Not waiting anymore. You, in the bear cage match. Bare fists. The spectators will be armed with salt to throw at you. The Janitor will be over to sweep up the leftover scraps of you in the morning.

TWO. HOURS.

It would seem that I just can't get any love.

I think they're just intimidated by your charm and the boisterous personality of GhostQlyph.

damn. I'm kinda sad now..

You get to fight the honey badgers.

It just means that JoeSapphire has several times more chance of winning than anyone else!

CONSPIRACY

TIME'S UP

FIGHT STARTS NOW

GRAB YOUR POPCORN FOLKS

I'm thoroughly confused now and re-reading the rules. For a while there, I was about to try to place a bet. More worryingly, I was going to bet on Hesusio o.O

Well, we do need to put on a good show, right? Well, let's begin.

Sooo... First things first. Should I trust you not to screw me over?

That one's easy: ask the people who've backed me how reticent I am to accept gifts, just so I don't screw over others. Really, none of them actually thought this through before backing me. I'm utterly inadequate if this gets ugly XD

Luckily, I've reached some analytical conclusions about the rules which might make screwing over the other person highly impractical...

Oh come now, that's too easy. Our magnificant overlord and tormentor has made it quite clear that we're supposed to haggle and argue for at least a few days, with the observers' hooliganism adding to the general ruckus. Of course, a simple and honest agreement to stay under $16 would be ideal, however, it wouldn't be in the spirit of things to reach such an agreement within half an hour of the contest beginning. Gotta at least make it look like we're trying. After all, I'm sure Mr Qlyph here wants to get his moneys worth.

All too true. I suppose I could inquire as to your pick of games. Your choice of Startopia seemed... uncertain.

Also, unless the observers get rowdy, I think this will be the most polite haggling session since the sale of Manhattan :P

Gonna put this out there:

This is a particularly horrid variation on the prisoner's dilemma where both parties have a reason TO screw each other over and still gain even if both choose to do so -- the key is not to screw each other too hard, or else everyone loses.

More interestingly, the full analysis makes this into a bizarre version of Go where the players share a pool of pieces (monies). All the same strategies apply, just on TWO SIMULTANEOUS LEVELS.

Good luck with that!

Alternatively, don't waste your time with the game theoretical side, which I got covered, and focus on the SHOW

AND THE GREED

AND THE MAYHEM

Even that's not certain. I'm also considering just getting Don't Starve. I haven't had the survival itch scratched in quite a while. Not to mention, it has the handy benefit that should you go over $16, my one game would be eliminated, ultimately leaving me with nothing and therefore you too, assuming I read the rules right. Still tossing that up in my head at this point.

What about you? Still considering Alpha Centauri and Freespace 2?