Trade War! | Tariff, Inflation, and Consumer Strategy Game

Overview, Meters, Rules, Strategy, and Winning

Game Overview

Trade War! turns the invisible cost of tariffs, inflation, policy shocks, and household bills into a tense consumer survival game. You are not a diplomat moving flags on a map. You are a household trying to keep cash alive while prices move, governments react, stocks swing, bills arrive, and every purchase can either protect your future or push you closer to being eliminated.

Every turn asks a practical question: do you buy the thing in front of you, hold cash for rent and fuel, invest in tools or vehicles that may pay later, trade stocks while markets are moving, or save your money because another shock could hit before Payday? The winner is not the player who buys the most. The winner is the last consumer with money.

Each player represents either Canada or the United States. Canadian households buy from Canadian shelf sources, pay Canadian tariff effects on imported inputs, and pay Canadian sales tax in CAD. U.S. households buy from U.S. shelf sources, pay U.S. tariff effects on imported inputs, and pay U.S. sales tax in USD. The game keeps those economies separate, then shows how trade policy still connects them through exports, supply chains, and market pressure.

The board reacts as the game unfolds. Consumer confidence rises or falls. Government pressure builds. Tariffs can be announced, delayed, narrowed, challenged, or reversed. World events such as trade deals, wars, shipping disruption, export controls, industrial subsidies, energy shocks, and food restrictions can push prices and stocks in new directions. The result is a board game where the economy feels alive instead of scripted.

Rules

At the start of the game, the human player chooses one of the four consumers. The remaining consumers become AI players.
Players move around the board by rolling two dice. When everyone has taken a turn, the next round begins.
If a player lands on a space already occupied by another active player, the player who was already sitting there is bumped directly to WTO Dispute. They do not travel around the board, do not pass Payday, and collect no money from that forced move. On their next turn they must pay the normal WTO paperwork cost before leaving.
Marcus is the fourth player in the default turn order. After Marcus finishes, the game closes the round and runs end-of-round settlement. That is when investments owned by any player can pay income, so Maya's cash may rise after Marcus's turn if Maya owns income-producing items.
Optional product squares let a player decide whether to buy. The buyer's guide shows price, expected return, buying power after purchase, risk score, and a recommended buy or don't buy choice.
Automatic bill squares, such as rent, groceries, heat, gasoline, and natural gas, are mandatory expenses. They cannot be purchased as investments and do not pay future returns.
Policy cards change tariff rates. A tariff affects consumers in the country imposing the tariff. The country being tariffed can be hurt through export sales drops if its households have exposed investments.
Policy cards can also start event chains. For example, a steel or aluminum tariff can make vehicles, appliances, housing, or repair supplies more expensive in later turns, while related investments may earn less until the chain cools down.
Government tariff and policy changes can also happen without a card draw. When consumer pain, confidence, pressure, or export damage builds up, either government may announce, delay, narrow, soften, or implement a tariff response during normal play.
Retaliation is not always immediate. A counter-tariff can be announced first, then take effect in a later round after government review. Until it takes effect, checkout prices do not change.
Court challenges, provincial premiers, state governors, legislative review, and industry consultation can delay or modify policy before consumers feel it at checkout.
Market shock cards add broad economic pressure, such as port congestion, cold snaps, currency swings, or gasoline spikes.
World policy events can also occur between turns. These represent real-world style forces outside Canada and the United States, including foreign trade deals, wars, export controls, shipping chokepoints, global energy shocks, food and fertilizer restrictions, central-bank signals, and industrial subsidies. They can move Canadian and U.S. inflation, confidence, government pressure, consumer shelf prices, and stock-market sectors.
Household relief cards can give cash, reduce burden, or pay returns from useful holdings.
During their turns, players can trade shares in the consumer stock market dropdown. A household can own several different stock sectors at the same time. Sector prices react to tariffs, inflation, government policy, court delays, relief, market shocks, world policy events, energy pressure, export damage, and consumer confidence. Players can earn money if they sell above their purchase cost, or lose money if they sell below it.
Cost of Living Review recalculates Payday for all active players from the landing player's country only.
Low consumer confidence can reduce Payday, make AI households less willing to buy optional items, lower investment returns, and occasionally cause a missed Payday.
High government pressure can force a response: tariff cuts, household rebates, sales tax increases to fund relief, or an election-style reset if pressure gets extreme.
If the human household is near the edge, comeback tools may appear. You can sell a holding, take a side job, use emergency credit once, apply for relief, or consolidate debt. These options help survival but usually carry tradeoffs.
At the start of each new round after Round 1, country inflation updates by category. Those changes raise or cool future shelf prices in that country instead of directly reducing Payday.
If a player's cash falls below zero, that household is out of the game. Buying power affects purchase approval, but cash is what determines elimination.

