Developed by Quantum Quality Productions in 1993, Merchant Prince is a perfect Strategy/Tactics game which ruled the arcade for several years. You can now play it online here.
The best and most detailed, in my opinion, trading strategy, the level of which did not even come close nor released "somewhere nearby" games of such a plan, nor the second part.
The game takes place in the XIV-XV centuries, in the age of flourishing of the power of the Venetian Republic, when a strong merchant has become a strong Minister, and the sovereign princes of Europe reverently stood in line at the Doge's Palace.
Precisely because power and money, politics and the economy for the present the merchant of Venice, which you in this game and will, are inseparable, the game asks you to do something much more ambitious than just "trade". Of course, she will be paid a lot of attention, perhaps even basic, but the list of "other" your actions here is very extensive.
Trading, in General, everything is clear: looking for buyers, equip your ships, sell more, buy cheaper, consider income and expanding our little "Empire shopping" with the money. But this is only a small part of our worries. We are not just trader, you and politician, member of Parliament. This means that you can apply so many of their legal rights to improve their own position as a merchant. Routes, construction of warehouses, the goods should be sold, - all this is discussed at meetings and all those meetings can, if you try to use to their advantage.
But this is only the "tip of the iceberg." The merchant of Venice nothing will stop in order to increase the meaning of your life – money wealth. After all, your ultimate goal is to become the richest man in Venice, and you're not the one who wants it. However, "the end justifies the means" - and therefore for you they are all good. Why, for example, to bribe some high-ranking Senator to "drag" your law? Please! Or why not push "their man" for the post of one of the Roman cardinals? And it can be. And if you hire a famous mercenary condottieri to deal with objectionable opponent? Or, perhaps, should be to defame him, so that he fell into the clutches of the Holy Inquisition? Or to use the services of an assassin? Or... in short, the game provides unprecedented scope for the imagination – than most, there are just plenty of opportunities for all sorts of intrigues and machinations. All good, except that your opponents are no more stupid than you, and reveal all your dark deeds, too, can...
Despite the turn-based gameplay and the limitations of the campaign (the game ends in 1492), as well as relative poverty graphs, Merchant Prince – the game is very dynamic, and miss you here in literally no time, on the contrary – all (and this is "just" a lot) must be done quickly, but deliberately, because just a mistake, and any mistake in the brutal medieval world of "money bags" can be fatal...
Wish to enjoy your afternoon playing some classic videogames? Play Merchant Prince online for free here.
Source: Archive.org, Mobygames.com
Try to play some games from recommended games section.
