The following is the first in a series of generic strategy articles that will appear sporadically over the next several issues. Each will focus on one small aspect of strategy that can be applied to games. I recognize that some of the articles will appear to be rather obvious in the "lesson" that they contain but I'm not necessarily trying to avoid this. Sometimes, things which are obvious to some are hidden to others. Further, by stating "obvious" maxims it can hopefully provide a framework for more involved discussion of subtler aspects of strategy.
Finally, I'd like to open the floor (so to speak) for others to contribute articles in this series. Even if you'd rather not write the article yourself, I'd be happy to hear suggestions or outlines for various approaches to winning that you may have.
The Art of the Trade
I find that it's easiest to explain ideas and concepts if you use an example or an analogy that people can relate to. To this end I'll often present the rules to (grotesquely simple) fictional games. The idea is to have an example with rules so simple that you can then apply to them to a real game. I'll also employ the protagonist of Clever Hans to demonstrate good play.
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Game: Gem Trader Rules: Each player has a collection of gems in their own colour. On your turn you can trade one of the gems in your colour for any number of another player's gems (with that player's consent of course). At the end of the game you score 1 point for each "foreign" gem you possess. (Gems in your own colour are worthless to you.) |
Now, most people will only trade when a deal is equitable. That is, they will only agree to a trade if they profit as much as the other party. With such players you'll find that there are lots and lots of "1 for 1" trades in the above game. Why would anyone offer a better deal? Well, Clever Hans thinks about this and realizes that the important thing is to not only gain points on your turn but on the other players' turns as well. Consider what happens when he plays with players who insist upon getting a "fair trade":
It's Al's turn and he has asked for offers from the other players. As expected, Bob, Carol and Dan all quickly shout "I'll give you one of my gems for one of yours." Clever Hans, on the other hand says "I'll give you two of my gems for one of yours!" Of course, Al is overjoyed at the idea of receiving two gems while only giving up one himself and so he greedily accepts Hans' offer.
Now, it's Bob's turn and again Hans offers two of his gems for one of Bob's (the other players have again refused to offer more than one themselves). As you would expect, Bob accepts Hans' offer. The same thing happens again on Carol's turn as well as Dan's.
At first glance it may appear that Hans' deals were anything but clever as he gave away more than he received. How could such a strategy pay off? Well, it's pretty clear that after this round of trading (even before Hans has taken a turn himself) that he has more points than any of the others. Al, Bob, Carol and Dan each have two of Hans' gems and thus two points apiece. On the other hand, Hans has one gem from each of the other players and four points in total! Hans hasn't even had a turn and he's got twice as many points as anybody else!
The lesson here is that you need not limit yourself to "even trades" in order for it to profit you. When most people are thinking about a deal they are considering only the two interested parties and this is why they fail to appreciate the value of "unequal trading". There are really three parties involved: you, your trading partner and the other players. While it may be that your trading partner gets more victory points than you, you are getting more victory points than the other players.
In Gem Trader (and most trading games) the critical rule is that only the current player is entitled to make a trade. Clever Hans realized that you make points in two ways:
- On your own turn.
- On another players' turn when they trade with you.
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The key of course, is to entice the other players to trade with you on their turn. By offering better deals than the other players, Hans made sure that he was profiting on every players' turn and this was the key to his victory. |
In a real game there are other concerns that you must keep in mind. First and foremost is the fact that you will not usually have an endless supply of "gems" that are worthless to you. More likely, you'll have limited resources and so you cannot simply give away "gems" at every opportunity. To illustrate this, consider Gem Trader with the added rule that you have only 10 of your own gems to trade away. Clever Hans will run out of trade material after only five deals and it's unlikely that he'll have enough points to win.
The second complication is that you simply can't "give away the farm" in search of a deal. Offer too much and you may not be able to make up in volume what you "lose" on the individual trades. In our example above, what would happen if Hans had offered 5 of his gems each trade, instead of 2? The other player would have 5 points each and Hans would have only 4. Instead of winning, he's in last place!
The final complication is that sometimes it matters not only what deal you make, but with whom. This is especially true as a game nears its conclusion—if a deal allows another player to win then it's a poor one to have made. Imagine a game of Gem Trader coming to a close and Al is in second place, trailing Clever Hans by a single point. It's Hans' turn (the final turn of the game) but Al is the only player willing to trade and demands the same 2 for 1 deal that Hans has been offering up to then. Quite clearly it's better for Hans to forego any deal than accept this one. If he declines Al's offer, he wins the game whereas he'd have to settle for a tie if he accepts. Since many games do not have open victory points it may not be so obvious when you need to decline a deal but it's something that you must always consider.
Practical
A practical example is Modern Art. (Even though it's a bidding rather than a trading game, the above principle applies as we will see.) Bob has offered up a painting that will likely be worth $100 at the end of the round. (The reason that Modern Art is such a great game is because you can rarely be sure of the exact worth of a painting. For the purposes of this example though we will assume that it really will be $100.) How much should you pay? Inexperienced players might suggest that paying more than $50 is a bad idea as Bob will then realize a greater profit than the buyer. These people are destined to lose many, many games of Modern Art. However, you've learned from Clever Hans and realize that bidding even $51 is good if it guarantees that you win the auction. By doing so Bob gains $51 and you gain $49 (the $100 you gain at the end of the round minus the $51 you paid Bob). Overall Bob has gained $2 more than you but you've gained $49 more than everyone else. More importantly, you need to consider what will happen if you don't raise a $50 bid that Carol has placed: Carol will gain $50 compared to you (instead of you gaining $49 on her), Bob will gain $50 on you (instead of gaining only $2) and you won't gain anything on anybody else (instead of gaining $49). This is a disastrous change of events!
This is illustrated with the following graphs that show the relative change in money for each of the players compared to you. Red bars represent a relative gain in money for you over the listed player. Blue bars represent a relative loss in money to you compared to the listed player.
Figure 1. The net results of you buying a $100 painting from Bob for $51. |
Figure 2. The net results of Carol buying a $100 painting from Bob for $50. |
You'll also find that, in a real game, your opposing players are not likely to be as dense as Al, Bob, Carol and Dan were in Gem Trader. They'll also realize the wisdom of bidding $51 on Bob's painting and this will make things even more complicated. Why? Because bidding $52 then becomes a very reasonable idea. The profits then become: -$4 versus Bob, +$48 versus everyone else. Of course this continues as the bids escalate. Should you bid $75? (+$25 versus everyone else but -$50 versus Bob.) A good game such as Modern Art will not provide you with easy answers to the above question but knowing that you need not always get the better part of a trade will undoubtedly improve your standing.
- Greg Aleknevicus
