Cryptobrewmaster: Some Thoughts on Game Strategy

First off, a few big fat caveats. What follows are my thoughts about game strategy given current game conditions. The developers are adding new features (“It’s a feature, not a bug!”) very frequently. What could be sound strategy now might be outdated or even deeply flawed a month from now. Also, I’m making no claims that any of this is remotely Game Theory Optimal or that it’s a good way to earn a maximum ROI from the game. I’ve built no spreadsheets (I suck at Excel); all this is simply how I play the game and observations that I’ve had. Your mileage may vary.

I’m assuming that anyone reading this already understands the basics of the game’s mechanics. If you don’t, check out this tutorial.

In the game, as in life, water is indispensable. If you’re not investing some CBM tokens here and there to rent the water tower, you will at best eke out a meager existence. And when you do rent it for a day or three or whatever, consider paying for the finish now option rather liberally. You’re going to need lots of water. And always hit the restore button before staring another batch. You’re going to be wanting to get at least Outstanding quality as often as possible. Skimping on restoring the condition just isn’t a good idea.

But on and off, you’ll need to rent all the other buildings. And for all of them, more often than not, you’ll want to use Outstanding (or better) water. Producing yeast in the Academy building is both the most time-consuming and most expensive ingredient production in the game and (I think) the only place where you must use Outstanding (or better) water. You tend to have relatively little Excellent or Magnificent water; using it to produce high-quality yeast is probably a good idea. Study the odds of what quality yeast you’re likely to get given different inputs. There’s a quirk in how likely you are to get Excellent yeast:

Players pay a lot of attention to placing well in the various contests shown on the Events Calendar in the Pub because you can earn ingredient cards and, since a few weeks ago, liquid Hive. But unless you’re a CBM beast, it’s hard to do well in all of the contests. You’ve got to pick your battles. Personally, I concentrate on the Top Manufacturer contest. That choice has side effects. It tends to also help with my standing in the Resource Producer and Wholesaler contests since to do well in manufacturing I end up renting and using buildings fairly often. And it probably hurts my chances to place well in the Top Brewery contest since I tend to produce a lot of Outstanding beers but relatively few Magnificent beers, the key to the Top Brewery contest. And I rarely place well in the Busy Bee or Beer Drinker contests, but someone following a strategy different than mine could do well in those.

I haven’t done much strategizing for the Marketplace. Someone with the Excel skills I’m lacking in might do well there. And it might be worth tracking the ups and downs of how much you can sell your beer for in the pub. Prices fluctuate over time in part as people move from one contest cycle to the other. For instance while the Top Manufacturer contests are running, I stick mostly to trying to produce Outstanding (or better) beers but on the weekends when that contest isn’t running I switch to producing Neutral/Good lagers that I can USE for Energy rather than sell in the pub.

But more than anything, you need to be able to adapt to changing game conditions. How might strategies and tactics need to be modified once the new Enhancer cards come into play? My guess is that the trend will be towards the production of higher-quality beers (for instance note that Outstanding+ Wheat Malt which has until now been very difficult to come by could become much more common), making the Top Brewery contest competition heat up, and that having more high quality beer produced may have a supply/demand effect of downward pressure on the prices paid for beer in the Pub.

Disclaimer: This should not be construed as financial advice. I am not a registered financial advisor; I don’t even play one on TV. Do your own due diligence. Batteries not included. Objects may be larger than they appear in mirror. Some assembly required. Do not taunt Happy Fun Ball.