by StormKnight
We gave Gnomes another play as a result of this discussion. Prices did get up high, and players did have to spend turns taking 4 gold on a not-infrequent basis.It seems important to get some sort of income early; either gem mines or the artifact that produces money each turn. One player also got a lot of mileage out of getting the discount artifact, getting a huge discount on cheap gems, than turning them into expensive gems via a trader and selling them.
Getting at least a pair of matching mines seems like a good idea for the extra gem income, and if a few people have those the gem prices can drop a bit more.
We played with the discounting on artifacts this game, and I think I would recommend that for future plays; it made them a bit more affordable.
It did seem a little hard to afford things, and the bonus income artifact seemed like a really good bonus early. Need to get some more plays of this and see what other strategies we can get to work.