Produktbeschreibung
Board game by Douglas Setser and Nathan Wagner, published by DSRG, Inc., 1992
This board game for one to four players seeks to recreate the dynamics of trade and piracy in the 17th century Caribbean. It comes in a sturdy plastic bag containing the following components:
* 24-page rules booklet and one page of errata
* 18x28-inch hex map of the Caribbean (tip of Florida to Port de Spain, Panama to St. Kitts) in blue, green and black
* 280 half-inch counters (must be punched out)
* 2 four-page chart cards
* 4 player reference cards
* 80 ship cards (must be cut out)
* two 10-sided dice
Graphics and component quality are sufficient and functional if unexciting. This is apparently the only game ever produced by these designers, whose company is, or was, located in Wisconsin, USA. I am not certain but strongly suspect that at this time (January 2000) it is out of print.
As game reviewer extraordinaire Mike Siggins discusses in his review of the game Ostindiska Kompaniet, "the ultimate trading game is yet to be invented". By this I think he meant that to date there is no completely satisfying game on the historical problems of the traveling merchant. It is a good topic for one, however. The exotic ports of call and the dual prospect of immense profits and exciting adventure should all combine someday in a game which will challenge the player's ability to spot and execute on a good deal.
It's not clear why someone hasn't invented it already. As Siggins mentions, there is Merchant of Venus, apparently originally about spice trade in the south seas, but translated to a vague science fiction setting. That game also suffers (in my opinion) from a high luck factor, long setup time and runaway leaders. The Empire Builder series of railway delivery games is also in this genre, but in some sense not purely so because of the drawn private (and free) contracts and owned track. There are also Sindbad by Flying Turtle and Auf Achse by FX Schmid, but there too the luck factors appear to be a bit too strong. Anyway, noting the in-depth treatment of trade in this game, and the fact that combat rules provide a means to catch a leader, it was with high if unlikely hopes that I tried out High Seas. |
