Caravan

The Caravan is a unique Quest Building that permits the player to exchange Coins, Gold or Axes for a chance to win prizes in a slot-machine-style game called "Scavenge for Supplies." Gold and Axes are both rare resources, and should not be gambled with. However, Coins can be produced in abundance, and the Caravan winds up being an extremely important asset in the later levels of Brightwood Adventures

Quick strategy tips

 * When wagering Coins, The Caravan produces Cheer more than 40% of the time, which can be exchanged for slow, rare Special Items such as Quarry Stone and Wild Honey
 * The amount of Cheer awarded is tremendous compared to the slow rate that Houses in your village generate
 * When wagering Coins, The Caravan produces Gold a small percentage of the time, which is completely fungible for anything from unobtainable Quest Special Items (which bugs can frequently prevent the collection of) to Premium Market items that are required for certian quests (or, the Gold to simply skip those Quest steps)
 * When wagering Coins, whenever the Caravan awards a payout of more Coins, they can simply be reinvested to the game for more Cheer or Gold
 * Cheer can be "transmuted" into more Coins if your only goal is to earn as much Gold as possible. Planting massive amounts of Crops or harvesting Trees that have already regenerated will turn varying amounts of Cheer back into Coins.
 * The best value is to plant massive amounts of Carrots, which net 5 Coins at the cost of 1 Cheer to skip 30 seconds of harvest time. At 1 Cheer to every 5 Coins, this makes each point of Cheer effectively worth 5 Coins
 * The second best value is massive amounts of Pumpkins, which net 30 Coins at the cost of 19 Cheer to skip 4:59 of harvest time. At 19 Cheer to every 30 Coins, this makes each point of Cheer effectively worth 1.58 Coins.

Caravan Mechanics

 * The amount wagered has no bearing on payout percentages, other than to multiply your reward by the same factor as your increased wager. A wager of 2000 Coins has the exact same likelihood to pay out 4 Gold, as a wager of 500 Coins has to pay out 1 Gold.
 * The game will "break" after 200 spins in the same session, changing the cost to spin to odd numbers and paying out in proportion. Exiting and then reloading the game will fix this. It is important not to wager odd numbers, since if you are awarded a Gold payout, your award will be rounded down.
 * The amount of your wager is determined at random. You may "reroll" your wager by simply exiting the "Scavenge for Supplies" screen and then tapping the Caravan again. This is advantageous for players who would prefer one wager over another.
 * The point when you tap "Stop" has no bearing on your prize paid; your prize is predetermined from the moment you wager. Pressing Stop will slow the wheel to it's slowest speed, and it will simply continue to advance until it reaches the matching prize icon.

Expected Return Analysis
This data is based on 2,000 individual trials, and reflects a large but random sample. The only way to absolutely define the pay tables would be to use a database viewer on a jailbroken phone. Any readers with this capability are encouraged to help complete this section.

ER = Expected Return (per spin); the theoretical payout of an average spin over time
 * Coins are paid 57.16% of the time, with an ER of 315 Coins per Spin (wager 500) or 1258 (wager 2000)
 * Cheer is paid 40.58% of the time, with an ER of 66 Cheer per Spin (wager 500) or 265 (wager 2000)
 * Gold is paid 2.26% of the time, with an ER of 0.04 Gold per Spin (wager 500) or 0.15 (wager 2000)

Average expected return: 500 Coins will earn you 315 Coins, 66 Cheer and 0.04 Gold.

At this rate, 4625 Coins gives you 1650 Cheer and 1 Gold

If you turn Cheer into Gold by harvesting Pumpkins (as mentioned above), your return looks like this:

Average expected return (adjusted): 500 Coins will earn you 419 Coins and 0.04 Gold

At this rate, 2025 Coins gives you 1 Gold

Either way, this is a game in the house's favor, to be sure, but it is important to remember that almost everything in the game produces Coins, meaning every Building, Crop, Tree and even Clutter can eventually contribute toward increasing your Gold reserves!