Hello, in the tips bga of bga (visible in strategy tips at the bottom of any game):
https://en.doc.boardgamearena.com/Tips_ ... NS4wLjAuMA
Here was my tips about passing:
Passing is totally fine early on. You really want economy and that can be at the cost of passing a lot.
Even if you really want a tile, check if your opponent could do something about it if you passed. If he can't, then you got the option to pass, which if you plan to take a slow tile or could have few economy after picking can be extremely bad. If you take a 6speed tile and have no button left, then your opponent know you will be forced to pass during your next turn which can be bad. If they put themselves in your tile and take a 6 speed tile, then not only you will be forced to pass for 7 speed, but the opponent will get another choice first.
If both players keep passing, then the game gives the advantage to one player. That player will get all the timing before all economy gain, and will get all the extra buttons. At the start of the game, if both players keep passing, then the player who will not be on that case (will not get the extra buttons) must do something at one point to break that situation.
The more both players pass, the less economy is important and the more filling the space is critical.
You can play around that: If you have more or equal economy (or slightly less), and have your board more filled than the opponent, then you are in a position of strength. If both players keep passing each other you should win. Which means if you put the game in a position where the next 3 pieces are without buttons and have at least 2 on speed (that can be because the 4th next tile is great), you are in a position of strength. Then you are guaranteed to get the better tile.
If you manage to have -2 economy compared to the opponent but have more of your board filled, you could still be in a position of strength. Depending of how much you advance here, which can force the opponent to take a high cost tile, you may be able to take most of the cheap tiles resulting in a win with low economy.
If you are in a weak position, you can usually break the constant passing in one of two ways. Either just before a gain of economy (and take an economy tile) to gain the extra economy from the tile you bought, or right before an extra tile to fill a gap in your board, or when you feel that the 0 economy tile increased a lot in value.
This is really important to understand if after your pass your opponent can pass too and leave you in a worse position compared to if you hadn't passed. Or if it's not the case and you could pass 10 times in a row.
