In the 18th and 19th centuries, shipping companies aimed to strengthen the trade between the West and the Far East that had begun in previous centuries. Tea, spices, coffee, and silk are commodities much consumed in Europe, and their buying and selling prices depend closely on supply and demand. Fortunes can be made and gambled depending on circumstances.
In East India Companies, players manage a large shipping company that trades with far flung trading posts in India. They must manage their ships and invest in buying shares of their own company or those of their competitors. Most importantly, players have to keep an eye on the constantly fluctuating market prices! Is it better to invest your money in the stock market or in buying goods? Do they prefer to use fast ships with low tonnage or slower ships with larger holds? Whatever the players choose, their strategies will influence those of their opponents.
—description from the publisher
- money-based victory condition ties to performance of self and others
- adds strategic depth through external investments
- Imperial
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- stock market with company ownership — players buy stock in opponents' shipping companies; wealth ties to company performance
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- my five favorite board game mechanics
- cards have multiple uses regardless of what your hand draw is
- I love games that engage you when it's not even your turn
- every player gets to do something at the same time
- not only when you pull your workers you get something but every other player also has the option of pulling their workers back at the same time
- stock buying mechanic ... the objective is to have the most money at the end of the game and the way you get the most money is by buying stock in the players
References (from this video)
- Ambitious scope and theme
- Hidden depth in market and investment decisions
- Execution feels over-ambitious
- No strong momentum or engine to drive escalation
- Long playtime for what you get
- shipping, markets, and investment in people’s abilities
- Global colonial trade with ships and markets
- procedural engine-like progression with market dynamics
- Francis Drake
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Blind bidding — Ships are bid blind to gain initiative and market access.
- Investment/stock system — Invest in other players' abilities through stocks and shares.
- Market dynamics with dice — Dice rolls add or subtract goods value, shaping profits.
- worker placement — Assign meeples to actions to develop ships, dockyards and markets.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- this is Bombay by estari games
- this is a more traditional pickup and deliver Style game
- it's a nice way to maybe introduce pickup deliver and logistics for younger children or you know less experienced gamers
- you’re going to outgrow this one pretty quickly
- not really cut the mustard for experienced Gamers
- it does what it does well and it's a good example of a very simple pickup and deliver game
- this is more of your traditional Euro as you are essentially trying to manage your Fleet of ships
- I thought this was kind of surplus to requirements
- the game also has this investment system where you can actually invest in other players
- I didn't really think that the again incremental way of scoring was that significant
- this game suffers a lot of the same fate as Francis Drake
- this is one of the nicest looking board games I've ever played
- very attractive I think it's Michael Manziel artwork really does look fantastic
- this is a card driven Euro as you have a hand of these character cards
- the pacing of the game is really good
- it's a very polished Euro I think
- not being able to carry certain resources from round to round unless you pretty much spend your whole time to use a resource
- I couldn't really recommend
References (from this video)
- Engaging, integrated stock market mechanic
- Tight loop of round structure and decision points
- Strong thematic coherence with historical trade
- Rule complexity can create AP for new players
- Some players may prefer a longer euro experience
- mercantile expansion, trade routes, and competition among companies
- 1700s global trade and empire building
- historical-economic with a focus on market-driven decisions
- 18xx family of games
- stock market themed euros
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Market Pricing/Manipulation — Goods prices are influenced by dice-driven market events and supply/demand dynamics.
- Market-driven pricing with dice — Goods prices are influenced by dice-driven market events and supply/demand dynamics.
- Shipping / navigation — Ships are loaded, dispatched, and navigated to ports with varying goods.
- Stock holding — Companies issue stocks; players buy/sell and dividends influence endgame scoring.
- stock market / dividends — Companies issue stocks; players buy/sell and dividends influence endgame scoring.
- worker placement — Players place workers to perform loading, navigation, stock actions, and other phase-based tasks.
- Worker placement / action selection — Players place workers to perform loading, navigation, stock actions, and other phase-based tasks.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- Rolling Dice and taking names
- the wheel is basically your clock
- I love stock market games
- this is Emerald Skulls fast playing dice rolling game