Description
The turn order within each Round is set by some statistic relating to the players’ resources or position in the game.
Discussion
This Stat Turn Order mechanism gives the designer an additional tool to work with, particularly to implement a Catch the Leader mechanism (VIC18). Frequently, the resource that is used as the basis for turn order is Victory Points (VIC-01), where the player in the last place goes first in the turn order, or possibly last. However, it can be other resources or board states. In Civilization, for example, it is based on the number of population tokens a player has on the board. Turn order may also be variable for different phases of the game, based on different statistics. Both Power Grid and Civilization use this method. Power Grid always uses the number of connected cities as the ranking metric, but in some phases, the player with the most connected cities goes first, and in others, they go last. During the auction for power plants, the player in the lead must select and bid on the first power plant, which is disadvantageous. When purchasing resources and building power lines, the player in the lead goes last and is left with more expensive resources available to them for purchase or possibly getting blocked out of places to build. In Civilization, some phases are sequenced by Census (population tokens), while others are based on the victory track, either forward or reverse. This gives the designer finegrained control over balance and the relative importance of different aspects.
It also allows players to manipulate turn order and gives the designer a tool to implement a Catch the Leader mechanism. A word of caution is in order if Victory Points are used as the turn-order determinant, as in Power Grid, but many Victory Points are awarded at the end of the game or are otherwise not tallied on the Victory Point (VP) track immediately (VIC-06). Tose “off-the-books” VPs are more valuable than VPs recorded on the VP track, because they do not hurt a player’s turn-order positioning. If players who are ahead on the score track during the game are penalized by turn order, it will give increased weight to strategies that maximize end-game points, which the designer needs to consider for balance. When the advantages of turn order are extreme, manipulating turn order may become a dominant feature of gameplay, which may or may not match the designer’s intent. For example, in Rise and Decline of the Tird Reich, a simulation of the European theater of World War II, turn order is determined by the production output of the sides (called Basic Resource Points, or BRPs). Typically, it is clear which side has more BRPs, and the turn order stays fixed. However, at critical points, the lead may change, resulting in a double turn, as the player that moved last in one turn moves first in the next. Players have some control over BRPs, as a portion of those not spent carry over to the next turn, and conquests, strategic warfare, and other effects may impact it, so paying close attention to this stat is vital. This is clearly part of the design intent. In the early stages of the game, Germany will typically move first, but as the US enters the war and gains in economic strength there will inevitably be a transition resulting in Allied double move, which can strongly shift momentum in their favor. The Axis player tries to blunt this by controlling the timing of when this double move occurs, perhaps triggering it earlier than the Allied player wants and when they are not set up to take advantage of it.
Sample Games
Civilization (Tresham, 1980) Power Grid (Friese, 2004) Rise and Decline of the Tird Reich (Greenwood and Prados, 1974)
描述
每轮的回合顺序由与玩家资源或游戏位置相关的某些统计数据（Statistic）设定。
讨论
这种属性回合顺序（Stat Turn Order）机制为设计师提供了一个额外的工具，特别是实施追赶领先者机制（Catch the Leader mechanism，VIC18）。通常，用作回合顺序基础的资源是胜利点数（VIC-01），最后一名玩家在回合顺序中先走，这也可能最后走。然而，它可以是其他资源或版图状态。例如，在《Civilization》中，它基于玩家在版图上拥有的入口代币数量。根据不同的统计数据，游戏不同阶段的回合顺序也可能是可变的。《电力公司》（Power Grid）和《Civilization》都使用这种方法。《电力公司》总是使用连接城市的数量作为排名指标，但在某些阶段，拥有最多连接城市的玩家先走，而在其他阶段，他们最后走。在发电厂拍卖期间，领先的玩家必须选择并竞标第一个发电厂，这是不利的。当购买资源和建造输电线路时，领先的玩家最后走，这给他们留下了更昂贵的资源可供购买，或者可能被挡在建造地点之外。在《Civilization》中，有些阶段按人口普查（人口代币）排序，而其他阶段则基于胜利轨道，无论是正向还是反向。这使设计师能够精细控制平衡和不同方面的相对重要性。
它还允许玩家操纵回合顺序，并为设计师提供了实施追赶领先者机制的工具。如果使用胜利点数作为回合顺序的决定因素，如在《电力公司》中，但在游戏结束时奖励许多胜利点数或者没有立即在胜利点数（VP）轨道上计算（VIC-06），则需要小心。那些“账外”VP比记录在VP轨道上的VP更有价值，因为它们不会损害玩家的回合顺序定位。如果在游戏期间在得分轨道上领先的玩家受到回合顺序的惩罚，这将增加最大化结束游戏点数的策略的权重，设计师需要考虑平衡。当回合顺序的优势极端时，操纵回合顺序可能成为游戏玩法的主导特征，这可能符合也可能不符合设计师的意图。例如，在模拟二战欧洲战区的《Rise and Decline of the Third Reich》中，回合顺序由双方的生产产出（称为基本资源点，或BRP）决定。通常，很清楚哪一方拥有更多的BRP，并且回合顺序保持固定。然而，在关键点，领先可能会改变，导致双重回合，即在一个回合中最后移动的玩家在下一个回合中首先移动。玩家对BRP有一些控制权，因为未花费的部分会结转到下一回合，征服、战略战和其他影响可能会对其产生影响，因此密切关注此统计数据至关重要。这显然是设计意图的一部分。在游戏的早期阶段，德国通常会首先行动，但随着美国参战并获得经济实力，不可避免地会发生转变，导致盟军双重行动，这可能会有力地将势头转向有利于他们的方向。轴心国玩家试图通过控制这种双重行动发生的时间来削弱这一点，也许在盟军玩家想要之前触发它，以及当他们没有准备好利用它时触发它。
游戏范例
Civilization (Tresham, 1980) - 《Civilization》 Power Grid (Friese, 2004) - 《电力公司》 Rise and Decline of the Third Reich (Greenwood and Prados, 1974) - 《第三帝国的兴亡》