Hansa game review

Hansa

General Information:
Manufacturer: Uberplay Entertainment
Author: Michael Schacht
Graphics: Michael Schacht
Number of players: 2-4
Age: 10 years plus
Time: 45 mins.
Year: 2004

Awards:
GCA 2004: Multiplayer Nominees
DSP 2004: 9th place

ENGLISH MAIN PAGE

Deutsche Spielerezension

Game Components:
1 Gameboard - 78 Goods Markers - 4 Moneybag Tiles - 1 Merchant Ship - 60 Market Booths - 22 Talers - 1 Rulebook

The game is set in 14th century Europe - in the Baltic Sea to be precise. This was the age of the Hanse - the mighty German trading company that dominated the trade in the area of the Baltic Sea for most of the Medieval Age. The player's task is to create such a trading network by setting up market-booths in the different cities and earning money by selling goods. At the end of the game the player with the best network and the most money is the winner.

Before the game begins the goods markers have to be mixed - facedown - and one has to be placed on each warehouse space on the gameboard. After all markers have been placed the markers are turned around. The remaining markers are placed - in five almost equal piles - onto the five supply spaces on the gameboard. The ship has to be placed next to Copenhagen. Each player gets 15 market booths in his/her colour, 3 Talers from the bank and the appropriate moneybag tile. Before the game is ready to start a start player has to be selected.

There is a second set-up-phase. Beginning with the start player each player now places one of his/her market booths onto any town on the gameboard. No player may place a market booth onto Copenhagen. After all players have placed one booth on the gameboard each player now - in the same order - places another booth on the map.

The game is played in turns. Each player performs one turn consisting of 4 different phases. If one player finishes his/her turn the next player in clockwise directions proceeds. Each player can/must perform the following 4 phases:

The player gets 3 Talers from the bank. These 3 Talers are his/her regular income and he/she gets the money at the beginning of his/her turn and places the Talers onto his/her moneybag tile.
The player may choose to replenish the goods market. If a player thinks that not enough goods are left on the gameboard he/she might decide to replenish the goods market. The player pays 1 Taler to the bank and then takes the marker - always just one marker - from the first supply space left on the gameboard and places it onto the city with the lowest number. He/She then proceeds to the next city and so on. After each "empty" city has its goods replenished this phase is finished.
A player may choose to carry out one or more of 3 different actions. A player can carry out three actions. It does not matter how many actions he/she carries out as long as he/she is able to pay for it. An action can only performed in the town where the ship currently is. Moving the ship is no action. The ship can only be moved along the routes on the gameboard. The ship can only be moved according to the direction of the arrows of each route. For each route the player has to pay one Taler to the bank. A player can move the ship as long as he can pay for the movement. Only one action can be performed in each town. Before carrying out another action the player has to move the ship to another town. The following 3 actions are possible:

The player can decide to buy a goods marker. If there is no goods marker in the town he/she can not buy one. If there are no market booths in the town the player has to pay 1 Taler to the bank and can take one goods marker of his/her choice (of course only if there is more than just one goods marker in the town). If the player himself/herself has more market boothes in that town as all the other players he/she gets the goods marker for free. If another player has the majority the player has to give him/her the 1 Taler for the goods marker. If two or more players own the same amount of market boothes in that town the money has to be paid to the bank. The player takes the goods marker and places it faceup in front of him/her.
The player can setup a market booth. He/She takes one booth from his/her personal supply and places it onto the town where the ship is next to. He/She has to pay a goods marker and can build as many boothes as there are barrels on the goods marker. If a player has no booth markes left he/she can not build any more boothes.
If a player moves the ship next to a town (or if the ship is already there at the beginning of his/her turn) where he/she owns at least one market booth he/she can sell goods. The player can only sell goods if he/she owns at least two goods markers of the same colour. There is no limit to the amount of goods of the same colour a player can sell. If a player sells two or more same-coloured goods markers he/she turns them around and puts them into his/her personal supply where they remain till the end of the game. If one or more other player/s own/s goods of the same colour they now have to give one marker of that colour to the bank. These markers are removed from the game.

After the player has (or has not carried out) his/her chosen actions he/she may has to pay taxes and tolls. Taxes and tolls mean that each player - at the end of his/her turn - is allowed to possess a maximum of 3 Talers and 3 goods markers. If he/she has got more Talers and/or goods markers he/she has to give the excess Talers/markers to the bank. This maximum applies at the end of a player's own turn only.

The game ends if a player wants to replenish the market and - to do so - has to take one or more goods markers from the last supply pile. The current round is played to the end - so the player before the last player performs the last turn of the game and then the game is finished.

Now the winner has to be determined. Each player gets victory points for the goods he/she sold: He/She gets one point for each marker plus one point for each barrel on the sold markers. Then the players get victory points for their market booths: For each town with at least one market booth in a player gets 2 victory points. If a player is the only player with market boothes in a town he/she gets 4 victory points for that town. The player with the most points wins the game.

(Troudi 07/02/05)

Further Information:
- Homepage of Uberplay

Troudi says 9 of 10 points:
"Hansa" actually is one of my favourite games and - at least in my opinion - one of the best games of 2004. I am afraid that it - till now - has not got the credits it actually earns. The game is great: The rules are really easy to understand and can be explained in 10 minutes. The game is interesting and fluent. "Hansa" is an easy-to-learn strategic game: Players always have to consider where to place market booths, whereto to move the ship and deciding to sell two goods markers or still wait until one can get more of the same sort. A player should always keep a close look on the other players - most important element is the ship: Try to consider how far an opponent can move a ship and what actions he/she is able to carry out in the towns he/she can go to. All in all "Hansa" is a very interesting game and can be played by all groups of game interest and independent from age or experience. The best thing about "Hansa" is the price: The European version costs appr. 15 Euros the American one appr. 21 Dollars. So if you are looking for an interesting strategic game and prefer buying games with real fair prices - do not hesitate and get "Hansa".

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