This review continues my series of detailed reviews. I have tried to cover every aspect of the game and as such you may prefer to skip to the bits of most interest.

Summary

Game Type - Board Game
Play Time: 60-180 minutes
Number of Players: 2-5
Mechanics - Trading, Negotiation, Resource Gathering, Set Collection
Difficulty - Moderate (Can be learned in 30-45 minutes)
Components - Very Good

It's worth noting that this review is based on the original Alea version of The Traders of Genoa and the following box shot is also that of the Alea edition. Genoa is the 2009 re-print and whilst there are some component differences, the two games are largely, if not exactly, the same (based on the comments made by my fellow geeks).


Image Courtesy of jgrundy

An Overview

Having found this hobby of 'New Age, Specialty Games' around 8-10 years ago it is fair to say that my tastes in games have changed considerably over that time. In the early days it was mostly mainstream Euros with a few older Ameritrash games thrown in like History of the World and Shogun (Samurai Swords). This was largely due to what the market had to offer and there were many good titles to be had. The last 3-4 years have of course given birth too many excellent hybrid designs and some great fresh Ameritrash games and I have largely swung back to the dark side in recent times.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to play 'The Traders of Genoa' again. I hadn't played this game since taking my very first steps into the hobby all those years ago. I remembered having luck warm feelings about the game at best back then, but by the end of this play I was totally in love with this design. What made for the change? Well I was rather 'green' back then so my experience this time around undoubtedly enabled me to better appreciate the mechanics and that ensured that I actually knew what I was doing this time around.

Thematically, each player assumes the role of a Trader in the famous harbour city of Genoa. It is the middle of the 16th Century and each player is trying to amass the greatest wealth by delivering messages, fulfilling orders and buying up real estate (in the form of important buildings) with their riches. The player to accumulate the most wealth (in Ducats) is declared the winner.

For those playing the 'Alea Big Box' game at home, The Traders of Genoa was the 6th game to be released in this famous series.

The Components

The first thing that strikes you about Traders is that it looks like a 'classic' Euro. From the box front through to the board art, this game just looks like a Euro circa early 2000's. This is not a critiscism, merely an observation. You can basically pick the time period that this original game was released in, like many wine drinkers can pick a wine's vintage.

Onto the bits...

The Board - The board is of a modest size and depicts a top down view of the city. The city is divided into an 8 x 8 grid, which effectively carves up the city and is used in the movement mechanics of the game. In all 14 buildings or locations are featured around the outer edge of the city and 4 additional buildings surround the market square in the center of the board. Surrounding those inner buildings are the streets of Genoa. The two ends of the board feature additional buildings but these serve no in-game purpose. Instead they serve as storage spaces for various components.

Each location has its own unique name and a power that is granted by that location. It is these powers that are largely the driving force behind the play.

A Turn Track is also featured at one end of the board and consists of 12 circular spaces in all.

The board art was created by Franz Vohwinkle and it only took a momentary glance after all these years to be reminded immediately of The Princes of Florence. Both games share a remarkably similar look due to the use of the Terracotta Roof Tiles that were fashionable for that time period. Both games also featured the artwork of Franz Vohwinkle.

Having seen the new board here at BGG, I must admit that I find the older version to have much more charm. But this isn't meant to be a comparison review so I'll stop that now.


Image Courtesy of garygarison

Cards - In keeping with the time of release, Traders utilises small cards like that first seen in the original print runs of Ticket to Ride. This size is largely non-existent now due to (I assume) people's desire to have larger cards that are supposedly easier to handle. I have no problem with the small card form and I think they are also charming in their own way.

The game offers 4 different types of cards -

Small Orders - Small Orders feature a single good and a name of a location found within Genoa. By delivering that good to the location listed a player can earn 40 Ducats. There are 16 Small Orders in all and they are blue in colour.


Image Courtesy of Trinket Magpie

Large Orders - Large Orders feature 3 goods and a name of a location found within Genoa. By delivering all 3 goods to the location listed a player can earn 100 Ducats. There are 16 Large Orders in all and they are pink in colour.


Image Courtesy of Trinket Magpie

Messages - Messages feature the names of 2 different locations within the city. If at any point in a single turn, travel is made between these two locations, the player holding the Message can reveal it and collect 30 Ducats. There are 14 Message Cards in all and they are green in colour.


Image Courtesy of Trinket Magpie

Privileges - Privileges represent an 'End Game' scoring mechanic and list a specific location and a scoring table. The table reflects the Ducats on offer for holding cards that create sets of adjacent buildings at the end of the game. There are 14 Privilege Cards in all and they are bone/tan in colour.


