Exchange rate mechanics, trading tiers, volume pressure, and cross-currency strategies
Countries use the currencies configured for their world and era; some share a currency. In multiplayer, floating exchange rates move at half past the hour and on the hourly turn, based on economic conditions (interest rates, inflation, GDP growth, and trade) plus the buying and selling pressure of players themselves. You can trade currencies directly for profit, and every cross-border investment you make (foreign stocks, bonds, corporations) settles in the currency of the asset's country, so exchange rates flow through your whole portfolio whether you trade forex deliberately or not.
Rates are measured against an internal “anchor” unit rather than directly against each other. Cross-rates are derived from the anchors: USD/JPY is simply the JPY anchor rate divided by the USD anchor rate. In practice you only ever see the pair rates on the exchange screen.
| Country | Currency | Code |
|---|---|---|
| United States | US dollar | USD |
| United Kingdom | Pound Sterling | GBP |
| Japan | Japanese Yen | JPY |
These are examples, not a complete currency roster. Available currencies and their names depend on the world and era. Check the exchange screen for the currencies available in your game and their current rates before placing a trade.
Each turn, floating rates update through three components: macro fundamental drift (about 80% of direction), player volume pressure (about 20%), and a little random noise.
Each country's rate drifts toward a target implied by its economy relative to its neutral baseline:
macroTarget = baseRate × max(0.01, 1 − (primeRate − baselinePrime) × 0.02 // higher rates → stronger currency + (inflationRate − baselineInflation) × 0.015 // higher inflation → weaker currency − (gdpGrowth − baselineGDP) × 0.01 // higher growth → stronger currency − (tradeGrowth − baselineTrade) × 0.005 // trade surplus → stronger currency )
The rate closes 5% of the gap to its target every turn, so a significant shock takes roughly a full game year (~48 turns) to converge 90% of the way. That is deliberate: currency moves are multi-month trends you have time to spot, position for, and exit. Not one-turn lottery tickets.
Net buy/sell volume over the past 24 turns creates a short-term offset, capped at ±5%, which feeds in at 20% weight. Heavy buying strengthens a currency a little and temporarily; it cannot overpower fundamentals, and whales cannot force extreme swings.
A ±0.3% per-turn jitter keeps movements from being perfectly predictable, and every rate is hard-capped at ±50% from its base rate. A currency cannot hyperinflate to zero or moon without limit.
| Tier | Method | Spread | Fill |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Market maker | 1% | Instant, always available |
| 2 | Public limit order | 0.64% | When the market crosses your limit |
| 3 | Direct player trade | 0.36% | When the target player accepts |
Tier 1 (market maker) fills instantly at the current rate plus a 1% base fee. It is also what auto-convert uses when you buy a foreign asset without holding that currency. Tier 2 (limit orders) post publicly at your target rate and auto-fill when the market crosses it, for a cheaper 0.64% base fee; you can set an expiry in turns, and other players can fill your order early as a direct trade. Tier 3 (direct trades) send a specific offer to a named character at the lowest fee. They accept or decline, no counter-offers, and offers expire after 24 turns by default.
Your own market and limit trades also pay a size fee that rises toward 20% on very large conversions. It counts everything you converted in the last 24 turns, so splitting a big trade into small ones costs the same. The whole fee is then scaled by how busy the two currencies are: half price in a busy market, up to one and a half times in a quiet one, and never more than 30% in total. Auto-convert pays only the base fee.
Your character holds two money pools. Campaign funds are always in your home currency. They pay for campaign spending, ads, and party actions and are never converted or held abroad. Personal wealth is multi-currency: each currency is a separate balance, and foreign income lands directly in the matching slot.
When you make a personal purchase denominated in a foreign currency, the game spends your existing balance in that currency first (free, no spread), auto-converts any shortfall from your home currency at the market-maker rate (1% fee), and rejects the transaction if both together still fall short.
Because 80% of rate direction comes from fundamentals, forex trading here is mostly macro analysis. The questions that matter each game week:
Cross-country investors should also remember the second-order effect: if you buy Japanese stock and the yen strengthens, your holding gains in home-currency terms even if the share price never moves. Currency appreciation and asset appreciation stack.