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Merchant of Venus (1988)

Average Rating: 7.22/10
Board Game Rank: 268
Thematic Rank: 47
Strategy Game Rank: 164
Information
Designer
Artist
Publisher
Year Published
1988
# of Players
1 − 6
User Suggested # of Players
Best with 4 players
Recommended with 2, 3, 4, 5 players
(51 voters) [poll]
Playing Time
180 minutes
Mfg Suggested Ages
12 and up
User Suggested Ages
10 and up
(8 voters) [poll]
Language Dependence
Some necessary text - easily memorized or small crib sheet
(11 voters) [poll]
Honors
Subdomain
Category
Mechanic
Expansion
Expands
Family
Primary Name
Merchant of Venus
Alternate Names
Merchants of Venus
Website
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ObjectID: 230
Description Edit | History

Merchant of Venus uses many elements which come together to form a very interesting game. Players take on the roles of space traders who move their ships through interconnected systems discovering new alien worlds to trade with. As players start to make money delivering commodities in a unique supply-and-demand system, their earnings can be used to purchase better ships and equipment (shields, lasers, engines, etc...) and construct their own spaceports (which speed up trading) and factories (which create better commodities). Variations included in the rulebook allow for interplayer combat. The player who first acquires enough total value ($1000, $2000, $3000, $4000) in cash and port/factory deeds takes the day.

For the 2012 edition of Merchant of Venus from Fantasy Flight Games, the company promises that this revision "remains true to its magnificently campy core while updating the map and game components and expanding game play in surprising ways that will cause even the most hardcore fan to celebrate." That said, the player count has been lowered from six (in the Avalon Hill edition) to four, with the four alien races in the game being Human, Whynom, Qossuth, and Eeepeeep.

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New $190.00 8-Jan-2012 flag
Very Good €100.00 3-Jan-2012 flag
Acceptable $90.00 30-Nov-2011 flag
Like New $175.00 29-Nov-2011 flag
Very Good C $120.00 2-Nov-2011 flag
New $200.00 25-Oct-2011 flag
Like New $225.00 22-Oct-2011 flag
Very Good AU $180.00 21-Oct-2011 flag
Very Good €92.00 18-Oct-2011 flag
Very Good AU $200.00 8-May-2011 flag
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Merchant of Venus
Nick: 
English second edition
Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games
Artist: 
Year: 2012
Product Code: VA85
Size: 11.75 x 11.75 x 3.00 inches
English
Release Date:  Feb 2012
Unreleased
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Merchant of Venus
Nick: 
English first edition
Publisher: Avalon Hill
Artist: Charles Kibler, George I. Parrish, Jr., Regina De Simone
Year: 1988
Product Code: 876
Size: Avalon Hill Bookcase
English
Release Date:  
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6 Merchant of Venus Rules Summary
This isnt' as short as I'd like it to be, but it's what I use to refresh my memory on how to play. I hope you find it useful!
2012-02-02
6 MoV square counters (black and white background)
MoV square counters (black background) - redesign of a redesign. I took original Dathkadan's countersheets, edited the individual counters off of them, transformed them to square counters and hashed back to sheets as per original layout. Pages: 11-12 Paper size: A4 Background: black
2012-01-11
8 Merchant of Venus - base play summary sheet
Play summary for the base game of Merchant of Venus, based on Solamar's "MoV Play Summary_V1.pdf". I removed his variants, expanded some places and edited the text to stick to the base game rules (without combat etc.) to keep it clear and concise.
2011-09-28
6 MoV Ships reference
This is a little reference for the ships that is basically the top left corner of the 4 base ships and the 4 extra ones for the variant. All taken from the excellent Dathkadan design.
2011-06-20
8 Ship Standees & Culture Markers/Standees (Old School Edition)
This PDF includes standees for each of the 4 ship types for all 6 player races. Also included is new replacement Culture Markers and Standees to go with them. These are designed for plastic universal standees (see comments below). Designed to work with the Avalon Hill edition.
2011-05-23
6 Player Mini Mats, Ersatz Mat, Deed Extension Mat (Old School Edition)
This PDF includes some additional optional Mats. Mini Player Mat extension adds a place to store tokens, full ship stats, & Science trading info. Ersatz Relic Mat is used with that variant to keep track of which are available for purchase and to keep the main board uncluttered. The Deed Extension is used when players have more then 10 deeds and is designed to sit above the Player Mat. For best results print on laserprinter & laminate. It is designed to work with the Avalon Hill edition.
2011-05-15
7 Market & Deeds Mats (Old School Edition)
This PDF includes Market & Deeds Mats used to organize goods & deeds counters off board for less clutter & to speed up play. For best results print on laserprinter & laminate. It is designed to work with the Avalon Hill edition.
2011-05-13
10 Race Specific Player Mats with ships (Old School Edition)
This PDF includes Race specific Player Mats with integrated ships used to organize a player's ship, goods, deeds, and relics. Also includes Relic quick rules. For best results print on laserprinter & laminate. It is designed to work with the Avalon Hill edition. Version 2 has revised, shaded ship art.
2011-05-13
7 Race Mats [Ver.2] (Old School Edition)
This PDF includes 6 Race Mats that include all Goods, Factories, & Ship/Equip info. For best results print on laserprinter & laminate. It is designed to work with the Avalon Hill edition. Version 2- Reworked layout of charts for ease of use and better organization.
2011-05-08
4 Waren (goods) - Übersetzung deutsch (german translation)
Eine Uebersetzung der witzigen Merchant of Venus Warenbezeichnungen ins Deutsche. So koennen auch des Englischen nicht maechtige Spieler (wie meine Kinder) alles verstehen und man muss nicht dauernd erklaeren. I've tried to translate the funny names of goods into adequate german versions, so , my children can understand too, and I don't have to translate the whole time :-).
2011-05-07
Statistics
Board Game Rank: 268
Thematic Rank: 47
Strategy Game Rank: 164
Num Ratings: 1781
Average Rating: 7.22
Standard Deviation: 1.50
Num Views: 249152
GeekBuddy Analysis: Analyze
Similarly Rated: View
Avg. Game Weight: 2.8
Fans: 97
Personal Comments: 719
Users Owning: 2062
Users Wanting: 445
Users Trading: 56 [find trade matches]
Has Parts For Trade: 5
Want Parts In Trade: 12
Price History: View
Total Plays: 2520
Plays This Month: 11
Linked Items Relationship: Expansions for this Game
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