Resource trading strategy: players, bank and ports

Price the next move, not just the card

Suppose you have the grain for a city but need one more ore. Giving a spare wood for that ore may turn a waiting hand into another point and stronger production. The same trade is less attractive if the other player uses the wood to take your only expansion route.

Check both sides of the deal. Resources are not equally valuable to every player at every moment: the board, available building sites and current scores change what a card enables.

Make a clear offer to the table

Choose the resources you will give and the resources you want. Other seated players can respond. In Archipelago’s negotiated flow, an agreement is followed by the proposer confirming a trading partner; agreement alone does not transfer cards.

Watch the final confirmed exchange rather than assuming an offer has already changed your hand. If the board updates or a trade is no longer available, review the latest state before choosing again.

Use the bank as your fallback

The standard bank exchange is four of one resource for one different resource. A general port improves the rate to three of one resource; a matching specialist port improves its resource to two for one. You must own a settlement or city at the port, and the bank must have the resource you request.

At the standard rate, two wood plus two brick do not make one four-card bundle. Each bundle uses a single resource. A port also does not discount every exchange: a wood port improves wood trades, not spare wool.

Know when to walk away

Compare a player’s offer with your available bank rate. If you can exchange two wood for an ore at your wood port, a demand for three wood needs another reason to be worthwhile.

Sometimes refusing is correct even when a trade is efficient. Enabling an opponent’s winning build costs more than a saved resource. Conversely, refusing every mutually useful deal can leave you behind players who keep improving their economies.

• Name a concrete next build before offering cards.
• Check the opponent’s immediate scoring opportunities.
• Keep an alternative: a different partner, a port exchange or a cheaper build.