Trade Routes

In this route building game of economic superiority from designer Tommy Webb, players are merchants building new connections in a newly discovered land. These merchants trade in brick, fish, pig, sheep, wheat, and wood, trying to make more gold than the other competing merchants.

However, each time a merchant buys more of a commodity, it raises its value and each time a commodity is sold, its value drops. As clever merchants, players must navigate when is the best time to buy more or sell out of a particular commodity.

All the while, the routes that have been made provide access to certain commodities. The more access a merchant has to a particular commodity allows for more to be bought for cheaper. For example, if a merchant has access to 3 Pig tiles and Pig has a value of 1, then when that merchant buys Pigs, he or she pays 1 gold and gains 3 Pigs! Also, the value of Pig raises to 2. But, a merchant can only have 10 of each commodity, so once the inventory is full, that merchant cannot increase the value anymore.

Trade Routes has just enough complexity to keep you interested, but never overwhelmed. There is very little luck beyond the initial setup of the game, but the strategies are varied and the game never drags on.

Players are never completely out of the game, with the ability to come back from behind, leading to very close games, where players must capitalize on each opportunity as it presents itself. With commodity values fluctuating each turn, players must always pay attention to what other players are doing, as it can affect them closely, leading to very little downtime.