Tabletop Mechanics -- Economics

• Exchanging - Players Exchange a set of assets for a different set with the bank.

  • Exchanges also covers any form of purchasing or shop mechanics.
  • Often there are fixed formulas for exchanges
  • Some systems feature a hierarchical organization of resources
    • Hierarchical systems give players a clear sense of value. However, if this value is too clear, other mechanisms need to be introduced to obstruct players from getting used out of that value
    • Non-hierarchical systems allow players to transform resources in different directions, laterally. It allows for more flexibility and specialization
  • Different resources may be required in different ways under different strategies or at varying points of the game

• Trading - Players may Trade assets with each other.

  • An exchange where players determine the terms of the exchange.
  • The resources being traded need to have different values to different players. This value also needs too be difficult to precisely determine.
  • Games typically limit what can be traded.
  • The actual mechanism of Trading can be conducted in several ways.
    • Open Trading - players shout out deals and proposals. Can be chaotic but time consuming, and can leave out players with nothing to trade.
    • Timed Trading - players are timed and may make deals only in windows. This gives a more structured trade system.
  • Another consideration is a truthfulness factor. Games require some truth on the part of the players. Introducing deception elements into the trade mechanism can add some spice and excitement, but some players will feel uncomfortable about it, and others will simply not have a poker face
  • Most games ban future promises as part of a trade, as it is difficult to police and requires rules for what happens if an agreement cannot be fulfilled
  • Introducing Trading gives players a tool to self-balance a game. If one player is in the lead, others may refuse to trade with them, or force them to accept less favorable trade.

• Market - Players may buy from or sell resources to Markets, where prices and quantities can vary.

  • A special form of exchange where resources are exchanged for Money, and where prices can change
  • Markets can sometimes be one-way ratchets (i.e., buy only or sell only or have prices never go down). This can help balance first player advantages.
  • Market systems create a lot of player interaction, as players may attempt to manipulate the price to their advantage
  • They also help to self-balance resource production based on Scarcity, Supply, and Demand.

• Delayed Purchase - Items that are purchased do not enter play right away but arrive on a future turn.

  • This models items taking time to be produced or delivered.
  • It forces players to plan ahead.
  • It requires a way to keep track of all purchases made and when the player will have access to them.

• Income - Players gain resources at defined times.

  • The designer needs to consider the timing of when Income is received. It can be scheduled, player-controlled, or random
  • Consider how dependent the player’s income is on other players. More dependence = more need for negotiation = more hardcore experience
  • Games can be Open Economy where there is a bank that pumps resources into the game or Close Economy where no new resources are introduced in the game.
    • Open Economies are easier to design and balance.
    • Close Economies are found in auctions

• Automatic Resource Growth - Resources held by a player will automatically grow over time.

  • This allows the designer to ramp up player power in a simple manner.
  • A variant of this has unused resources grow. It introduces a decision point of whether players use the resources now or later.

• Loans - Players may take a Loan from the bank to get more money.

  • They serve different design roles in the game
    • Punishment for players who do not manage their money
    • Keep low-income players in the game.
    • They provide a strategy to jump-start their engine.
  • There are different ways to implement them
    • Loans are never paid back and instead count against the player’s final money or victory points.
    • Players play interest each turn based on their loans
  • Loans can cause a positive feedback loop towards a death spiral where players become more buried in debt.

• Always Available Purchases - Certain resources are Always Available to Purchase, while others may not or may be limited in quantity.

• I Cut You Choose - One player divides a set of resources into different groups. Other players have the first choice of which group to select.

  • The dynamics can be seen as a Static Games of Incomplete Information where players are incentivized to cut it in equal portions.
  • This mechanism forces players to consider a wide variety of factors, both present and future, to put together offers that will entice the choosing player to pick the desired stack while giving them as little as possible
  • For this mechanism to be interesting, the value of each division can’t be obvious. True value for each player must be hidden or obscured.

• Discounts - A player can obtain an asset at a reduced cost.

  • Players accumulate Discounts that make future purchases less expensive, these Discounts persist, and they stack (build on each other).
  • It encourages players to build an engine.
  • It can also softly encourage a tech tree like structure by having advanced cards be too expensive so as to require discounts from earlier cards.

• Upgrades - Assets may be Upgraded to improved versions.

  • Implementing Upgrades can nudge players to specialize, particularly if it is much more expensive or even impossible to go directly to the upgraded resource without the lower-level resource. Directly tied to a tech tree.
  • Some games force upgrades through obsolescence. When the game advances to a new stage, some items may be obsolete and discarded.
  • Upgrades represent a means of investment that increase player power, contribute to the narrative, and help players create connections to elements in the game.

• Random Production - Resources are generated from a random process and distributed to qualifying players.

  • This mechanism keeps all players involved in other players’ turns, by offering the possibility of gaining resources
  • Players must remain flexible in their planning since they can’t guarantee resource production or the specific mix of resources they’ll get\
  • A weakness of these systems is that they can be susceptible to player perception of streaky dice rolls

• Investment - Players own a share of an entity

  • Represents ownership in the form of stock. Players may buy shares of stock.
  • Players may accrue benefits based on the amount of stock owned. Benefits can either be periodically earned or given only to the top shareholders (not unlike Area Majority)
  • An analogous but different form of Investment is Contribution. Players who contribute to a particular effort are entitled to a share of the spoils

• Ownership - Players own entities and perform actions for those entities or collect benefits if others use them.

  • It encourages player interaction because players can act on their ownership of certain properties (i.e., other players will find an owned item useful)
  • Shareholder-like mechanics can also come into play (i.e., players who own a majority share own an entity). This adds complexity.

• Contracts - Players fulfill Contracts to earn rewards.

  • Contracts can either be Public where players race to finish it first or Private where the contract is only fulfilled by the player who has it.
  • Consider how players obtain contracts — random draw, from a tableau, drawing and discarding, or by auction.
  • Contracts give players immediate direction and goals, which can be particularly important for new players
  • It is helpful if whatever is used to fulfill the Contract is generally useful so that the effort to acquire that specific set of resources, or bring them to a specific location, is not completely wasted.

• Bribery - Players offer bribes to other players to get them to perform specific actions.

  • A form of trading but more structured.
  • Bribery can lead to negotiations and Yomi.

• Increase Value of Unchosen Resources - If players do not select certain Actions or Resources, then they increase in value.

  • They allow the players to value the choices. The value of unselected options gradually increases, until the value reaches a point that entices a player to choose it.

• Negotiation - Players make agreements about courses of action

  • Negotiation games often include deals that are non-binding
  • Designers may include rules that mandate binding Negotiations. Typically, these require that the terms of the deal be resolved immediately and not extend to future turns or actions
  • Non-binding deals raise the emotional stakes for many players because they raise questions of honesty and loyalty
  • Games with Negotiation as a core mechanic have a dedicated Negotiation and Discussion phase.

• Alliances - Players have formal relationships that may change over the course of the game.

• Resource Queue - Resources are in an ordered queue and can only be pulled from one end or, rarely, both ends but not the middle.

  • This mechanism restricts player’s abilities to act while giving them great visibility into future possibilities

Links §

• Building Blocks of Tabletop Game Design - An Encyclopedia of Mechanisms by Engelstein and Shalev
• Internal Economy Design Patterns