Image Courtesy of Trinket Magpie

Wares - In all there are a total of 8 different wares or goods that can be acquired in Traders. They are all represented by lovely wooden cubes and they are called; silver, copper, salt, pepper, wheat, rice, linen and silk. Each good has its own colour to help tell it apart from the others but it must be said that the brown, yellow and beige cubes can be very hard to tell apart under certain lighting conditions.


Image Courtesy of henk.rolleman

Special Actions - In all there are 5 special actions that can be gained by visiting some of the buildings in the outer ring of buildings and locations. These are featured on small thick cardboard tiles and can be collected in game and used immediately or at a later point. A small amount of text is present and each action features a unique icon to denote what it is. These icons are then replicated on the board, at the building which bestows the special action in question. This is all very neat and efficient. We Geeks seem to like efficient.


Image Courtesy of Trinket Magpie

Owner Markers - Each player has access to a set of 7 Owner Markers which are used to denote ownership of buildings within the city. These are represented by small hexagonal cardboard chits, which come in 5 colours to designate one player from another. Unique Crests are featured on each set and they are presumably meant to represent your family’s unique mark. Seeing these chits again reminded me of many an Avalon Hill title back in the day.


Image Courtesy of Hummasti

Money - Perhaps showing its age somewhat, Traders uses paper money to represent the Ducats that are coveted by each family (player). The money comes in denominations of 5, 10, 50 and 100 Ducats and each value has its own colour.

Note that the image below also features the addition of 20 Ducat notes, which do not come with the game. We didn't really find that they were necessary as the trading in of 10 Ducat notes for 50's and 100's was easy enough to do.


Image Courtesy of Trinket Magpie

Trading Tower Discs -The Tower Discs are used to record a player's movement each turn. There are 5 brown wooden discs in all.



Image Courtesy of henk.rolleman

Turn Marker and Start Player Marker - The Turn Marker is a classic smaller but taller brown wooden disc. The Start Player Marker is a tile of the same size and design as the Special Action Tokens.


Image Courtesy of BlackTower

Dice - A blue and red D8 is provided with the game and are used to randomly select a starting location within the city. I haven't researched thoroughly but Traders must surely have been the first medium weight Euro to incorporate dice into its design. I'm sure it was frowned upon in the early 2000's by the largely then 'Serious Euro' gamers. The use of dice in Euro's wouldn't really be seen for many years after Traders with the new breed of hybrid Euros such as Aquadukt, Airships, Stone Age and Kingsburg but to name a few. Of these Aquadukt would be the closest in design from the point of view that it too uses a dice (D20) to select a starting position on a grid.


Image Courtesy of Trinket Magpie

Rulebook - The rulebook is a classic Alea format, featuring the sidebar summaries of the key notes for each mechanic or rule section. I was a little surprised to see people saying 'Thank God' the new reprint's rulebook is easier to follow because I really didn't have any problem with the original.


Image Courtesy of sauceybugger

Storage - I must be getting older as I seem to be looking back more and more with fond appreciation for how things used to be. Traders provides a highly functional tray insert with a space for everything, finger grooves for easy access where needed and no unnecessary spaces.


Image Courtesy of Trinket Magpie

All in all the components are top notch. The only elements that stop it reaching an excellent rating are the inclusion of paper money and the coloring of some of the ware cubes being to hard to differentiate.

Set-up

Once all cards are shuffled and the components are put in their relevant spots on the board or the table surface, each player receives 130 Ducats and 4 cards (one of each type).

The youngest player is meant to go first and is given the Start Player Token and Tower Discs. I despise rules such as these and usually randomly determine the start player using the dice.

The Play

As mentioned earlier, the aim of the game is to have the most Ducats at the end of the game. To acquire Ducats, each player can deliver Messages, fulfill Orders (small and large), gain income from the ownership of buildings and receive Ducats in the form of bribes or trades offered by the other players.

Where do I start?

Flow of the Game - The game is played over a series of turns. Within each turn all players will have the opportunity to be the controlling player. This allows the player to place the Tower Discs, which represents their movements over the course of their turn. Each disc is placed one at a time and when a disc is placed on a building or location other than a street, the available action must be taken, auctioned off to the highest bidder or ignored if no one wants it. The benefits of the space in question are taken by the winning bidder (or Tower Player if they wanted it) and the next Tower Disc is placed. This continues until all the Tower Discs have been placed or the controlling player doesn't want to move any further.

