As a shorthand, because so many games are using it nowadays, this site coins the term "multi-multi". First seen in Evo and notably subsequently in Amun-Re, Vegas Showdown, League of Six, Last Train to Wensleydale and Peloponnes, it may actually have its origin in real life charity silent auctions.

The usual setup in that context is that a number of items are available for bids in a room and bidders record their bids by simply writing their name and a higher amount than the last or starting bid. Since this is for charity it is considered bad form to buy more than one item. (As prices tend to be rather inflated so as to help the charity, it may be bad for the pocketbook as well.)

In games the mechanism can take on various shadings, but the basic form is there. Players take turns placing exactly one bid. Generally each player may only win one item (or exactly two in Last Train.) When one is outbid, some like Evo have the ousted player respond immediately while others like Last Train make the player wait until it is again their turn. Some like Peloponnes don't permit increasing the bid, but force the player to find a lower-priced item or drop out.

But whatever the details, fundamentally this is an auction in which multiple players sequentially bid on multiple items. It will be easier in future reviews to write "multi-multi auction" than to re-explain all of the above ...

by Rick Heli