Merkator

Merkator puts you in the shoes of a merchant in 17th-century Hamburg, shortly after the Thirty Years' War. The goal? To make the city prosper and, of course, to fill your pockets!

The game revolves around fulfilling delivery orders. You'll travel through various cities, collecting goods and taking them where they are needed. But pay attention: when visiting a neighboring city, you can add the goods you collected there, boosting the local economy! Each fulfilled order rewards you with another, more elaborate one, which you can repeat – if you have space in your order 'agenda', of course.

And that's not all! These orders are worth points at the end of the game, but you can also exchange them for special cards. These cards can boost your deliveries with extra goods in specific cities or grant more victory points if you meet certain end-game conditions.

Movement across the map is strategic: some cities give you a valuable resource called 'time', while others require you to spend it. And if you want to 'hitch a ride' with another player and use their route to fulfill your own orders, you can! Just pay a time fee. The game ends when someone manages to get the most coveted order, which only comes after completing the previous one.

Merkator is an economic game with 'pick-up and deliver' and 'contracts' mechanics, ideal for those who enjoy planning and optimizing routes, with an interesting historical touch. It's a good challenge for those who like to think a bit more.