Kontor

About this board game

Kontor is a two-player tile-laying game, also playable by two teams of two, with an approximate play time of 60 minutes. Set in late 17th-century Amsterdam, it challenges merchants to compete for supremacy across the city’s harbor areas.

Players expand through a large harbor area by playing Land and Water cards. As the game develops, they build trading houses along the canals and work to control the three major commodities represented in each harbor area: Spices, Tea, and Wine.

The central contest is one of ownership and majorities. At the end of the game, points are awarded according to who owns the largest commodity majorities in each harbor area, making the placement of trading houses and the expansion of the harbor key parts of the struggle.

• Players: 2–4, including team play for two teams of two
• Play time: approximately 60 minutes
• Core mechanisms: tile laying, harbor expansion, trading-house building, and commodity majorities
• Setting: late 17th-century Amsterdam

Kontor is intended to be played with its advanced rules. The game also offers optional rules, scenarios, expansions, and variations, including the 3 & 4 player expansion, event cards, action boards, and an export warehouse. First released in 1999, it provides a focused merchant competition with room for different ways to play.