How It Works:
Hey all, I'm currently working on a heavy eurogame about colonizing Mars.
I've come up with a way to handle researching technologies that I think has potential: Technologies available for research are represented by cards. Each card has a difficulty number on it that represents how many "research tokens" it takes to develop said technology. Throughout the game, players can take actions to place research tokens on tech cards, and the first player to meet the requirement of the card gets the special ability that the card provides. You could get into an interesting "arms race" situation when you and another player begin researching the same tech.
The Twist:
Once someone has developed a technology, anyone can use its effect. However, if someone else uses your technology you gain a healthy sum of victory points. Thus, it may be profitable to try to develop techs that other people will want to use, in the interest of winning the game...
Questions:
What do you think about using research tokens to develop techs?
Does the fact that other players can use your tech seem interesting or annoying to you?
Exactly right! Not only are there interesting decisions in terms of which tech to aim for, but also in terms of "do I use Bob's tech or not?"