Trading

In this third game in Lookout's Zavandor fantasy setting, it's all about dwarves. And mining. And gemstones. And other enhancements for the mines that need to get developed further during the game to have full effect.

4 different gems are the currencies in this game. However, when collecting income you draw cards from 4 different mines (card stacks) with each having its own distribution! The number of gems you earn depends on the upgrade level of your dwarves. Gems are used to either win new objects for their mine through simultaneous 4-way auctions, or to enhance their mines, objects, and victory point count. Another innovative part is that each object has to be upgraded to fully use its benefits, e.g. a level 1 dwarf only gives you 1 income per round, some level 3 dwarves give you 3 income.

On the King's way through the mountain, the requirements for upgrading some special cards always change, and only the player who wins the sapphire auction knows where the next turn will lead to. There are shorter and longer paths to the Coronation Chamber, where the game ends. The game lasts between 10 to 12 rounds.

In the late Middle Ages, trade flourished in Europe. Economic groups like the Hanseatic League, the Welser and Fugger families, and merchants from Northern Italy established trading posts and factories in all of the important cities throughout Europe. These businesses provided the population with goods of all kinds, such as fur from the north, cloth from Flanders, wine from the south, and spices from India. The most important commodity of all was salt. In the Middle Ages salt was highly prized it was used to preserve food.

In Catan Histories: Merchants of Europe, you are a powerful merchant! Start your trading posts in three cities. Recruit new merchants and send them to distant cities to establish trading posts and expand your interests. The more trading posts you have, the more commodities are at your disposal which you can sell profitably in foreign
cities. To ensure that your commodities arrive safely at their destination, you must open up trade routes and equip caravans. You win the game if you are the first to deliver all of your commodities to foreign cities.

Catan Histories: Merchants of Europe is a twist on the 2010 release Settlers of America: Trails to Rails from designer Klaus Teuber and publisher Mayfair Games. Game play is similar in both games: Players start with three locations on the game board, collect resources depending on a die roll, spend resources to move and build, and branch out to new locations with a long-term goal of delivering goods to opponents' cities. The first player to deliver all of his goods wins the game.

Instead of being played on a fixed game board showing a Catan-ified map of the United States, Die Siedler von Catan: Aufbruch der Händler is set on a Catan-ified map of Europe – which isn't a surprise given that Kosmos is a European publisher. Instead of moving from east to west to mimic the settling of the U.S. by Europeans, players start in the middle of Europe, namely Germany.

Here's a description of the game from AllGames4you:

With the new Catan-game "The First Settlement", Klaus Teuber distances himself the most from the well-known game mechanics of the Settlers series.

Players take on the role of newcomers to Catan and learn how the adventurous life in the first settlement played itself out. They explore, using a new movement mechanic, for the raw materials they need to build the settlement. Along the way, they discover useful natural products - but also encounter wild animals and are confronted with adventurous situations. Those who survive these encounters obtain the raw materials they sought as well as experience points that improve the abilities of the player's character. Over time, then, the player becomes stronger, smarter or more charismatic and is better and better suited for the dangers of the wild.

Back in the village, the natural products can be used to brew beverages while the raw materials are used for building. Through this building, the settlement grows and players obtain victory points.

The main attraction of the game lies in the exploration of the island and the development of the individual player characters. But trading and interaction between the players is also important.

Belongs to the Catan Series.

Bohnanza is the first in the Bohnanza family of games and has been published in several different editions.

As card games go, this one is quite revolutionary. Perhaps its oddest feature is that you cannot rearrange your hand, as you need to play the cards in the order that you draw them. The cards are colorful depictions of beans in various descriptive poses, and the object is to make coins by planting fields (sets) of these beans and then harvesting them. To help players match their cards up, the game features extensive trading and deal making.

The original German edition supports 3-5 players.

The newest English version is from Rio Grande Games and it comes with the first edition of the first German expansion included in a slightly oversized box. One difference in the contents, however, is that bean #22's Weinbrandbohne (Brandy Bean) was replaced by the Wachsbohne, or Wax Bean. This edition includes rules for up to seven players, like the Erweiterungs-Set, but also adapts the two-player rules of Al Cabohne in order to allow two people to play Bohnanza.

Note: As mentioned above, the Rio Grande Games edition supports more players than the Amigo release, and also sports two-player rules. You should keep that in mind when perusing the ratings.

A fast paced, Bible based, outrageously fun game! Babble!™ is an exciting new Bible game with a fresh style of play. Every player draws two cards and start calling out the words on the cards. Wait, did someone else just yell out "cross"? Yes! A match! Both players place their matching cards together. One player grabs a die and rolls it while the other player calls out "odd" or "even". If the guessing player guesses right, that player gets the match! If not, the player rolling the die gets the match. Each match is worth one point. The players then draw a new card and start calling out words again. Its so simple!
The game contains six decks of cards with each deck being a different category. The six Categories are Symbols, Books, Places, People, Animals, and Things found in the Bible. Each card has five words related to that category. After playing through all six decks the player with the most points wins the game!
Babble!™ is a terrific game for a large number of players. It is great to play with friends, family, and church groups!