Commodity Speculation

Game description from the publisher:

Welcome to Saqqara (Egypt), the date is about 2125 BC, just before the Heracleopolis revolt.

Set in ancient Egypt in a time of chaos and revolts, Saqqara is a game with lots of bluffing, speculation and development for 3-5 players. The players assume the role of monarch in ancient Egypt and attempt to influence the country's government and economy. They send merchants to the market to collect goods to develop their province, recruit workers to build pyramids, and claim fertile land on the banks of the Nile. The player who succeeds in developing his province best by cunningly making use of the privileges of the pyramids and claiming a large area on the banks of the Nile wins the game and becomes Egypt's new leader.

Watch out for beggars, thieves and sneaky bluffing monarchs from other provinces. They want the same as you: power over Egypt.

In TECH-BUBBLE, 3 to 6 players ride the technology market roller coaster at the turn of the 21st century as it surges and eventually plunges. The players represent various market sectors during the "Dot.Com Bubble". They make decisions to stay in the market and ride out the surge or get out before the bubble bursts. Timing and nerves of steel are everything. And along the way players can affect each other's investments and decisions by crafty play.

Due out October 2009

Welcome, dear Imperialists. It's the year 2415. The interplanetary federation (IPF) has done a great job in the last centuries. All necessary precautions have been taken to conquer this planet named "Steam". The core of the planet consists of a 6,500º Celsius hot source containing different resources, including water. It has taken over one hundred years to complete the first block of 42 shafts from the surface to the core.

But now the time has come. From every shaft surges the hot steam that is the basis of the production of raw materials. To be able to use and process this steam, platforms have to be placed over the shafts. Later, we can use the platforms to connect the water purification tanks. By using several tank extractors, we can harvest other resources like energy, ore, and quartz from the steam. These resources are important. You will need them to grow your steam empires. You will need to increase the capacity of your landing craft to transport your harvested materials off planet. Buy and sell the resources at the Trading terminal for profit, as currency is – like on earth – always in short supply on Steam. To help you in your endeavours, the IPF has placed several specialists at your command – but getting the specialist that you require may not be easy.

Planet Steam is a board game in which two to five players take the roles of entrepreneurs in a steampunk boomtown, racing to assemble equipment, claim plots of land, extract resources, and accumulate riches. After harvesting resources using tanks and converters, players must buy and sell those resources in a volatile and ever-shifting market. The one who earns the most income will, in the end, be victorious. However, only through shrewd resource management and clever manipulation of supply and demand can a player reign supreme!

Schwarzer Freitag is a stock trading game with a built-in bubble to explode. The players are buying shares on a growing stock market, but at one time in the game the prices will crash. The players try to find out the right time to sell their shares and buy gold and silver (these are the victory points), before the market crashes.

The actions of all players change the probability of the crash. When they start selling, the probability of the crash will get higher. If they only buy shares then the crash will come later.

To win the game, you have to have a close look at what the others do to be in the position to sell the highest share at the right time, to get the most money. But the silver/gold price will rise too, and you can also win by buying silver/gold early in the game.

This game is the first game in the Freitag-Projekt:

Freitag(Friday) is a game project started on Friday 24th of October in Essen. I, Friedemann Friese, will work on that project for the next Five years on every Friday. I will work Five, Fifteen,... minutes (In German twenty-five, thirty-five,.. starts with an F, too) up to Fifteen hours on that project, but only Fridays.

The game will be published in Five years on the Friday of Spiel '13 in Essen. It will not be shown on Wednesday or Thursday.

I have a blog (by now only in German) on my website, where I show my work on that project.

By now I really don't know what will happen, but I have a lot of time......

Now it happened that the first game is ready and I found a company for publishing (the company is very interested, but it is not totally sure by now)

I will add the new second game to the database.

A city as large and crowded as Tempest depends on the daily arrival of supplies and foodstuffs, and the wealthiest echelons of society demand the latest goods and luxuries almost as frequently. Domination of this bustling trade is the ultimate goal of every merchant house in the city.

In Mercante, you control one of these merchant houses. Deploy your trusted agents to purchase goods from arriving ships and sell them into the most profitable markets. You must also do more – from "enticing" senators to outright skulduggery – to claim your rightful place at the pinnacle of Tempest's merchant class. Do you have the business acumen and ruthlessness required to claw your way to the top?

Designed for 3–5 players, Mercante is a game of economic warfare. At the beginning of the game, each player controls one warehouse and two agents. On each turn, goods are purchased at auction and stored in the warehouse to be sold at the various markets when the time is right.

Players compete to accumulate crowns to finance their operations, and senatorial favors (victory points) to win the game. The player who accumulates the most money and favors will control all trade and profit in the City-State of Tempest!

Number 2 in the Tempest Shared World Game Series