Question: Trading During the Trade Phase: Culture Cards and Hut Village Resources

By The Gun Dojo, in Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game

Just a couple of quick questions.

A) Are Resources gathered from Huts and Villages kept face down on your Civilization Sheet?

During the Trade Phase:

1. If you trade a Resource Token gained from a Hut or Village, must/can the traded resource be traded face down so that the other player can't see until after the trade??

2. If player A. trades a Culture Event Card with Player B. does player B. get to see what the Culture Event Card that he is trading for?

Edit: Just figured out how to edit. Sorry about the multiple posts. :P

The Gun Dojo said:

Just a couple of quick questions.

A) Are Resources gathered from Huts and Villages kept face down on your Civilization Sheet?

Yes. (See page 20 of the rules, left column, under "Exploring Huts and Villages", 4th paragraph.)

The Gun Dojo said:

During the Trade Phase:

1. If you trade a Resource Token gained from a Hut or Village, must/can the traded resource be traded face down so that the other player can't see until after the trade??

2. If player A. trades a Culture Event Card with Player B. does player B. get to see what the Culture Event Card that he is trading for?

Nowhere in the rules or FAQ do I find any mention of either way being the correct way. Thus i would surmise that it is up to you to choose wether to trade away your Resources or Culture Event Cards face up or face down.

There is, however, mentioned in the "spoils of war"-section that if a successful attacker chooses to take a resource from the defeated player, they MUST take them at random, a.k.a. face down.

If you choose to trade face down, you actually gain the possibility to lie about what it is you are trading away. You could for instance trade a hut-gained wheat away while claiming it is an iron or silk for example.

Do note, however, that if one lies constantly in trades, people tend to take offence and will probably stop trading with you altogether. But an occasional fib might be worth it.