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Why we cut a mechanic at the last minute
Rio de Flores had a full auction system until three weeks before it went to print. Here's why it left.
Three weeks before the print deadline for Rio de Flores, we pulled an entire auction system out of the game.
It worked. It wasn’t broken. But session after session, it was the part of the game nobody talked about afterward — not to complain, not to praise. That was the clearest signal we’ve had: a mechanic can be “correct” and still not belong in the game.
What replaced it
We swapped it for a simple reservation system: any flower can be held for one turn before it’s sold. Fewer rules, more tension at the table.
Cutting something that works isn’t always the right call — but this time it was.