Auction
WHEN
- Held in spring and autumn only, once per season. The last one is autumn 1997.
- You need at least one free trans-cargo slot to join. The auction ends early once your cargo is full, and you can leave between lots.
LOTS
- Each auction has 2–5 lots, about 25% each.
- Each lot is drawn from the 27 entries below, about 1 in 27 each. A species never comes up twice in one auction, in either sex.
- A lot is 1–12 head of the same animal and sex.
- The starting price is 2 × base price × head count, the same unit price as the merchants charge. The announcement before a lot ("showpiece", "bargain" and so on) means nothing.
| # | Animal | Start / head | Start, 12 head | Per lot | Per auction | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 |  | Dragon ♂ | 400,000 G | 4,800,000 G | 3.705% | 12.466% |
| 1 | | Dragon ♀ | 256,790 G | 3,081,480 G | 3.705% | 12.466% |
| 2 |  | Pteranodon ♂ | 33,000 G | 396,000 G | 3.702% | 12.456% |
| 3 | | Pteranodon ♀ | 41,200 G | 494,400 G | 3.705% | 12.466% |
| 4 |  | Catfish ♀ | 26,400 G | 316,800 G | 3.702% | 13.251% |
| 5 |  | Anglerfish ♂ | 300,000 G | 3,600,000 G | 3.705% | 12.466% |
| 6 |  | Cricket ♂ | 40 G | 480 G | 3.705% | 13.261% |
| 7 |  | Maggot ♀ | 122 G | 1,464 G | 3.702% | 13.251% |
| 8 | Hydra ♂ | 33,800 G | 405,600 G | 3.705% | 13.261% | |
| 9 | Jellyfish ♀ | 90 G | 1,080 G | 3.702% | 13.251% | |
| 10 | Buffalo ♂ | 21,000 G | 252,000 G | 3.705% | 13.261% | |
| 11 |  | Lion ♂ | 3,600 G | 43,200 G | 3.705% | 13.261% |
| 12 |  | Tiger ♂ | 8,660 G | 103,920 G | 3.702% | 13.251% |
| 13 |  | Swallow ♂ | 228 G | 2,736 G | 3.705% | 12.466% |
| 14 | | Swallow ♀ | 182 G | 2,184 G | 3.702% | 12.456% |
| 15 |  | Daphnia ♀ | 198 G | 2,376 G | 3.705% | 13.261% |
| 16 |  | Pelican ♀ | 1,734 G | 20,808 G | 3.705% | 13.261% |
| 17 |  | Kangaroo ♂ | 86 G | 1,032 G | 3.702% | 12.456% |
| 18 | | Kangaroo ♀ | 86 G | 1,032 G | 3.705% | 12.466% |
| 19 |  | Bison ♂ | 2,820 G | 33,840 G | 3.702% | 13.251% |
| 20 |  | Hyena ♂ | 28 G | 336 G | 3.705% | 13.261% |
| 21 | Locust ♀ | 388 G | 4,656 G | 3.705% | 13.261% | |
| 22 |  | Bear ♂ | 6,760 G | 81,120 G | 3.702% | 13.251% |
| 23 |  | Koi ♂ | 740 G | 8,880 G | 3.705% | 13.261% |
| 24 | | Anglerfish ♀ | 542 G | 6,504 G | 3.702% | 12.456% |
| 25 |  | Ant ♀ | 1,388 G | 16,656 G | 3.705% | 13.261% |
| 26 | Bat ♂ | 142 G | 1,704 G | 3.702% | 13.251% | |
| 27 | Human ♀ BUG | 0 G | 0 G | 0.003% | 0.012% | |
Entry 27 is a bug. It is only drawn 1 time in 32,768, as a ♀ Human. The game then looks for a sprite that doesn't exist and freezes.
BIDDING
- Each round lasts 5 seconds. Every bid raises the price by 20%.
- In each round a rival bids with chance (8 − bids so far)/8. After the first round, rivals stop as soon as Ken can't cover the current price.
- If you bid right away every round and have the money, you always win. Expect to pay about 2.34 × the starting price.