Fujian Trader ★★★★★

Fujian Trader is a victory-point strategy game built around a seventeenth-century trading map once privately owned by a Chinese merchant family and recently re-discovered in Oxford University’s Bodleian Library after nearly 300 years.

Players assume the role of Ming-era merchant families following trading routes in the South China Sea shown on the historic Selden Map (ca. 1619). Each family gains influence points by controlling and raiding ports, purchasing fortunes, selling goods for silver and using that silver to achieve a dominant position in the Ming provinces. During the final three rounds of the game as the Manchus invade and the Ming Empire collapses in 1644, players use their ports, fortunes and silver to successfully endure the cataclysm and compete for status. The game is designed for players ages 12 and up and is suitable for 3-5 players.