There is then an Ownership phase, that allows players to take control of buildings or locations with ownership tokens in their possession.

Once that phase is complete, the active player's turn is over and the next player becomes the active (or Tower) player and the Tower Discs are passed on.

Once all players have taken a turn in a single round, the Turn Marker is moved down 1 space on the track. Once the Turn Marker reaches the space that lists the number of players in the game, it triggers the end of the game, which will be at the end of the current round.

Let's take a closer look at a single player turn -

Roll the Dice - A player's turn begins by rolling the 2D8. The results of each dice (which are coloured blue and red) are cross referenced with the grid on the board to determine the player's starting location. All 5 Tower Discs are placed in this location. Note that buildings will cover 2 or 3 spaces on the grid and therefore it does not matter exactly where the Tower Discs are placed within that building.

Exception - The Special Power of the Coach House allows a player to avoid randomly rolling for their starting location. See the 'Buildings/Locations and their Special Actions' section for more details.

Pay Income - Whenever a building or location is visited and the Special Action bestowed there is taken, income must be paid to the player that owns that location. The amount paid is 10 Ducats (by the bank) and although this may seem like a small amount, there is up to 5 opportunities for buildings to be visited per player turn, so owning many buildings or locations (or indeed the highly sought after ones) can be lucrative over the course of the game.

Taking the Action on Offer - Whenever a building or location containing a Special Action is visited it must be made available to the players. The Tower Player is in control here and they can simply chose to take the Special Action for free and there can be no arguments.

However, it is in their best interests to listen to offers before deciding if they are worth the power they are about to give away or indeed they simply want it for themselves. The nature of the offers are in the form of an 'open bidding' system, whereby all players are free to make offers to the Tower Player and all players an raise or lower their offer at any time. See the section 'Rules of Trade' for more details.

If the Tower Player takes the Special Action for themself they simply take the corresponding Special Action Tile, which can be used immediately or saved for use at a later time. If another player makes an offer that is accepted by the Tower Player, they hand over whatever the offer was to the Tower Player and take the Special Action Tile.

If no players want the Special Action then it is not taken and the Tower Player is free to continue on his way.

NOTE - There is one key consideration that takes Traders from a good game to a great game and that is the rule that states that all players are limited to taking 1 Special Action per player turn. This requires each player (including the Tower Player) to weigh up very carefully what they need the most this turn and how much they are prepared to pay for it. Getting something you need badly and getting it cheaply is the key to winning the game but it is anything but easy to achieve.

Movement - The Tower Player is free to continue by picking up the 4 remaining Tower Discs and moving them to an adjacent location (only orthogonal movement is allowed). Where buildings take up more than 1 space, the player is free to move from any part of the building they are currently in, thereby improving their available options. Moving into streets has no Special Action attached so nothing special happens and the Tower Player is free to continue placing Tower Discs until they reach another building or location. When this happens, the same process for taking a Special Action as outlined above is played out.

It should also be noted that the Tower player can only visit each location once in a movement turn. The Tower Player can elect to stop their movement (placing any remaining discs) before all 5 are in play. This is their choice and has important implications regarding Phase 2 of each turn - the Ownership Phase. See point 7 below for more details.

However a very important step is allowed to take place before each move (placement of Tower Discs) and it helps set The Traders of Genoa apart from most other games -

Fielding Offers - The Tower Player is able to listen to potential offers from the other players for moving to a certain destination. The nature of Traders is that timing is of the essence, so being able to reach certain locations to take advantage of the Special Action present there is critical. Naturally the ability to receive Ducats, goods, cards or Special Actions by way of payment can be very lucrative for the Tower Player.

All negotiations for a possible movement relate to the next move that is to happen. If a deal is struck it becomes binding. The Tower Player must move immediately to that location and once the destination is reached the agreed payment in handed over. This point in itself opens the game up to clever negotiations that will see Tower Discs move through other buildings that players wanted access to, without their Special Actions going up for bidding, thus hurting the competition.

See the section called 'Rules of Trade' to learn about the finer details of trading.

Ownership Phase - Once the Tower Player has finished with the Movement and Trading Phase, each player has a chance to take ownership of the buildings and locations of Genoa. Starting with the Tower Player, each person has one chance to lay claim to a single building or location per turn.

To claim a building or location a player must be in possession of 1 or more Ownership Tokens (bestowed by the special power of the Cathedral).

