This is a session report from the boardgame / card game For Sale by Uberplay:

For Sale

While searching for a game with auctioning, I was directed to UberPlay’s, For Sale.  Since this is a session report and not a review, I will not give details here on the game’s theme or rules, unless necessary for the game play report.

Our first game of For Sale had three players (Player1, Player2, Player3), and after beginning the game by turning face up three cards from the top of the draw pile, we were faced with cards valuing 28, 22, 26.  Though I did not understand the importance during this first game, hindsight shows the close value has importance.  In our case, Player1 bid $4,000.  Player2, bid $5,000.  And Player3 passed and took the 22.  At this time the strategies that could arise were clearer than before and Player1 passed on the next bidding round, taking back $2,000 and giving the other $2,000 back to the bank.  Player2, of course, put all $5,000 back into the bank as the winner of the only remaining property.  As simple as is sounds, and it is this simple, the quick cycle of bidding and purchasing continued until all properties were bought.

Phase 2, the redeeming of money (or checks) for those properties, was also a quick, but equally fun part of the game.  When I first read the rules, I thought that phase two was ancillary, but I was wrong.  In fact, everything begins to make sense in phase two, and the “highest card” mechanic, or “trick-taking,” is an elegant method to decide who best played the auction and bidding phase.  Again, now, I am trying not to digress into too much review.

The summary of this session was my loss, but a ten year-old’s win, which I am happy about.  Now I don’t always want to lose, but it was nice to see the youngest player have a chance to win against his older sibling and his parents.

We immediately played three more games (I even got to win once), and subtle strategy began to emerge.  For example, one session, where the high Spaceship card (30, the top value) was played caused a player to spend too much money too quickly with serious ramifications later.  Another time when not monitoring trick-taking closely enough, and not remembering what was won in phase one, and by whom, two Void checks were “won” by a single player causing a loss at the end (okay, it was me.)

I’m tending to review again, but do not let this quick session deter you from playing the game or assuming it is a filler.  If you really feel that way, just play it a bunch of times and you’ll feel full and think of For Sale as a fuller instead a filler.

John Marchant

Georgia Boardgames Association