How the Swap-a-ton works

The Swap-a-ton is a board-game trading event: remote, pure barter, and no money involved. Lots of people put up games they're willing to give away, rank what they'd accept in return, and an algorithm builds the trade chains. In the end, everyone mails their games and receives others in exchange.

The magic: you receive from someone who isn't taking your game

This is what makes the Swap-a-ton special, and the hardest part to grasp at first:

The person who receives your game is almost never the same person who sends you one.

In a normal trade, you and one other person swap game for game. That's very limiting: it only works if each of you has exactly what the other wants.

The Swap-a-ton breaks that limit by building chains. For example:

Ana gives her game to Beto.
Beto gives his to Carla.
Carla gives hers to Ana.

Nobody made a one-to-one swap with a single other person, yet all three got a game they wanted. The algorithm finds these chains for you, even when they involve many people. That's how you can get a game no single counterparty could have given you in a direct trade.

The basic rules

One for one. Each game is traded independently. No bundles, no combos.
No money. The Swap-a-ton is pure barter. Nobody pays for games.
Remote. Games are mailed within Colombia. Whoever ships covers the shipping cost.
You can offer several games. Each one counts as an independent trade.

The phases of the event

A Swap-a-ton edition moves through phases on fixed dates (Colombia time). Everything happens on a single page: /swap, which changes to match the current phase.

1. Offering

You join the event and add the games you're willing to give away (your Offerings). You can add and remove games freely during this phase.

To join you need a complete shipping address on your profile.
Joining closes when this phase closes: late arrivals can't get into the pool.

2. Wants

When offerings close, the pool of games is frozen and you start saying what you'd accept. For each game you offered, you build a ranked list of what you'd be willing to receive in return, from what you want most to what you want least.

You can only pick from the games other people offered this edition.
Games on your wishlist are highlighted.
Ranking well matters: the algorithm tries to give you what you put higher up.

This is the point of no return. When wants close, your lists are final. If your games land in a chain, you're committing to ship them. Only offer games you're willing to lose.

3. Matching

The algorithm processes all the frozen games and wants and builds the trade chains. This step is reviewed and released by the event admin — once released, it can't be undone.

If not enough people joined, the edition is cancelled and everyone is notified.
When it's released, you get an email with your results.

4. Fulfillment

Here you see what you got. Each matched game shows you two things:

What you send: the game, who it goes to, and their shipping address.
What you receive: the game, who it comes from, and their contact details.

You only ever see your own trades, never the full chain.

After you send and receive, each side confirms:

The sender marks "Shipped".
The receiver marks "Arrived" or "Report a problem".

When both confirm it went well, you can rate each other.

What if something goes wrong

A trade that doesn't complete (someone doesn't ship, or the game never arrives) is marked as failed. There's no replacement or compensation — the only recourse is reputation: whoever flakes gets a negative rating and a lower completion rate, just like in auctions.

Unresolved trades also block important actions (publishing, bidding, joining) until you mark your side.

Before you take part, keep in mind

You need a complete shipping address (country, street address, and city).
The sender pays for shipping on their own.
By offering a game, you signal you're willing to give it up. If it lands in a chain, you're committing to ship it.
Ludofero only connects people; the agreement and the shipping happen directly between them.
Not shipping a promised game, or lying about what you're offering, is a serious offense — it can get your account blocked. See the account suspension section of the Terms & Conditions.

Ready? Head to Swap-a-ton to see the active edition.