For the last few days, I’ve been thinking about an auction game idea. It just might have something to do with the fact that I played Ra Friday and enjoyed it a lot… Anyway, I’m eager to test my ideas. If it works out, I’ll publish the game on my web site.

The game is going to be played with Mahjong tiles. I started thinking about the tokens the game would use and I thought about tiles. Then I thought about Mahjong tiles. I just love Mahjong tiles and would definitely like to have more use for them. They look neat and are interesting variety from regular playing cards, for example. So, I don’t have to worry about components. Of course, using Mahjong tiles places some restrictions on the game mechanics (for example, set collection comes quite naturally with them), but in the other hand, restrictions can be a good thing.

Why auction game? Because I’ve noticed that auction games are fun. I like the auctions in Princes of Florence and also some pure auction games, most notably Ra. Auction usually have lots of good tension about them. I hate waiting, and auction games have usually no downtime as all players are involved most of the time. Auction games are probably easier to playtest, as well, as auctions tend to balance themselves. Of course, adjusting the values of the different goals needs a lot of playtesting, but I think (not that I have any experience) the task is easier than testing a complicated board game.

Well, we’ll see what happens.