Economic Data

At the start of a new game, Trade War! loads a tariff, tax, and inflation snapshot from the backend. The board shows whether the game is using the server-loaded snapshot or fallback data. If the backend snapshot cannot be loaded, the game continues with built-in fallback values and marks that clearly on the board.

Inflation is tracked separately for Canada and the United States. It is also split by category: food, shelter/rent, energy, goods, services, and headline inflation. When one category changes, only future local shelf prices tied to that country and category are affected.

For example, Canadian energy inflation affects Canadian gasoline, heating oil, heat and hydro, natural gas, delivery costs, and energy-heavy products. U.S. shelter/rent inflation affects U.S. rent, housing, repair quotes, and renovation-related costs. The ticker states whether the rate rose or fell and explains what consumers will experience.

Tariffs are applied by the buyer's government. A Canadian consumer pays Canadian tariff effects and Canadian tax on Canadian shelf prices. A U.S. consumer pays U.S. tariff effects and U.S. tax on U.S. shelf prices. The other country may still suffer export-sales damage if shoppers delay or avoid exposed products.

Outside-world events are modelled as current-policy scenarios that would plausibly affect both countries: wars and shipping disruption can raise energy and freight costs; foreign export controls can hit chips, critical minerals, autos, electronics, appliances, and communications equipment; agriculture or fertilizer restrictions can raise grocery costs; trade deals can ease supply-chain risk; and global rate signals can change confidence and financing pressure.

The stock market is a sector simulation, not real financial advice. Vehicle, energy, food, housing/materials, retail, logistics, and utility shares move when policies, prices, trade deals, wars, export controls, shipping disruption, inflation, or consumer confidence change the outlook for those sectors.

Stock Market

The Consumer Stock Market gives players another way to survive besides buying products and waiting for Payday. During your turn, open the stock dropdown and buy or sell shares in several consumer-facing sectors: Auto & Transport, Energy & Fuel, Food & Groceries, Housing & Materials, Retail & Goods, Logistics, and Utilities.

You can own multiple sectors at the same time. For example, you might hold Energy & Fuel because fuel shocks can lift energy shares, while also holding Logistics because freight prices may rise during shipping disruption. You might avoid Retail & Goods if consumer confidence is falling, or buy it after relief policies make shoppers stronger.

Each stock row shows the current share price, how many shares you own, and the current value of that holding. Buying spends cash immediately. Selling gives you the current market value. If the sale price is higher than what you paid, you earn money. If the sale price is lower, you lock in a loss.

Stocks move because of the same forces that move the game board: tariff increases, tariff relief, country inflation, consumer confidence, government pressure, sector support, market shocks, court or policy delays, export damage, world trade deals, wars, energy shocks, shipping chokepoints, export controls, and global rate-policy signals. This means the stock market is not decorative. It is a risk tool, a comeback tool, and a way to bet on how the economy is changing.

Stocks do not replace household survival. A player can own a valuable portfolio and still lose if mandatory bills drain cash below zero. The challenge is timing: hold enough cash to survive, buy useful investments when they make sense, and use stocks when the market gives you a reason.

Center Meters

The six boxes in the middle of the board are country-level indicators. They are not player wallets. They explain the economic weather that each household is living inside.

Canada Confidence measures how secure Canadian consumers feel. It falls when Canadian households absorb high bills, Canadian inflation rises, Canadian tariffs raise prices, or Canadian exporters lose sales. Low confidence can reduce Payday through confidence drag, make Canadian AI households less willing to buy optional items, weaken Canadian investment returns, and create missed-Payday layoff risk.
Canada Inflation is Canada's current headline inflation in the game. It is built from Canadian category rates such as food, shelter, energy, goods, and services. It affects Canadian shelf prices only. When a Canadian player buys groceries, rent, fuel, vehicles, tools, or other products, the relevant Canadian inflation category is added into that item's price before tax.
Canada Pressure measures political pressure on the Canadian government. It rises when Canadian consumers face higher living costs, falling confidence, tariff pain, or export-sales damage. If pressure gets high, the Canadian government can be forced to cut tariffs, issue rebates, raise sales tax to fund relief, or trigger an election-style policy reset.
U.S. Confidence works the same way for U.S. consumers. It falls when U.S. households face higher bills, U.S. inflation rises, U.S. tariffs raise prices, or U.S. exporters lose sales. Low U.S. confidence affects U.S. Payday, U.S. AI buying choices, U.S. investment returns, and U.S. missed-Payday risk.
U.S. Inflation is the United States headline inflation rate in the game. It affects U.S. shelf prices only. A U.S. consumer buying a vehicle, gasoline, groceries, rent, tools, or household item pays the U.S. inflation category that applies to that item before U.S. tax is calculated.
U.S. Pressure measures political pressure on the U.S. government. It rises from U.S. consumer pain and can force U.S. policy action. U.S. pressure does not directly control Canadian policy, although trade retaliation and export-sales drops can still create separate Canadian consequences.

