Bidding on Semi-Secret Items

I think there is more to the part of choosing to look at a subset of the options and then bidding on them moreso than the semi-secret nature of bidding on the ones that weren't looked at. I am not sure I would see myself blind-bidding just because two others are bidding. In the whole calculated-risk situation, I suspect that unless the two sets of cards I looked at were so bad that they would hurt me more then help, that I probably would stick with bidding on what I know. Now, if the cards revealed a small hint on the backside, then that might be enticing. For example, what if there were more than ingredients...like cookware/utensils...or helpers...or possibly a combo of two (e.g., sushi chef and sushi knife). You could throw an icon on the back so that folks know what category they might be bidding on but not the specifics (e.g., I could be bidding on a dull sushi chef with a very dull sushi knife). This way if the market had 3 utensil cards (not knowing what they might be), I might prefer to look at the others, knowing that getting a bunch of utensils (assuming I really need them) are a set I am willing to risk taking, but only if there are no better sets out there. So, in summary, I think the semi-secret idea only works if there is partial information (partial is still semi-secret) to consider bidding. Just a thought. I am interested in hearing other opinions too.

There are plenty of games that use the idea of bidding on partial information. Just a couple of examples:

Banana Republic
http://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/605/banana-republic
You look at one of the 7 characters, then place a secret bid and an influence token. Rinse and repeat. There's lots of bluffing because you have incomplete information right up until the end of the game when the bids are revealed. (I found my head hurt after a while, though.)

Auction Junktion
https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/auction-junktion
Each player looks at only 1 out of 4 items, then take turns placing bids. You must take all 4 items if you win the bid, even though some items are bad. It's a simple game, but fun.

One of the keys to bidding in general is that the items need to have different values to different players. If everybody values all items the same then there will be a "perfect" bid and no game. Auction Junktion does this through character cards, where for example the Antique Dealer gets double points for Antiques so they will naturally pay more for a set which contains Antiques. Character cards like that are a fairly blunt instrument, but there are more nuanced ways to do it.

For your chef game, the effect could be achieved through recipe cards, where you can only score recipes that you have in your hand. After you score a recipe you discard it and draw a new one. If I have a recipe in my hand that requires chicken and you don't, then I will be willing to pay more for a market stall that contains chicken. Whereas if any recipe can be used by any player then there is nothing to differentiate them.

Just some ideas,
kos

If there are tools among the ingredients that you are drafting, then the tools should be semi-optional but make for more flexibility.

For example, say your food cards include both Steak and Ground beef (as separate cards); the tool 'meat grinder' allows you to convert the former to the latter. There's an opportunity cost to picking up the tool, but then it might pay off later in making it easier to fulfill recipes.

I suggest you take a look at the game Founding Fathers and check out their cards. The cards present all the delegates of the Constitutional Convention and two pieces of information are displayed on the backs--the delegate's state flag (technically, they are still colonies at the time of the Constitutional Convention) and the delegate's faction (Federalist, Anti-Federalist, Large State,or Small State). Each card back combination (e.g., New Jersey Small State or Virginia Federalist) is actually different--forming a semi-secret caucus. In other words, you know two pieces of information, but you don't always know the exact delegate in someone's hand or available for selection. While there isn't a bidding mechanic attached to the cards, there is a card drafting mechanism in the game, which is the same thing minus the decision of how much to spend. You can see some good photos on BGG to get an idea on how they worked the semi-secrecy.