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Economy

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Anonymous

One of my least favorite aspects of game physics, economy. But it sometimes just needs to be done.

I'm working on a fantasy/epic card game and I've been having some trouble with this. Currently, you have a "resource pool" and you increase your pool by playing down special cards. Each unit you play has a "cost" that you may or may not use income for when you play that unit. But if you don't pay the income, you take a penalty. There are several problems with this, one major one being clutter and also players tend to just stack up income like crazy and it's no longer a wat game, but a game about getting lots of money. Any thoughts?

Anonymous
Economy

Players hoarding resources is a real problem and things need to be built in to prevent it. A real-life approach is tax.

A possible idea is to put the hoard on the board in some way so that other players can raid it, or capture it. This will encourage a use or lose it mentality. In multi-player games a player with a big bank will become a conspicuous target.

That's if the game needs money...

Scurra
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Joined: 09/11/2008
Economy

I am rather taken with the concept used by Martin Wallace in one branch of his railway games. A player's initial cash-flow is generated in the form of loans (or shares in the case of Age of Steam). Interest has to be paid on these loans every turn, which means that although you can keep borrowing, the payments become steeper. And then you have to pay the loan back at the end of the game, which can lead to some unexpected results.
I've adapted that in one of my current designs, and it seems to work quite well at discouraging hoarding.

Anonymous
Economy

A possibly way to fix this is a 'theif' or something that takes away from the players' resource pools.

Anonymous
Economy

Is the problem that players are paying the penalty to keep their income, or not playing units at all? In either case a hording player will probably have a weaker army. You could make it possible to attack a player's treasury. which would make hoarders attractive targets.

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