Merchant Adventurer is a free game designed by Abe Jones and is based on the tabletop game of the same name. Players represent maritime merchant families from the late medieval and early renaissance age, and can make investments, explore the world, and attempt to gain political power. Players can also: engage in combat and piracy, colonize foreign lands, play as non-European civilizations, and invest in shares and bonds. Merchant Adventurer was designed to have a similar feel to Sid Meier's Colonization.
FEATURES
management of multiple types of groups
associations
businesses
armed organizations
European governments
set taxes, tariffs, and tribute
grant and revoke charters
diplomatic status with other Europeans
non-European civilizations
set tariffs and tribute
families (the goal is to manipulate other types of groups to enrich your family)
goods trading
trade between different European subregions
intercontinental trade
establish trading posts
value of goods at each locality is dynamic
based on market activity
also based on industrial infrastructure at states
security trading
shares
industrial shares (for investing in local industries such as mines and mills)
merchant shares (for associations to gain investments)
dividend payments
bonds (can be issued by associations and European governments)
combat
government armies
private militias
pirates and bandits
ability to hire or be hired as mercenaries
establish forts
exploration
find new civilizations
find new lands to colonize
natural disasters
plagues
immunity can be gained after exposure
storms