Math Trade

Math trades are a great way to trade your games and game supplies for new games and supplies, without having to find specific trade partners and haggling on a deal. Gamers have been running math trades in the GTA for decades. The largest math trade in Toronto history had over two hundred and twenty participants and saw more than a thousand games change hands. Over the years we've traded just about every game there is, along with gift certificates, gaming supplies, and on one occasion an Instant Pot (which traded for a copy of Eclipse, because gamers like to cook too).

It's a great way to cycle the stuff out of your collection that isn't getting played for new games you can try and we think the Breakout math trade will be the biggest trade yet.

The simplest way to explain how math trades work is with an example. Say you have a copy of the Fifth Edition D&D Player's Guide, and you wish to trade it. Albert has a copy of Wingspan that you would like, but Albert doesn't want your Player's Guide. However, Bonnie does want your Player's Guide, and she has some Magic: The Gathering starter decks that Albert is interested in. So the three of you create a trade loop: you trade the Player's Guide to Bonnie, who trades the Magic decks to Albert, who trades the copy of Wingspan to you.

An organized math trade is about creating as many trade loops as possible among all the people participating, thanks to some computer software and a bunch of math. For example, you might use the trade interface to state that you are willing to trade your Player's Guide for Wingspan, or a copy of Call of Cthulhu, or a set of Warhammer miniatures, or a collection of fancy dice; when the software is done creating trade loops, if there is a loop where your Player's Guide can be traded for one of those items, then it will trade - although you won't know which item you get until the results are tabulated. All math trade trades are one-item-for-one-item, so you won't get the Warhammer minis and the fancy dice for your Player's Guide, though.

The beauty of the math trade is that no trade can happen without your agreement. If you put up your Player's Guide in the trade list, and you don't see anything you want to trade it for, you simply enter a blank want-list for the Player's Guide, and it won't be traded.

Six weeks before Breakout, the Breakout Math Trade (BMT) Team will post a trade master list on BoardGameGeek and open it to submissions. At that time, we'll also post further explainers, rules, and guides for new traders. (The math trade interface can be a little confusing for newbies - it's very Web 1.0 - but we'll make sure you understand how to use it.) You'll need a Boardgamegeek or RPGgeek account in order to post games to the trade list. One week before the convention, we'll finalize submissions and run the trade software to determine what everybody's getting.

The physical math trade will take place on the evening of Friday, March 14 (Time TBA) in the City Hall room at Breakout. The BMT Team will be present to help everybody find their trade partners and check people out with their new goodies; the actual physical trading part of the trade should take no more than an hour.