In Byzanz, you're a merchant at the height of the Byzantine Empire, competing to profit from trading spices, cloth, and other valuable goods. The game blends strategic auctions with hand management, where your cards are both money to bid and goods to collect. Each round, players compete for card lots in auctions where the highest bid takes all — but watch out, because the money you spend goes to the open market, and the last player to win an auction might sweep it all for free! The key is knowing when to hold cards to form valuable sets (3 of a kind) and when to risk bidding. With clever closed economy and constrained bidding mechanics, every decision counts. And don't underestimate the merchants (wild cards) — three together are worth a small fortune!