MM9: Rat King's Auction

In Rat King's Auction, all of you have been invited to participate in a luxurious underground auction by the Rat King himself. However, failing to spend your money (or not trying to) will anger the Rat King and incur his wrath, so make sure to leave empty-handed! Nobody likes a stingy bidder who doesn't end up buying anything.

This game will last for 8 rounds — with each round being a set of auctions. Every 2 rounds, there will be an 8-minute break for players to discuss and strategize. There will also be a 10-minute pre-game.

💵 Denominations

In Rat King's Auction, players begin the game with $50. However, they are given these in a combination of different denominations of money. You start the game with:

• Ten $1 bills
• Ten $2 bills
• Four $5 bills

These are the funds you attempt to entirely expend at the auctions to please the Rat King.

🔨 Auction

Each round will be made up of 4 separate auctions, each auctioning off a valuable item. During auctions, all players are required to be in the Main Hall VC. You are allowed to talk and discuss publicly during auctions in this VC.

At the start of the round, before any of the auctions, it is first revealed what four items are being auctioned off in what order. Then, the first auction will begin, and bidding will open.

Bidding will then take place in turns. The turn order will be randomized at the start of the game and stay the same for the entirety of the Main Match.

Beginning with the first player, players may choose to either bid or pass. Players that pass will give up on winning this auction and have their turn passed.

However, if you choose to bid, that player will then secretly submit a number of bills they wish to use to try to earn this item.

Importantly, when bidding, you may not bid an amount greater than $10. After your bid has been made, the auctioneer will reveal the number of bills you submitted, but NOT the total worth of those bills. That is, if you submitted one $1 bill and one $5 bill, it will be announced that two bills have been used but NOT that the value of the bid is $6.

After all players have either bid or passed, the person who submitted the highest unique dollar value will win the auction. If there is no unique value, no one will win the auction and the item will be discarded. Only the person who wins the auction will spend their money. It is not revealed what the numerical value of the winning bid was.

The next auction will then begin, with the player who won the previous auction going first.

🎁 "Gifts"

There are "gifts" in this game for failing to bid properly. To keep all guests happy, players who fail auctions will forcibly be given gifts.

If you chose to bid but failed to win an item, you earn the gift item Consolation Pop. This item counts as $5, but importantly, cannot be expended normally.

If you fail to win any item at all in a single round, you earn the gift item Consolation Cheese. This item counts as $20, and also cannot be expended normally.

🔰Items

Each item you can win in the auction is more than just a pretty thing to take home as treasure. Instead, each has a special ability that can both help and hinder you. These special abilities are revealed at the start of a round, at the same time as when the items are revealed.

There are three types of abilities in Rat King's Auction:

• **Passive Abilities: ** these abilities stay in effect for the rest of the game.
• **Instant Abilities: ** these abilities activate as soon as you win them and must be used, and then have no ability afterwards.
• Usable Abilities: these abilities can be stored and used at any time the player who has them wishes. For example, you can use them during the break, before an auction, or during the bidding.

I will not go into further detail about what skills are in this game. That is up to you to discover through the auction — it's no fun if we spoil the prizes, is it?

However, there is one way to learn information in advance. Each player will begin the game with a Peek. Peek allows you to peek at a future item and its special ability. To use, you must ping me in your submission channel and specify both the round and the item number. For example, you might submit to peek at "the 3rd item up for auction in the 7th round," or "the 1st item up for auction in the 3rd round." You may use this ability at any time.

You may purchase additional Peeks by spending 1 garnet.

👑 Winning

After all 8 rounds have concluded, each players' remaining monetary totals are summed up. Importantly, any Consolation items you have earned throughout the Main Match contribute to this sum.

The player closest to 0 dollars will satisfy the Rat King and will be declared the winner of the Main Match and win 2 Tokens of Life and 5 garnets. If there are multiple such players, they all win Tokens of Life, up to a maximum of 2.

The player farthest away from 0 dollars will be deemed a terrible guest and will be the Elimination Candidate. If there are multiple such players, the Main Match winner(s) will choose an Elimination Candidate.

Clarification: You cannot trade bills or items.