The Game of 49, a Game of Auctions
If you enjoy auctions in games, take a look at the Kickstarter campaign for The Game of 49 by Mark Corsey. I had the pleasure to meet Mark and play his game at Unpub 4 early this year. The board is a 7x7 matrix with spaces numbered 1-49. You start with $49 in cash. Spaces are auctioned. Outbid your opponents, and you get to put your chip on that space. Get 4 chips in a row and you win. A deck of cards is used to determine which space is next on the auction block. Certain marked spaces pay out ($7 for each chip you have on the board) to all players when they come up, offering opportunities to replenish your cash from time to time.
Don’t be fooled into thinking this game is Connect Four or Bingo with a twist. The Game of 49 is an auction game through and through. Like any auction game, you must be able to recognize when the bidding has driven a space’s price above what it is actually worth. The Game of 49 is a game where you must know when to bluff, when to drive up a bid to bleed cash from your opponents, and when to fold. Careful cash management is the key to victory. When that final space comes up for auction that will give you four in a row, it will come down to who has been most careful about conserving enough cash to afford that winning space.
The game is for 2 to 5 players, age 10 and up, and plays in 30 to 45 minutes.
The Game of 49 is the first publication from new start-up Markee Games. Markee is partnering with indie game printing specialist AdMagic (best known as the printer of Cards Against Humanity) to produce The Game of 49.
Check out this Kickstarter campaign at: http://kck.st/1pFa2F7.
Hi Charlie,
Can you elaborate a bit on your experience with this game? A little bit of a review would be awesome for people (like me) who are thinking of backing this on kickstarter and might need a little more of a nudge!
Pete,
I played a 3-player game at Unpub4 in January 2014 after hearing good things from others who had tried the game that weekend.
Every turn a new card is drawn to reveal the space up for auction. Whoever is first that turn opens the bidding. Play continues around the table giving everyone the chance to up the bid or pull out. The highest bidder pays their money and places their chip on that space.
Within our group, we would often drive up the bid whenever we realized somebody really wanted a space. Occasionally the tactic would backfire when that player would just pull out and stick their opponent to pay the high bid for that space. Also, you hold your money under the table, so you never know exactly how much cash your opponents have to work with.
Cash on hand became crucial to the end game. The winning space came up for an opponent, who at that point was willing to bid everything for that space that would give him 4 in a row and win the game. As I had even more cash, I was forced to spend it to block that other player from winning. Consequently, when the space that would have won the game for me came up a few turns later, I no longer had enough cash to outbid everyone for the win. I found the end of the game anti-climatic because it simply came down to who had the most cash to buy or block the winning space.
However, what I learned from that anti-climactic loss is just how important cash management is to this game. The thrill in this game is not in the final auction for the winning space. Rather, the thrill is in every auction leading up to that final auction. You have to know when to spend for a space, when to drive up the bid, and when to pull out and stick your opponent with a high-priced space. Do these things well, and you will bleed your opponents of their cash while carefully conserving your own wallet. The thrill is not in the final auction. The thrill is carefully managing your cash through every other auction so that you are in a good position when that final auction comes up.
If you like auctions in games, then I would recommend adding this game to your collection.