The catch is that buildings can only be marked as owned if they are adjacent to a Tower Disc that is present in a street location. Should the Tower Player have only moved from 1 building to another and never entered the Streets, no Ownership Tokens may be placed this turn.

Taking ownership of a building is as simple as placing an unused Ownership token on the building. The colour of the token denotes which player owns the building. Should a building already be owned by another player, a single ownership token will remove that player's ownership over the building (token is removed). It then takes another Ownership Token to actually take control of the building. Note it is quite legal to simply remove another player's token without taking control yourself.

A small but critical twist to this phase is that once a token is used, the Tower Disc that was used to gain access to the building is removed by the player, thereby making it more difficult to access particular buildings for the other players. Thankfully each building can be accessed by no less than 2 street locations, but if only one of these spaces features a Tower Disc, it is possible for a player to be very tactical in their actions to deny other players access to important buildings.

It is also worth noting that the powerful central buildings have no fewer than 4 street spaces that grant access to them, thereby ensuring that there is more potential for disputed control of these locations.

The Passage of Time and End Game - As stated earlier the Turn Marker moves one space closer to the final round (which is different for differing number of players) each time control of Tower comes back around to the Start Player.

However there is another way in which the Turn Marker can advance. The Central Market on the board consists of 4 spaces. It is possible to roll the Central Market as the starting location for a turn by rolling a 4 and a 5 on both dice (4 possible combinations). Starting here will also mark the passage of time and advance the Turn Marker, which in effect means that even the best laid plans by the players can be thrown into chaos with this twist of fate. Awesome!

The above essentially covers the basics of playing the game. But to fully appreciate the options available and the feel for the game I need to cover a few other things -

Getting Ahead in a Cut-Throat Trading World - The Card Decks

The aim of the game is to acquire the most money in the form of Ducats. Putting trade offers and bribes for movement to one side for the moment, Ducats can be made in a number of ways -

Delivering Messages - Each Message Card lists the locations of two buildings in the city. If at any time, during a single turn, the Tower Discs visit both places on a Message Card, the player holding that card can reveal it and earn 30 Ducats. This means it can be possible to fulfill messages on someone else's Tower turn! Of course bribes can go a long way to making sure the Trading Tower goes your way. One of the sweetest plays in the game can be to accept bribes to go to certain locations that allow you to deliver a message when you are the Tower Player...Gravy!

Fulfill a Small Order - This can be done by simply delivering the specific good listed on a Small Order Card to the location listed on the card. Doing so earns a player 40 Ducats.

Fulfill a Large Order - This can be done by delivering 3 specific goods listed on a Large Order Card to the location listed on the card. Doing so earns a player 100 Ducats and their choice of a Special Action Tile.

Fulfilling Large Orders however is anything but a simple task as the 3 goods listed on any one card can only be found in 3 of the 4 different 'goods/wares' buildings. This means a heck of a lot of travel is required to acquire them. But fear not as several board locations offer Special Actions that can make getting those all important goods just a little bit easier. Failing that you can always try to trade for goods.

Acquiring Privileges - Privilege Cards can be acquired by taking/winning the Special Action of any of the 4 Villas in the corners of the board. Thematically I guess this represents receiving a favour from a powerful noble of Genoa.

Each Privilege Card lists a building or location from the outer ring of buildings. Ducats are then awarded for having Privilege Locations that are adjacent to each other. A building that stands along only earns 10 Ducats, 2 adjacent buildings earns 30 Ducats, 3 earns 60, 4 earns 100 and each one thereafter earns an additional 50 Ducats. So there is some really big money on offer at the end of the game.

Owning Buildings - At the end of the game a player also earns a bonus 10 Ducats for every building or location that they have ownership of. This effectively offers a double incentive to own buildings throughout the game and this goes double for taking other player's ownership away.

The Buildings/Locations and their Special Actions

The other key element that must be understood to appreciate the options available is the locations that can be visited and the powers they offer. These, to a large degree, feel a little like the powers bestowed by the roles in Puerto Rico, with the exception that they don't offer major and minor abilities to all players when taken.

Genoa is structured with an inner ring of buildings and an outer ring of buildings. The inner ring offers access to 3 of the 4 types of cards in the game, whilst the Cathedral offers access to Ownership Tokens which are very important. In short the inner ring of buildings is mega-critical and hence they are relatively easy to reach with the Trading Tower Discs each turn.

The outer ring of buildings however are just as pivotal as they provide access to the goods and Villa's required to fulfill the Orders and obtain the Privilege Cards. In addition the outer ring of buildings and locations offer the Special Actions that can make life in Genoa so much easier!

