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We played Cargo Noir last night for the first time and we found that by the end of the game, half the cargos in the black market had been there from the start.

When you are at Macao, you can swap or pick a random cargo from the bag.
Since you need to have a cargo to swap for a cargo, players often chose to random pick out of the bag as it increases your cargo and still carries a chance of getting what you need.
This meant that people tended to ignore swaps and go for random in every stage of the game, and the market became stagnant.

Are there any suggestions on ways that increase the turn over of cargo on the market and freshen things up?

2 Answers 2

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I've found that experienced players make more and better use of the market. Make a few decent grabs from it your next game, and players will start making use of it.

It is a matter of pointing out that a market draw allows an almost assured increase of a set, with no cash outlay. The value of this is minimal in early rounds, but once one is holding 4+ of a type, if a 5th is in Macao, it's worth getting.

As an aside, I played Tuesday last. The other players ignored the 3 wilds that started in the market until I grabbed two of them. Too little, too late; they were masters at bidding, and have a rather unpleasant tendency to gang up on whomever happens to have brought a game. I was unable to win an auction until turn 4... and came in 2nd of 4.

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  • But you need to have a cargo to swap for a cargo. Whereas for the random pick out of the bag you increase your cargo and have a chance of getting one you need. This meant that people tended to ignore swaps and go for random, in every stage of the game. (I shall update my question to make this more clear)
    – E_L
    Commented Jan 27, 2013 at 12:06
  • @E_L You get more cargo, yes, but your storage is finite and you want to make every bit of that capacity go as far as it can.
    – Argyle
    Commented Jan 28, 2013 at 22:21
  • @Argyle I get that storage is finite. But in our game we all tended to go for, say 3 sets of 3, rather than 9 tokens of one type. -That the best strategy was to get more cargo rather than a particular type of cargo. This is also the case if what you have in your hold is nothing like what is on the market, and everyone is doing something else or playing by a different strategy. There will be no refresh, you get stuck, and have to follow the same strategy
    – E_L
    Commented Jan 29, 2013 at 9:31
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    @E_L having about 20 plays under my belt, I can say, you are dead wrong in how to win. The value of a 5 set (25) is well more than the value of two 3-tile sets (2x3=9), and going for the 5-7 range is often worth sacrificing a tile or two to take an extra turn and get the extras. Your math is fatally flawed, and you just don't see it.
    – aramis
    Commented Jan 29, 2013 at 20:18
  • maybe, maybe not. strategy has to change according to how other players play, and sometimes the optimal strategy is not always the winning one. but I shall trying playing it your way next time and see how it turns out.
    – E_L
    Commented Jan 29, 2013 at 22:31
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One idea I had was to have D8 roll that would remove a cargo from the market to the discard pile at the end of each player turn. Each cargo space in the market obviously related to each di side

This way, there is constant new cargo coming in to the market, keeping it fresh, but also adding a danger element as cargo that you were waiting for might get removed by the time it gets to your turn.

Do you think this would work?

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    Why was this answer marked down? If its not a good solution, would you care to comment why?
    – E_L
    Commented Jan 27, 2013 at 11:56
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    I would suggest trying this idea yourself and including your results in your answer.
    – bwarner
    Commented Jan 29, 2013 at 15:05
  • I wouldn't downvote this; but I suggest you move it this proposal to the question itself. Or explain the results of applying it
    – quinestor
    Commented Feb 11, 2013 at 15:58

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