You are the head of a vast enterprise, chartered by the Crown to engage in commercial activities in the eastern hemisphere. As such, you will maneuver your company representatives (factors) into prosperous regions. You will leverage your influence with the established commonwealths. You will weigh the need for a merchant navy. But above all you must navigate changing economic conditions...
Game Play
The board is divided into five continental regions. Associated with these is a deck of prosperity cards that match the regions. Each player is dealt a couple cards; in addition some cards are dealt face up in common. As play proceeds, players try to acquire locations they think will be prosperous. They deduce this based on the cards they can see, plus the actions of other players. At the end of a number of turns, all prosperity cards are revealed and regions are ranked based on number of matching cards. Factors within those regions are then increased or decreased based on this ranking. This sequence is repeated several times, after which the game ends.
Player actions include drawing influence cards, expanding factors, building ports and fleets, and movement. At times, open locations will be taken over by a player. At other times a hostile takeover will be necessary, in which case the right influence and a nearby fleet will make all the difference.
The goal is simple: to have the most factors on the board at game end.