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In Vinci, you play a civilization for some period of time and then declare it to be "in decline", meaning you sit out a turn and then start a new one. If you go into decline too quickly you're signing up for unneeded churn, but if you wait too long your rate of gaining points drops and you fall behind. What's a good strategy for deciding when to make this change?

Factors that seem to be relevant: the queue of upcoming civiliations (though there will be some turnover before your next turn), how "far along" the other civilizations are toward decline, score you're currently earning and its rate of change, board position (how hard will it be to enter the board with a new civilization), and...what else? Which of those are the most important?

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@Pat Could you explain why you don't think this particular question and its answers apply to Small World as well? – bwarner Oct 30 '12 at 18:01
@bwarner - I've played both, they have different elements. A great answer would include some elements particular to a certain game. By tagging it with both you implicitly discourage those answers. – Pat Ludwig♦ Oct 30 '12 at 20:41

1 Answer

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Well, there is no perfect answer to this question, or else the game wouldn't be fun at all for anyone. But…

1) If you guess that the next turn, you won't make more points than this turn, no need to move, then it is preferable to use this turn to decline.

2) If you spot a "perfect civilization" (for the given situation) in the queue and need to take it before anyone gets the same idea, go for it!

I have some trouble answering your question with a straight answer for one reason: this aspect of the game is purely second guessing; whatever you do depends of what the others will do and vice-versa. Having a neighbour that wants to destroy your civilization or being the border line between two enemies is very different (I am not speaking about pure strategy here but about the more or less logical desires of the players).

This is to say: no, there is no perfect strategy, but points 1) and 2) may be good hints.

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