AndrewNathenson has movedJan 12, 2023

Is it just me, or are wild resources a bit of a red flag in board games?

I can certainly think of examples where I think they’re alright (wild card suits are okay usually, like Bird cards in Root), but in resource management games I find they often make for obvious choices (Nectar in Wingspan Oceania) or give too many similar choices, and it doesn’t feel worth the effort to figure out the best one (Rubies in Caverna).

Show threadLindsay Wardell 🏳️‍⚧️
@AndrewNathenson I think it depends on the structure of the rest of the game. Catan introduced gold coins that can be traded 2:1 for anything, but you can only do that twice per turn. It ends up smoothing out the game, rather than causing the situations you described.
Jan 12, 2023 at 9:42pmWeb
Show threadAndrewNathenson has movedJan 12, 2023
@lindsaykwardell How do you acquire these coins?
Show threadLindsay Wardell 🏳️‍⚧️Jan 12, 2023
@AndrewNathenson if you get no resources on a given roll, you get one coin.
Show threadAndrewNathenson has movedJan 12, 2023
@lindsaykwardell hmm, haven’t tried it of course, but intuitively that feels like it would remove a lot of the interesting texture from trading in the game
Show threadLindsay Wardell 🏳️‍⚧️Jan 12, 2023
@AndrewNathenson so far in my experience it smooths out the rolls, you still need to trade to get anywhere but you aren’t locked out by bad luck. Definitely could lead to stale games but I think limiting its usage helps prevent that.
Show threadAndrewNathenson has movedJan 12, 2023

@lindsaykwardell What about something like a player who starts with no way to produce brick? Normally that creates a large trade imbalance for them trying to get bricks early on, but you only need like 2 bricks to get started. I’d think the wild coins make a start like that more viable.

That’s good in some ways, but also I’d be afraid of that smoothing making it also remove some of the skill in choosing placements.

Show threadLindsay Wardell 🏳️‍⚧️Jan 13, 2023
@AndrewNathenson I think for more advanced groups it is something that shouldn't be used, but if you're with a more casual group then everyone being able to participate may be a better optimization.