Mechanic: Mini-Investments
Challenge: Trying to cram an investment engine builder into an 18 card game
- Cards are companies that convert goods from one state to another. Cards are also price ala san juan.
- To play a company you discard the requisite cost in cards
- once played you automatically have one share of stock
- Every time a player uses a company on the table, all invested players get dividends based on stock ownership (card draw)
- Can't run a company without required inputs
- Operating usually costs capital as well (card discard)
- Is there a way of abstracting away goods? Not using chits? Other cards? A market perhaps?
- Goods created and used by companies are communal?
- If I turn cards into coal, and coal into diamond, should everyone have access to my diamond now?
- Victory through industry style tech tree?
- Some buildings require 4 other goods to be made to operate?
- Investing in a company costs money (discard cards)
- Some companies offer tertiary benefits for having invested
- Depending on which cards players choose to play, and which to spend, the oppertunity field will always emrge differently
Players are going to want to run chains of companies just to get the dividend payouts, excess resource glut should be able to be weaponized by other players.
Oh so you made a bunch of coal? well I'll convert it all into cards for me!
With just 18 cards, every card that's played reduces available capital. Some cards will need to be kept in deck for liquidity.