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.
