by cymric
There is a field of auctionable tiles available, and players take turns in placing a numbered chip on those tiles until a total of number_of_players + 1 chips have been placed. Chip #1 is always placed on a special tile, the flag, which determines the first player in turn order (in addition to awarding an extra action to its owner). That first player puts down the flag plus chip #1 on a spot of his choosing (either on the edge of the board or on an previously emptied space), then it is the turn of the player on his left. He may only select a tile orthogonally or diagonally adjacent to chip #1, where he then puts down chip #2. Placement then passes along to the next player who puts down chip #3, and so forth. The starting player then puts down a second chip with the highest number, and chip placement is complete.Players do this because they are in charge of auctioning off the tile they've thus marked. If the winner of the auction is the owner of the chip, then money is paid to the bank, otherwise the money goes to him. This makes it essential to consider whether you are in it for the money or the special action the tile represents; quite often you want both.
This is not a random process at all, but a carefully controlled system where players must be very cautious as to what they put up on offer, and how they want to approach the auction. You can 'feed' an opponent a certain tile, for example, but this tactic can backfire by him offering a small amount of cash and then forcing you to decide between buying a tile you don't really need, or him getting it for cheap. Especially in the 2 player-game this aspect is intensely psychological.