# Paper auction — bid for the prize

- From: Auction / bidding games (For Sale, High Society)
- Players: 3–4 players
- Time: 6–8 min
- Made by: Made for this tool, after the bidding in games such as For Sale and High Society

Made with boardgameBuilder 0.14.4. To design from it, open boardgameBuilder and choose Open game: its blocks go on the canvas, and the feelings are left for you to pick.

Auctions are deceptively simple games of value. Pay too much for a prize and you've won the wrong way. Pay too little and you walk away empty-handed.

## What it shows a designer

Bidding with a budget that never refills: every token spent now is gone later. It shows how players come to price the same prize differently as their money runs down.

## What you need

- 30 small paper bits per player (their bidding tokens)
- 5 'prize cards' — pieces of paper marked with values 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
- a small bag or hat

## How to play

1. **Set up.** Each player gets 30 paper bits — these are their bidding tokens. Put 5 prize cards in a bag.
2. **Reveal a prize.** Pull one prize card from the bag. Place it in the centre.
3. **Bid.** Each player secretly writes a bid on a slip: any number of their tokens, 0 included. Reveal all at once.
4. **Highest pays, takes the prize.** The highest bidder gives those tokens to the bank and takes the prize. If bids tie, the tied players bid again.
5. **Repeat for all 5 prizes.** After 5 prizes, add up the values of the prizes you took. Most wins; if that ties, more tokens left wins.

## After playing, talk about

- When did you overpay?
- Did you read the others' bidding patterns?
- What did the last prize feel like?

## Its blocks

- Core mechanic: bidding
- Victory condition: most points
- Chance or skill: chance with mitigation
- Theme: abstract
- Timing: everyone at once

## Saved state

boardgameBuilder reads this part back when the file is opened.

```json
{"mechanics": {"core-mechanic": ["bidding"], "victory-condition": "most-points", "chance-skill": "chance-with-mitigation", "theme": "abstract", "timing": ["everyone-at-once"]}, "chosenFeelings": [], "previousMechanics": {}, "previousFeelings": [], "turnNumber": 0, "locked": false, "turnHistory": [], "answers": {}, "tests": {}}
```