F@#$ Games within Games

I can't believe I remembered this since Mike just IM'd me and didn't post a comment.  We were discussing Amun-Re and how the temple phase is a game within a game, so that got me thinking about other games with those layers.

Amun-Re

So leading off with the one in the intro, Amun-Re.  The phase with layers is temple donations.  You acquire money in the game, and one of the things you can do with it is donate it to the temple.  Alms do at least 3 things.

- Determine how much farmers and camels are worth in the harvest phase.  Farmers are a sliding scale depending on the total donations ranged 1-4.  Camels are all or nothing.  If the farms are only worth 1 or 2, camels activate and the province owner gets the corresponding camel cash.  Farms at 3 or 4 kill the camels.

- Get you free stuff!  The winning bid gets three free things, 2nd place gets two, and anyone who bid positive gets one thing.  3 of the same thing normally costs six bucks, a pair costs 3 and a singleton costs 1.  Oh yeah, you can drop the total by playing a -3 card.  This gets you 3 bucks automatically but you get no resource for free.






- Winning bid goes first and breaks ties next round.  At NF we haven't figured out if that is an advantage but turn order isn't the least bit predictable.



Analysis:  If/How to bid is kind of a deal.  The 2nd chance to acquire cards/farmers/stone is HUGE!  Someone who wins the temple for less than 6 just got a deal.  Simply bidding 1 to get a free item might be under rated, because number of items you can buy scales as 1-3-6-10-15-21-28-36-45, or a weak exponential function.

But at the same time, ignore farmers and camels at your own peril.  Money also buys provinces, and there are most definitely times you don't want to get stuck with the free one.  So income is kind of important...

 

Brass 

The game within a game is iron.

The pros:

Iron is probably a quick infusion of cash.  If the iron track is completely empty (a not uncommon event), you will always make money selling iron back, even if the coal track is completely empty.  If you flip (sell all to the demand track) the ironworks when played, it is probably a really cheap move.

Iron is really in demand in canal phase.  The easiest way to build your economy and finance your loans is through iron plays.

The cons:

There's a reason why iron is in demand during canal phase.  Developing is important.  Getting to items that score twice is a big big deal, especially L3 cotton and ports.  Supplying cheap iron with no regard to how other people will use it is a way to lose.

Iron can be overbuilt.  The single most devastating move is the L4-L3 iron over build.  It's a 16 point swing, +9 for you and -7 for the poor jerk you overbuilt.   The easiest way to avoid the overbuild?  DON'T PLAY AN IRON!







Suggestions for Comments.

I think there is a game within a game in Samurai, I just suck so bad at Samurai I don't know what it is.

Similarly, the produce/captain/trade dynamic in Puerto Rico might qualify, but I haven't played PR in years.