Seas of Fortune

Seas of Fortune is a family game about ships racing around Northern Europe, trying to find the best deals. The players are merchants overseeing each journey their ship makes. They try to guide their ships to the most advantageous cities, and find the best crews to sail them. Each successful unloading of goods in a city earns the player silver, and the game ends on the round someone reaches 100 silver marks.

The game is set in 16th century Europe, and revolves around choosing the best routes for your ship, finding the best crews to get there the fastest, and planning for the future. Loading Cards are revealed to show what products are available in which cities, and Unloading Cards show which cities are buying what products. A further future card of both kinds is also revealed, to show the players what's coming. Old cards go out at the end of a round, and new ones come in instead.

Each round all players choose a new crew for their ship. The first player token rotates over the rounds, and the last player is stuck with the only crew that is left. Each card shows a movement number, and an expertise either in coastal sailing or open sea. However, the choice of crew is not always obvious; the lowest movement number will move first, and the highest moves last. Any ties are solved with the first player token. During a turn, a player can freely move their ship between ports, load it for a fee and unload it for a reward. The faster a ship reaches a port for unloading, the greater the profit will be. The player with the most money when the game ends, wins!