The important rule is country separation: Canadian inflation affects Canadian shelf prices, and U.S. inflation affects U.S. shelf prices. Tariffs are also imposed by the buyer's government. A Canadian buying a vehicle pays Canadian inflation, Canadian tariffs on imported inputs, and Canadian tax. A U.S. buyer pays the U.S. version.

Strategy

Do not buy everything. A low price can still be a bad purchase if it drains buying power or has a slow payback.
Watch the buyer's guide, but treat it as advice, not a command. It weighs cash, buying power, tariffs, taxes, inflation, country pressure, profile fit, necessity, expected returns, and payback time.
Investments can help you survive because they pay returns at Payday and during round settlements. Tools, vehicles, repair supplies, and other useful categories can become important income sources.
Mandatory bills are dangerous because you cannot skip them. Keep enough cash for rent, heat, fuel, groceries, and other automatic expenses.
Use comeback tools before you hit zero. Selling a holding protects cash but removes future returns. Emergency credit gives breathing room but adds debt burden and lowers future Payday.
Watch the confidence and pressure meters. Falling confidence means weaker income and more cautious AI shopping. Rising pressure means government action may be coming, but it may not always be pleasant.
Buying power is your practical spending strength. If it gets too low, the game may block optional purchases even if you still have cash.
Pay attention to country effects. A tariff imposed by the U.S. hurts U.S. consumers at checkout, while Canadian exporters may suffer sales drops. A Canadian tariff works the other way around.
Consumers do not shop from the other country to avoid tariffs. A Canadian buying a vehicle pays the Canadian shelf price, Canadian tariff effects on imported materials, and Canadian tax. A U.S. consumer pays the U.S. shelf price, U.S. tariff effects, and U.S. tax.
Survival matters more than owning the most things. A strong investment is only useful if you stay in the game long enough to collect returns.
Use stocks to hedge risk. Energy shares may rise during fuel shocks or war-related supply trouble, logistics shares may benefit from higher freight pricing, and retail or housing shares can fall when tariffs, inflation, export controls, or weak confidence hurt consumers. Selling before a sector weakens can protect cash, but selling after a drop can lock in a loss.

Progress and Winning

The game progresses in rounds. Each active player takes a turn, then the round advances. At round settlement, country inflation can update, investments can pay income, stock prices can reprice, policy pressure can build, and world events can change the marketplace before the next set of turns.

Players earn money from Payday, side jobs, relief cards, returns from purchased investments, and profitable stock sales. Players lose money from mandatory bills, optional purchases, taxes, tariffs, market shocks, inflation-inflated shelf prices, stock losses, WTO paperwork, border surcharges, and export-sales damage.

Players can also interfere with each other. If you land on a space occupied by another active player, that player is pushed directly to WTO Dispute, misses any chance to pass Payday from that forced move, and must pay to get out on their next turn. Position matters, not just money.

The game does not end after a fixed number of rounds. It keeps tightening until only one household still has money. The final remaining consumer wins the consumer price war by managing cash, timing purchases, reading the economy, using stocks carefully, and surviving when everyone else runs out.

If the human player runs out of money before the AI players, the human can end the game immediately or watch the AI consumers finish.

Copyright

Trade War!, including its game concept, board presentation, consumer characters, written explanations, rules text, strategy guidance, game logic, visual layout, and interactive educational design, is a game presentation created for Synexmedia.com Games by The Media Glen.

No part of this game may be copied, republished, redistributed, modified, resold, embedded in another product, or used to create a competing game or derivative presentation without written permission from The Media Glen, New Brunswick, Canada.

The game is intended as an educational consumer simulation about tariffs, inflation, cost of living, local consumer prices, household spending, and trade-policy effects. It is not financial, legal, tax, investment, or government policy advice.