trading Card lands on the appropriate track space. When this happens, play is temporarily suspended for a series of stock trades. During this round, players take turns buying single shares of a railroad, selling shares in a railroad, or playing an Insider Trading Card face down to the stock market. This card will define the rise or fall in the price of up to three different railroads, thus those with that knowledge can make better decisions about what to buy and what to sell. Multiple cards of this type can be played in the round, so the cumulative effect is often hard to predict. Once a player sells a specific railroad line, they cannot purchase it again in the same Stock Trading round. There are limits on how many total shares a player can own, and this can be constraining as the game proceeds.

The fluctuation of stock prices obviously drives the buying and selling timing. Prices generally increase as shares are purchased or whenever the rail line is used to deliver goods. Prices decrease when shares are sold, and in addition to the Insider Trading Cards there are spaces on the track requiring prices to be adjusted with a die roll.

Commodity delivery is the second major event in the game. There are 18 different types of commodities, three each in groups numbered one through six. Players begin with one card from each group, and attempt to get sets of specific goods for delivery. The more of the same good that is delivered, the higher the bonus. Similar to the Stock Trading Round, players can initiate a Commodities Trading Round that temporarily suspends play. When this is initiated, players first receive cards based on the total number of depots owned by the railroads where they have a current investment (shares). Then, players can trade commodity cards in a defined system. A new card is placed into a trading pit, and then the initiating player can trade for that card by playing one or more cards from his hand to at least match the group number. For example, if I want to trade for a "group 6" commodity, I could trade in a different group six commodity, three group two commodities, four group ones and a group two, etc. The next player can then trade for any card in the pit, and this goes around until each player has traded or passed. Each group of commodity cards contains a disaster card, which either penalizes players for holding Insider Trading Cards or lowers the stock value of a line held by the disaster card's holder.

Runs to Spokane can be made when a player lands on a railroad herald, in lieu of buying or selling stock. A run can be as long as the depots allow; for example, with only three depots built the run can be at most three spaces long. Each depot is worth $2 in dividends to the shareholders, so longer runs pay higher dividends. A run all the way into Spokane earns each shareholder $15 per share. Runs are completed using the same movement mechanism, so it is best to save the "six" movement cards for a full run when you need it. When completing a run, you can turn in a commodity set for an additional bonus.

These are the basic ideas in the game and it starts slowly but builds fast and play moves along well. The game features a number of fine touches which suggest it was well playtested. These include special spots on the track which can be reached only by a die roll (you can't plan movement to these) and a unique idea of tracking each player's "non railroad share" portfolio. You advance this portfolio by delivering commodities, triggering a Stock Trading Round, and by playing an Insider Trading Card. But each level of stock portfolio requires that you own a certain number of shares and are diversified in the number of railroads you own. This idea is not immediately intuitive yet it works well and your ending portfolio value adds to your total wealth for victory purposes. The Stock Trading and Commodity Trading rounds feel original, and when combined with the fluid price movements and insider information the game has a feel all its own. It can break down in the end if railroads go bankrupt, since when this happens all of its depots are destroyed. As commodities are delivered, players keep track on the board of the groups delivered by each line. The game ends when one railroad has delivered each group of goods at least once (each group number, not one of each of the 18 commodities!). So, if a railroad goes bankrupt this counting starts from scratch again.

Insider Trading comes in the same "square tube" container used by the other two Gandy Dancer games, and also like those the tube is covered with a copy of the game board. The rules follow their now-traditional "Gandy Dancer Dispatch" format that looks like a newsletter, but as in their earlier games the rules serve better as a reference once you know the game rather than learning to play it the first time. When I bought Pacific Northwest Rails originally, Gandy Dancer offered the ability to pay $75 for the game plus a guaranteed shipped copy of their next three games. Their second release, Atlantic, Chicago and Pacific Rails, arrived about a year later. Insider Trading arrived on my doorstep with no prior notice and it was a nice surprise. The Dispatch states that their fourth game, Making Tracks, is in the works. While I expect few to take advantage of this, their games use the same rail lines and the same share certificates, so theoretically the games could be combined to make them longer for those who want that type of thing.

For railroad buffs, the term Gandy Dancer has some disputed origins but was first recorded as early as 1918 and is generally considered to refer to the workers who tamped down the ballast using a special tool made for this purpose. The tool was made by the Gandy Corporation of Chicago, and using the tool required a circular motion, hence the term "Gandy Dancers" for the workers. The term has also been used for a number of other reasons, generally more derisive, but either way makes an excellent name for this fine little American game company.