Cotton Trade: 1800-1860 (2021)

It is the early 19th century. You are a British entrepreneur with only one goal on your mind. To benefit from an exponentially growing demand for cotton created by a rapid development of the textile industry. You will send your ships all over the world in search of the best bargain prices of this precious commodity. Will you keep up with the expanding market and seize the opportunity to become the most successful merchant?

The game is played over 9 rounds in 3 stages, each stage covering roughly 20 years. During each round players compare the wealth of their companies to determine current turn order, they rent ships, send ships to regions where cotton is harvested, buy cotton and return back to the United Kingdom to sell cotton with a profit. At the end of each round players pay a ship maintenance cost and clear the board preparing for the next round. Players can also benefit from transporting passengers and exporting small amounts of goods from the United Kingdom.

Game uses a deck of 24 ship cards with different properties where maximum capacity is the most important one. Cotton can be purchased from contract cards of different quantities and prices in four historical regions where cotton was harvested. Droughts and local wars can interrupt players' plans and along with the order of cards being drawn from the decks are the main random factor of the game. Ships are rented when only limited information about cotton harvests is available, adding to the difficulty of managing trading companies. Players can sell shares of their company to obtain additional funding but are requested to re-buy all their assets at the end of the game.

There are no victory points in this game. The player who owns the wealthiest company at the end wins the game.

Relative cotton prices and amounts of cotton harvested in different regions were based on real world economic data. In order to simulate exponential growth of the market the game rescales itself between stages. This allows to keep up with the cotton boom without a need to handle large amounts of coins and tokens. Advanced game rules among other options introduce the possibility of buying other players' shares. This way players can invest and profit from their competitors' success.