How to play TradePals
TradePals is a first deal-making game for ages 6–8, played in Barter's Market. You and the island pals are all building things, and nobody has everything they need — so you swap. Here's the whole game in five ideas:
- Look at what each of you needs — Every deal shows what YOU want to build and the good you're missing, and what a pal HAS and needs. A good swap gives each of you a step closer.
- Build an offer — Pick a good to GIVE (one you have to spare) and a good to GET (the one you're missing). Say what it's FOR — "I need grain for my cottage" — that's the Ask Rule.
- Watch the Fair-o-meter — Barter the badger shows if your offer is a fair swap. 🙂🙂 means you BOTH get closer. If it warns you, you might be giving away a good you still need, or asking for one your pal needs too.
- A pal can say no kindly — If your offer wouldn't help the pal, they'll say no kindly — or offer their own idea (a counter). You can take their idea, or build a different offer. Nobody is ever rushed.
- Make all 5 deals — Finish every deal in the market with a fair swap and you're a fair trader! There's no clock and no score to chase — just fair, friendly swaps.
What makes a swap fair
A fair swap helps both islanders. The best move is to give a good you have to spare (one you don't need for your own build) in exchange for the good you're missing — and to give a good the pal actually needs. Saying it out loud — "I need grain for my cottage; I'll give you wood" — is the whole idea. TradePals never rewards being greedy: the Fair-o-meter is happiest when you both win.
Shells were real money
The shell in deal 6 is a cowrie, and people really did pay with them: cowrie shells (or copies of them) were money in China over three thousand years ago, and in parts of India and West Africa they were still used to buy everyday things in the 1800s. A small, tough shell that is hard to fake and easy to count makes good money.