The Fun Zone: The Fun

Some of you have asked about the math trade I mentioned earlier, and I thought you might be interested in more details, now that the trade sequence has been finalized.

Okay, so actually none of you have asked about the math trade, but I think it's fascinating, so I'm going to talk about it anyway.

ConnCon is this weekend, offering an excellent opportunity to perform a no-shipping game trade. Several people put up games they'd like to part with, and they get matched up with people offering games they'd like to own. Then they meet up at the con, and make the trades.

But how exactly does that work? The magic of computers, of course!

Everybody who wanted to trade a game went to BoardGameGeek and posted to this geeklist, one entry for each game. After the submission deadline, the trade moderator posted a summary of all of the games up for trade. Then, for each game that I was trading, I submitted a list of games from the geeklist that I'd be willing to accept in return. If I didn't like any of the games on the list in return for a specific game, I'd submit a blank list for that game, and I wouldn't give it up. Similarly, if nobody wanted to part with the games I was willing to accept, that particular trade wouldn't happen either.

Once everybody submitted their wantlists, the moderator ran them through a computer program that matched trades and wants. The program is set to maximize the number of games changing hands (thereby avoiding simple trades if more complicated ones are available). The result is a loopy sequence of exchanges scheduled to occur this Saturday.

I put up three games for trade: Gheos, Kontor, and The Historical Scenarios for The Settlers of Catan. The story of Gheos is pretty simple. I give my copy to Dustin. Dustin gives his copy of Carcassonne to Matt, who gives his copy of Rattlesnake to me. Simple.

The Settlers expansion trade is far more fun. I give my game to Matt. Matt gives his copy of Netrunner to Erik. Erik gives The Awful Green Things From Outer Space to Dustin, who gives his copy of The Settlers of Catan to Mark. Mark hands Aquadukt to Dustin, who meets with Matt to give him Clout Fantasy. Matt has a copy of Road to the White House with Dustin's name on it, while Dustin plans to give away his copy of Say Anything to... (ta da!) me. It's like game trading designed by Rube Goldberg.

As for Kontor... well, I'm keeping Kontor. I was only willing to trade it in return for Darjeeling or Ingenious, and the owner of those games didn't like anything on the list. No big deal. There will be more opportunities to trade. If you'll excuse me, I'm off to the game closet to find more games I want to get rid of. I wonder how many games I can fit in my luggage for Origins...