Mulling Mechanics #12: Commodity Speculation
Commodity Speculation is the next mechanic I'm going to examine. It is usually one of the central mechanics of a game, and is often paired up with Set Collection and/or Auction/Bidding.
In a nutshell, Commodity Speculation works as follows: there will be some limited resources which players can collect (goods in Civilization), bid on (paintings in Modern Art), purchase (stock in Acquire and Imperial), or some combination of the three (railroad shares in some 18xx titles can be collected, bid on, or simply purchased). The value of the commodities will fluctuate based upon the “market” created by the players. In addition to the player-created supply/demand fluctuations (usually by making sales and purchases, but sometimes more aggressively - say, invading a country in Imperial), there is also often a random element to the fluctuation, governed by dice (Tinner's Trail), cards (Civilization), or pulling chits from a bag (Automobile, Reef Encounter). At the end of the game (or several times through the game - e.g. Airlines Europe), a player's score will be determined largely (Alhambra, Navegador), or even exclusively (Imperial) by adding together the values of all the commodities that the player has collected. Most commonly, those items will be traded in for their case value and added to the player's cash on hand, with the richest player being the winner (18xx, Modern Art, Acquire, Automobile, etc.).
So, what do I think of Commodity Speculation as a game mechanic? Well, it is a double-edged sort of design, in that these sorts of systems tend to be a bit non-intuitive, and almost always more complex than they appear. This means that such a system generally leads to interesting decisions and deep game-play. Unfortunately, that also means that there is usually a pretty steep learning curve, and that the game can be “knocked off the rails” by one person acting “irrationally.” This sort of issue is always a problem in bidding games, but that problem is worse when your uninformed action can create market-wide ripple effects.
The other danger in this style of mechanic is the impulse to make things too simulation-like, which usually ends badly. There's some grid-like board in the middle of the table with cubes and values on it, trying to track how all these market factors are pushing commodity values in different directions. And while there is usually an interesting game hiding behind that grid, it makes for a long brain-burning game (c.f the 18xx series), and/or simply scares people away (Tulipmania 1637).
Perhaps it is just my need for a little more drama and a little less math, but the best Commodity Speculation games, in my mind, are those with bit of randomness, coupled with a simple way to track item values. To that end, into my Ideal Game Library go Automobile and Modern Art, which represent about as far as I'm willing to go on both ends of the light (Modern Art) vs. heavy (Automobile) spectrum. That said, there are several very well-thought-of games in this genre I've never gotten a chance to play, that might supplant the above, including Civilization, Vinhos, Planet Steam, and Merchant of Venus. Also, although I've only played it only once, Airlines Europe might be in line to replace Modern Art.
In a nutshell, Commodity Speculation works as follows: there will be some limited resources which players can collect (goods in Civilization), bid on (paintings in Modern Art), purchase (stock in Acquire and Imperial), or some combination of the three (railroad shares in some 18xx titles can be collected, bid on, or simply purchased). The value of the commodities will fluctuate based upon the “market” created by the players. In addition to the player-created supply/demand fluctuations (usually by making sales and purchases, but sometimes more aggressively - say, invading a country in Imperial), there is also often a random element to the fluctuation, governed by dice (Tinner's Trail), cards (Civilization), or pulling chits from a bag (Automobile, Reef Encounter). At the end of the game (or several times through the game - e.g. Airlines Europe), a player's score will be determined largely (Alhambra, Navegador), or even exclusively (Imperial) by adding together the values of all the commodities that the player has collected. Most commonly, those items will be traded in for their case value and added to the player's cash on hand, with the richest player being the winner (18xx, Modern Art, Acquire, Automobile, etc.).
So, what do I think of Commodity Speculation as a game mechanic? Well, it is a double-edged sort of design, in that these sorts of systems tend to be a bit non-intuitive, and almost always more complex than they appear. This means that such a system generally leads to interesting decisions and deep game-play. Unfortunately, that also means that there is usually a pretty steep learning curve, and that the game can be “knocked off the rails” by one person acting “irrationally.” This sort of issue is always a problem in bidding games, but that problem is worse when your uninformed action can create market-wide ripple effects.
The other danger in this style of mechanic is the impulse to make things too simulation-like, which usually ends badly. There's some grid-like board in the middle of the table with cubes and values on it, trying to track how all these market factors are pushing commodity values in different directions. And while there is usually an interesting game hiding behind that grid, it makes for a long brain-burning game (c.f the 18xx series), and/or simply scares people away (Tulipmania 1637).
Perhaps it is just my need for a little more drama and a little less math, but the best Commodity Speculation games, in my mind, are those with bit of randomness, coupled with a simple way to track item values. To that end, into my Ideal Game Library go Automobile and Modern Art, which represent about as far as I'm willing to go on both ends of the light (Modern Art) vs. heavy (Automobile) spectrum. That said, there are several very well-thought-of games in this genre I've never gotten a chance to play, that might supplant the above, including Civilization, Vinhos, Planet Steam, and Merchant of Venus. Also, although I've only played it only once, Airlines Europe might be in line to replace Modern Art.