Collection: Game Mechanics: Auction: Dutch

A Dutch Auction is a type of auction where the auctioneer starts the bidding at a very high price and gradually decreases it until someone agrees to buy the item at the current price. This type of auction is also known as a one-bid auction because the first bid made is also the only bid in the auction. The winner is the first bidder to accept the current price, and there are no ties. Merchants of Amsterdam is an example of a game that uses this mechanism, using a spring-loaded mechanism to gradually decrease the price.

Another example of this mechanism is when items slide down a track with the cost decreasing as it moves. This is often used in Open Drafting games such as Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization. Alternatively, the mechanism can be implemented through the Increase Value of Unchosen Resources.