Inner Ring

The Post Office - Allows a player to draw 2 new Message Cards. The potential earning for fulfilling both messages is a whopping 60 Ducats.

City Hall - Allows a player to draw 2 new Small Order cards. The potential earning for fulfilling both orders is a tasty 80 Ducats but of course 2 wares will be required to do so.

Guild Hall - Allows a player to draw 1 new Large Order card. The potential earning for fulfilling a Large Order is a staggering 100 Ducats and the selection of a Special Action Tile of the player's choice.

Cathedral - Allows a player to take 2 of their Ownership Tokens from the general supply, ready to be used to gain ownership of the buildings and locations of Genoa. One can never have too much real estate!

Outer Ring

Coach House - The Special Action bestowed here allows a player to select their starting location when they are the Tower Player, instead of rolling the dice. There can be nothing more frustrating than being in control but starting in a location that puts a key destination out of reach that you desperately needed to fulfill a Large Order or gain valuable goods. The Coach House solves all that.

Park - The Special Action bestowed here allows a player to take a 2nd Special Action per turn, breaking the standard rule of only being allowed 1 Special Action per turn. The only restriction is that the 2nd Action must be different to that of the 1st (in other words a player can't take 2 of the same action. Eg. Take 4 Messages in a single go).

Tavern/Restaurant - Both these locations are located opposite each other on opposite sides of the board but their Special Action is the same. The Special Action bestowed by both allows a player to make a 1:1 trade. This allows a player to trade 1 of anything for 1 of anything else. Wares, cards, Special Action Tiles and Ownership Tokens can all be traded in this way. In fact only Ducats are exempt. This is very powerful stuff and it also helps mitigate against lousy card draws (Eg. location needed to fulfill an order is too far away towards the end of the game, you have unneeded goods etc) as anything of 'no use' can bee traded.

Palace - The Special Action bestowed here allows a player to use the Special Action of any building that the player has ownership of without the need to travel to that location or win the bid for the action. It goes without saying that this is extremely powerful and it creates another important reason to get Ownership Tokens and control buildings. It is thematically fitting that it is bestowed by the Palace.

Harbour - The Special Action bestowed here allows a player to take any 1 ware (good) of their choice. Given that Large Orders need 3 different goods that are scattered throughout the city, this action is very handy to help fulfill those lucrative Large Orders.

Ware Locations - In all there are 4 Ware buildings (warehouses I guess) that are located at strategic positions of the city. One building offers Spices, another Grains, another Fabrics and the last Metals. Each building offers 2 distinct wares (out of the 8) and no single ware can be gained from more than the one location, except via Special Action Tiles.

Gaining Ownership of Ware Buildings can be quite lucrative as Wares/Goods are very important.

Villas - In all there are 4 Villas and they bestow Privileges as their Special Action (in the form of a Privilege Card). The Villas are located in the 4 corners of the city and are called Villa Colini, Villa Zasteri, Villa Monetti and Villa Ricci.

Rules of Trade

As promised earlier, it is important to understand what can and can't be traded when trying to bribe/convince someone to 'go your way'. They are as follows -

All offers can only be made between 2 people and offers can only be made to or by the Tower Player.

Money, cards, goods (wares) and Special Action Tiles can all be included in potential deals. The only thing that can't be traded are future promises or deals to forego the use of powers that would otherwise break the rules of the game. The best comparison I can make to another game in relation to trading is Chinatown. In both games it is almost 'anything goes' and it makes the potential for dealing and negotiation as open as is humanly possible.

It is quite ok for the Tower Player to offer something back to another player to ensure a deal is struck.

It is quite ok to include in the deal, anything gained from the move involved in the current deal. For example offering the Tower Player one of the 2 Message cards if they go to the Post Office.

A deal is agreed upon by way of a handshake and this makes the deal binding. This sounds a little strange but it not only strengthens the theme of the game (trading) but it also ensures that players are clear that the deal was accepted and can reduce petty arguments later.

If a player secures a deal to go to a place of their choosing, they hand over the agreed price upon arrival and they automatically get the Special Action bestowed by that location. There is no need to win an auction.

What's to Like About The Trader's of Genoa

Well where to start? This is a damn fine game for so many reasons. Here are a few of my thoughts in a 'loose' order of importance -

Player Interaction - Whilst there have been some amazing and fresh game designs appear in recent years, I have noticed that player interaction is sometimes the one key element missing. So many new designs have 'perceived interaction' but the art of direct interaction in the form of negotiation and trade has been 'left on the shelf' in recent times.

