Stats:
No. of players: 2-4
Amount of time to play: 90 min
Age requirements: 14+
Set-up time: 5 minutes

Starship Merchants Rules Description:

Starship Merchants is a space-themed pick up and delivery game. You must buy ships, claim and discover mines and sell your minerals. The player with the most credits at the end of the game wins.

The board for Starship Merchants is split into four areas. The four quadrants are the Shipyard, Market, Belt and Dock. Each area gives you access to different actions. On your turn you must take an action in your current quadrant, advance to the next quadrant and perform one action there or advance and take no action.

At the Shipyard you are able to get a new starship. There are two types of starships, tugs and scouts. Tugs haul more cargo and scouts have more energy for exploring and traveling. You have access to better starships as the game goes on and old starships become obsolete. If you don’t have the cash to buy a starship you can lease one and take a loan. You’ll pay half the cost now and take two loan tokens. Each time you return to the Shipyard you must pay off at least one loan marker on each of your ships. Your payment for each loan token is equal to half the starships price.

The Market lets you buy equipment or pilots for your starship or a refinery. You may also claim a mine while here. This ensures only you can use the mine and makes it more valuable. Equipment and pilots can get you more energy, add cargo space to your starship or get you more credits for delivering a specific mineral.

When you run your ship through the Belt you may load cargo onto your starship, explore new mines or add a destination to your trip. This all takes energy and you may only run one starship through the Belt per turn.

Lastly you go to the Dock. Here is where you make all your money for the cargo you have loaded. Destinations may add to your total take. If you end your turn in the Dock and have 100 or more credits you can declare the Final Run. If you have 150 or more credits you must declare the Final Run. Declaring the Final Run gets you 10 bonus credits. Then you wait as all other players take their turn until they return to the Dock. If you declare the Final Run, each time you would get a turn during the Final Run, you get 5 credits instead.

After all players return to the Dock after the Final Run, the game ends. The player with the most credits wins the game.

Quick Review of Starship Merchants:

Starship Merchants is a fun pick up and delivery game with some race elements in it. You must choose whether you want to get ahead or spend more time to buy more ships, equipment or pilots. Of course this will depend on the situation and what you opponents are doing.

The game looks great. It has a retro look and the components are all well made. The rulebook is good but I suggest reading it a couple of times. There is a lot in there and some details may be missed the first time through.

The refineries are expensive but can really boost your income. You need to maximize the cash you spend on them and the return you’ll get. Timing is a major factor in this game and you can win by timing things effectively. The major timing decisions are when to buy starships, if you should stay an extra turn in the Market to get something you want and when to call the Final Run. All these elements make for a tense race that you want to lead.

Starship Merchants is a unique pick up and delivery game. If you like pick up and delivery games I highly suggest you try this one out. Also if you like sci-fi games, you’ll love the art and theme in Starship Merchants.

Score and synopsis: (Click here for an explanation of these review categories.)
Strategy 3 out of 6
Luck 4 out of 6
Player Interaction 4 out of 6
Replay Value 4 out of 6
Complexity 4 out of 6
Fun 4 out of 6
Overall 4 out of 6