Rise of Venice : Trade and City Management Sim with Political Twist

Trading and Dynasty building Sim with Political Intrigue spices

The port of Venice. The Renaissance is in full flow. Trading ships paddle the globe, laden with exotic goods. It’s the era of merchant kings; the air is thick with the smell of profit, opportunity and, this being the 1400s, a pervasive hint of poor.Mercifully, Rise of Venice lifts you high above the stinking streets, giving you mastery of a lovely 3D map of the Med bathed in golden holiday sunshine. Twenty-five cities support a simulated economy that you can exploit to grow a business empire. The ebb and flow of market forces plays across 22 resources, all subject to spikes and crashes tied to the shifting needs of the population centres.It’s a great setting for a business sim laced with political intrigue.



Kalypso see Veniceas a merging of expertise from their work on the Patricianand Port Royaleseries, and the influence of the latter is particularly obvious in the swarming trade vessels that dominate the map. These are your primary source of income. You’ll want to pinpoint high demand and sketch efficient sea routes to feed it. But carefully: advanced resources require you to combine basic goods, which means the shortage or abundance of a single resource can have complex ripple effects on surrounding trade. Venicebuilds into a dynamic web of inter-reliant numbers that can be tugged and prodded endlessly. I’ve lost entire days to moreish strategy games, and this vast economic Rubik’s cube has me worried.Two elements suggest this could foster Civ-level ‘just one more hour’ play sessions. Firstly, Kalypso understand that you need a measured dash of instability to keep trade economics from mediating into boring stability. Natural disasters pop up occasionally to give your abacus a good kick. Mount Vesuvius might pop its top and start vomiting molten slag into the laps of Napolese citizens. Forest fires, earthquakes and sandstorms can cause further destruction. Destruction creates need. Need means profit.

Cold-hearted profiteering will certainly aid the growth of your empire, but there are softer ways to gain influence. This is where the second addictive element comes in. Venice is ruled by the Council of Ten. You can perform missions for council members or protect their trade interests to gain influence. To level up and grow your fleet, you need to pass votes through the council. Suddenly those business interests are competing with the need to make nice with Venice’s opulent merchant families.You can also marry into influential positions, building a full family tree and assigning members to key roles. There’s fighting too, which takes place at sea with a surprisingly deep little minigame. Rise of Venice could be 2013’s biggest surprise for sim and strategy fans