I was amazed at just how much I enjoyed the opportunity to haggle and 'wheel and deal' during this game. It was very refreshing.

No Down Time - Related to point 1 is the fact that there is literally no downtime in this game. You have to be taking note of other player’s dealings and your own needs at all times to ensure that you can manipulate the heady world of Genoa to your liking.

Open Design - There are so many ways to turn a buck in Traders that the game feels very open. This is another way of saying that there are numerous paths to victory and it is really important as it means all players feel like they are in with a shot for large parts, if not all, of the game.

Efficient Design - I love games where everything has a purpose and all those purposes are roughly as powerful as each other. Having plenty of options but only finite resources (time and the one action rule) is a key component for this type of game to work. A game where everything is important to have (roughly equal value) is crucial in a game where bidding for access is required.

Control with an Element of the Unknown - The fact that the End Game is roughly known but there is potential for surprise/chaos (in the form of the Turn Marker advancing due to rolling the Central Market as a starting point) is wonderful. In fact hindsight would suggest that this mechanic is a hallmark of the mid to late 2000's and in that respect Traders may well have been ahead of its time.

Subtlety - Traders is one of those rare games where the sum of all its mechanics is far greater than its parts. The rules just allow for so much subtle planning and 'strategising' that I can't list them all. Some of the more obvious ones include making counter offers to move the Tower in the opposite direction suggested by someone else, simply to stop them getting their wish. Of course this then lends the game an element of bluff and counter-bluff.

A player could be fearful of the end game arriving before they fulfill a Large Order or Message so they acquire a Coach Special Action to ensure that they don't have to roll and risk the Central Market coming up.

There is a whole lot of sneaky play possible in relation to the placement (movement) of the Tower Discs each turn that have a bearing on the player's ability to take Ownership of buildings and locations. I could go on...

Interlocking Mechanics - So many of the mechanics just interrelate and create implications for other mechanics. I just mentioned the Tower Disc placement and the ramifications for gaining access to buildings. This can become an offensive or defensive action depending on who's in control of the Tower and who possesses Ownership Tokens. The value of the Palace's Special Action is much greater when a player owns multiple buildings etc etc.

Where Theme meets Mechanics - This is not important to some people, but I do love it when playing a game feels like the theme of the subject matter in question. I feel like a 'cunning' trader when I play this game. It makes sense that the Cathedral bestows the power to influence real estate. The most lucrative orders to be had are issued by the Guild Hall. I love this stuff.

Should I be Wary of Anything?

No game is perfect and can possibly appeal to everyone, as we all have different tastes and preferences -

Time Factor - Traders can be a lengthy game by modern standards. With 4 players you need to set aside 2 hours or so and this can be a long time for many people.

Analysis Paralysis - The reason that the game can take so long is because of its nature. First it is a negotiation game and that can mean a fair bit of time is required for cagey offers to be made, re-negotiated and bested by another player. The other reason for the length is the potential for Analysis Paralysis. Traders requires its players to constantly re-assess the value of actions and compare those to the value they have for other people. Add to that mix all the options available at any point in the game and there is potential there for some players to become a bunny (in headlights like).

Mentally Demanding - Whilst this game isn't of a 'complex nature' to understand, it is mentally demanding. The time frame required + the fact there is no 'downtime' combined with all the options to consider + the constant need to reassess your position and the relative values of things to you and your opponents all adds up to a game that will have you thinking hard for hours at a time. If you don't have the attention span or don't like to juggle this many elements all at once then Traders may well not be for you. For these reasons too, Traders is definitely a game session opener and not a session closer, when the 'grey matter' is already a little stale.

The Final Word

I've been largely apathetic at best towards 'meaty euros' for many years now. I had been won over by the glitz and glamour of the 'sexy darlings' that are hybrid designs and the theme that accompanies Ameritrash titles. The Traders of Genoa has fought against its Euro pacifist tag and firmly punched my apathy fair in the guts.

I love it when a game does this and I have to say that it isn't all that often. I have long been an admirer of Rudiger Dorn but I may well have been unaware of his greatest title all this time. That may well be said for the many users of BGG too as I have seen scant little attention given to this game over the last 3 years.

With the new reprint out I am hopeful that many new gamers may cross paths with the newly titled 'Genoa' as I doubt that too many would be disappointed provided they can last the distance.

I look forward to playing it again.