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空島の商人 (Sorashima no Shonin) (Merchants of Sky Islands) is a tile placement game from Japan.
The Sky Islands float on the sea-filled planet Aquarius. The trade between the Sky Islands flourished by operating vehicles that used flying stones that generated anti-gravitational energy. This game is a story of the great trading era on the Sky Islands.
When tiles are placed, resources can be obtained through trade with neighbouring islands. Using the resources you gain, you can build trading posts, harbours, and towers to strengthen your power. Players compete for the majority of empty islands, and the player who earns the most victory points wins.
海一面の惑星「アクエリアス」に浮かぶ空島。
反重力エネルギーを生み出す飛行石を使った乗り物を操り、空島と空島の交易は栄えた。
このゲームはそんな空島における大交易時代のお話。
タイルを配置すると、隣接する島との交易により資源を得ることができます。
得た資源を使って、商館を建てたり、港を建てたり、塔を建てたりして勢力を強めていきます。
空島のマジョリティを競い、最も多くの勝利点を稼いだプレイヤーが勝ちとなります。
--description by publisher
- shared geography feel and competitive island control
- elegant trading mechanics on hex grid
- tile placement and trading between floating islands
- sky islands trading era
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- tile placement with resource trading — Tile placement on hex grid; build harbors and towers; trade between islands; majority-based scoring.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I am biased but I also think this game looks pretty cool
- I'm intrigued by this one
- I plan to do another one of these in like six months
- I thought it was absolutely awesome
References (from this video)
- Deceptively simple yet challenging
- Spatial thinking required
- Strategic depth with closed islands offering double points
- Sky merchants laying tiles to build trading houses and gain commercial rights on islands
- On the planet of Aquarius, on a series of sky islands
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Majority/Influence — You want to make sure that you have the greatest presence and influence on the largest islands because the size of the islands ends up being a multiplier for the victory points at the end of the game.
- Engine Building — Each trading house then produces resources that matches the particular airship on the tile that it's on.
- Set Collection — The green one nets you victory points, and the other three net you resources, including wine, canvas, and flying stone.
- tile laying — Essentially is a tile laying game.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- On the planet of Aquarius, there are a series of sky islands where traders move between the islands by using anti-gravity powered stones.
- This is a game where players take on the role of sky merchants as you lay tiles and try and build as many trading houses as possible in order to gain the commercial rights on the most number of islands.
- This is a deceptively simple game to play, yet it's quite a challenging one to think about spatially.