Blind Auction
Preface
This game was inspired by an episode of the Think Like a Game Designer podcast featuring Reiner Knizia. Before this interview, I had never heard of so-called "auction games", and I was immediately intrigued. It sparked my creativity, and I sat down to brainstorm what my version of an auction game could look like. You can find the design I came up with below!
Details
General Info
The Blind Auction is an auction-style game where three players bid on concealed objects of varying values over 10 rounds. The player with the most wealth at the end of the game wins.
Game Components
Here's what would come with the game:
Every player starts with 21 bills of different values that add up to a total of 6,800. Players use these bills to place bids throughout the game. (I took these from an old Monopoly game we had lying around.)
There are a total of 10 objects that players can bid on. Of the 10, 3 are high-value objects that are worth 1,000 each (yellow), 3 are medium-value objects that are worth 500 each (purple), and 4 are low-value objects that are worth 250 each (blue). These will be placed face-down and shuffled at the start of the game.
The game also includes 27 extra bills, each worth 200. Starting from the second round, every player receives one of these 200-value bills at the beginning of each round.
Setup
Each player starts with the following money distribution:
| Bill Value | Quantity per Player |
|---|---|
| 20 | 5 |
| 100 | 5 |
| 200 | 5 |
| 400 | 3 |
| 1,000 | 2 |
| 2,000 | 1 |
All objects are placed face-down in the center of the table and shuffled.
Gameplay
The game is played over 10 rounds, with each round following these steps:
- The starting player selects an object to auction. The value of this object remains hidden until the end of the round.
- Bidding proceeds clockwise, beginning with the player to the left of the starting player.
- On their turn, a player must either place a bid using a single bill or pass.
- The auction ends when all players except one have passed.
- The highest bidder wins the object and must surrender their bid (the bills they used). All other players take back any bills they bid.
- The auctioned object is then revealed, and its value is added to the winner's total wealth. The object is removed from the available pool.
- The role of starting player then rotates clockwise to the next player for the following round.
- This continues until all 10 rounds are complete.
Winning the Game
After all 10 rounds are complete, players calculate their final scores:
- Final Score = Remaining Bills + Won Objects
- Victory: The player with the highest final score wins the game!
- Tiebreaker: Player with the most objects wins
