Merchant of Venus Review

Merchant of Venus wasn’t the first game to deal with trading or outer space, but it pushed them together in such a way that we see its effects even today. Whenever you play Xia, Merchants & Marauders, or Firefly, you are playing the descendants of Richard Hamblen’s classic design. It is remarkable that even in 2015, with nearly thirty years of board game advances, Merchant of Venus remains fresh and sharp, in some ways a little old fashioned, but still lean and intuitive. It’s one of the best economic games ever designed, and the current edition from Fantasy Flight Games does right by it.

Upon opening the box to the newest edition, the player will see a double-sided board and two rulebooks. There are actually two versions of Merchant of Venus in the box. Because of a murky licensing mix-up, the current edition is actually collaboration between Fantasy Flight and Stronghold Games, featuring the classic game from 1988 and a redesigned version from FFG. The two versions, different though they are, share the same basic idea. Players are intergalactic traders who must explore the galaxy, meeting new races and learning what goods will be produced where. As the game goes on, the player will ship goods from one planet to another while simultaneously developing infrastructure to make trading more efficient. This includes the construction of space stations, which allow trading to happen more quickly while giving the owner a commission on the price. Eventually players will find established routes and accumulate wealth. The most wealth wins, though the two versions have different end game conditions. The classic version is played to an established “finish line” of money, while the updated version is played for 30 turns, with the richest player as the winner.

Naturally the board is laced with hazards. As the old saying goes, “travelling through hyperspace ain’t like dusting crops.” Systems are connected in unexpected ways. There are many planets that, while close together on the board, have no easy way to travel between them. This can look random to new players, but it does a good job of simulating the three-dimensional method of space travel by representing a kind of z-axis. Some spaces change the player’s direction based on what the player rolled, which can make navigating the center of the board a challenge. There is also an asteroid field on the bottom of the board which will slow down even the toughest ship as they attempt to make contact with the race that lives there. A big part of the game is figuring out how best to get from here to there. Since the movement is based on a die roll, it’s often best to travel short distances as this can be less swingy.

The way the races are distributed is an inspired piece of game design. There are fourteen alien species in the game, each of which produces a good that can only be sold to certain other races. At the beginning of the game these races are each randomly assigned to one of the fourteen planets on the board. That means that the trade networks will be entirely different every game, not unlike the layout of hexes in Catan. Each race also produces special technology, such as new ships and shields in the old version, and a multitude of upgrades in the new. It’s a terrific way to inject variety into a game without requiring a huge deck of cards or a variable map.

Since the game relies on dice for movement, some players might expect a very random experience. There is randomness of course, but the player has a huge amount of agency as to how they win. There is absolutely nothing forcing the player in any particular direction at the beginning of the game, and there are usually many different ways to execute plans. As such there is an enormous sense of ownership to what the player is doing, even in games that aren’t very close. There is a distinct satisfaction to looking at your console in front of you and in making a big transaction, even when you are losing. No matter how poorly you do, you feel like you chose exactly the way in which you would lose.

The classic game is the better of the two versions. It does contain some distinctly old-fashioned qualities, such as a win condition that doesn’t really force the game to end and requiring the players to calculate percentages of various payouts. But in spite of those qualities it is the shorter and simpler of the two games. It captures the elements of exploration and trade with a minimum of fuss, and contains the perfect amount of randomness. It is also perhaps a little better balanced, though there are still games where one player will race ahead and bury everyone else. It’s a far more focused design, being almost entirely about finding and navigating trade routes. The FFG version of the classic game is almost exactly as it was in the 1988 original, with a couple of very minor changes that can be ignored. It’s a classic game that has aged very well, and it will appeal to both adventurers and accountant.

The presumptuously-named “standard game” by FFG is all over the place, but it is rather underrated. It sands away some of the little inconveniences of the old design, while adding a lot of new ones. In addition to trading and exploring, the player can now buy tons of upgrades to give their ship a distinct flavor. There are also lots of side missions, different encounters, new hazards, and of course a lot of new rules to go along with them. Adding so many new variables makes the game more random and adventure-y, which isn’t altogether a bad thing, but does draw focus away from the point of the original game. The balance on some of the items is pretty questionable as well, and the awkward attempts at screw-you interaction feel forced. It is also a much longer affair, going a solid 4-5 hours with four players, compared to the 2-3 for the classic game. But it provides even more of a sense of ownership and narrative. Whether that will be worth the extra rules weight is up to you, but if not there is always the classic game to fall back on. I recommend it for two or three players who want something new.

All of this is executed with the typical FFG panache, though the production is busier than it needs to be. In its classic format at least, Merchant of Venus carves out a little place for itself and manages to hold its own against newer games that occupy a similar space. The new version is closer in tone to games like Xia and Firefly, and is probably worse for the comparison, but it is also not without its charm. Whichever you prefer, Merchant of Venus gives new players access to a terrific classic design while allowing them to experiment with a reinterpretation of the same material. It is one of the best classic game reprints I’ve ever played.