About TideForge
TideForge is a cap-and-trade trade game for ages 15–18 — the mature leaf of Gullwick's trade-and-build games. It takes a real, unresolved argument — how do people who share a coast decide who gets to raise the water, and at what price? — and makes it a game you can finish in one sitting.
The island is home
Gullwick's outer coast is eroding, and its people are rebuilding — not conquering, not settling empty land. The board, its workshops, and its tide model are all our own; it is not a copy of any commercial game. The kiln permits are a small, honest model of a real policy tool (a capped, tradable right to pollute), and the flood is the cost that lands on everyone, whoever caused it.
Four stances at the table
- The Stoker — burns hot — fires a kiln whenever a permit and coins allow; the case for rebuilding as fast as the water lets you, and sometimes faster.
- The Steward — watches the line — builds mills when a kiln would tip the coast; the case for holding the water back, even when it costs you the lead.
- The Broker — works the cap — sells a spare permit to whoever will pay, and builds clean; the case that the deal itself is where the leverage is.
- Marran — reads the room — mixes kiln and mill by the moment; the reminder that no single rule wins every season.
- The Harbourmaster — (the frame) — never tells you what to do. Poses the question the coast keeps asking: how fast is worth how much risk, shared by whom?
Think it over
After a few games, argue this out: was the Stoker reckless, or just right that the coast would hold? Did the Steward save the island, or only lose the season being cautious? When was it fair to buy up the permits — and when did it feel like cornering the commons? TideForge does not settle it. That the argument has no clean answer is exactly the point.