In any game where players act in sequence a division occurs: in some games it is better to act first, while in others it is better to act last.
In perfect information games with limited resources, players that act first have an advantage (as they have the first opportunity to grab those valuable resources. This includes games like Chess or Connect-4. In fact Connect 4 has been solved so that the player acting first can force a win no matter how the second players wins (note: for a more fair game of Connect-4, prohibit the first player from using the center column on turn 1 – this game is a theoretical tie)
In games where information is the most valuable resource, players that act last (after having observed other player’s decisions) have the greatest advantage. This concept can be seen in its purest and most abstracted form in non-transitive dice – where players choose a set of dice to attempt to outroll the other player, the player choosing second can always choose a set of dice that will outperform the first place’s dice.
A more familiar example of this is poker, where the player acting last gets the most information before having to make a decision. This advantage in poker is so pronounced that in the “Heads-up” variant of the game, the usual rules of the first player after the dealing paying the small blind is eschewed to prevent the same player acting last in every betting round.
Bringing this all back to Aethermon – in last week’s post we discussed sequential overworld movement. Players moving the smallest distance must choose their movement before players moving the largest distance. To balance this asymmetry, Aethermon borrows elements from both games.
Players travelling the least distance (and acting first) arrive at their destination first – in the case where there is a limited resource at that destination (often during quests) this provides these players an advantage.
On the flipside players travelling the largest distance (and acting last), have the advantage of making their decision after watching all the other players make their moves and can make strategic decisions accordingly.
That is all for now. Next week we go back to large player counts.