Mercurius

About this board game

Mercurius is a 60-minute board game for 3–5 players about investing and trading in 17th-century Holland. Players take the roles of rich citizens seeking to grow their fortunes through the first world stock market in Amsterdam.

The board tracks prices for stocks in six branches of the East India Company, along with six exotic goods traded by those branches. Players begin with cash, five changing prices cards, and four cards that allow special actions during the game.

On each turn, a player may make up to three purchases or sales of stocks or goods in any combination. The player then plays one changing prices card. That card alters the price of one stock and one good when played, then changes those prices again on each of the next two turns.

Every player holds information about activity in distant lands and events that may influence market prices, but no one sees the full picture. To make informed decisions, players must watch which cards are played, how prices move, and what their opponents are buying or selling.

• Stocks: Invest in six East India Company branches.
• Exotic goods: Seek greater profits through riskier trading.
• Changing prices: Plan around effects that continue across three turns.
• Market reading: Use partial information and observe other players’ actions.

Goods change in value twice as much as stocks, creating the potential for larger profits along with greater risk. In Mercurius, careful investment, bold trading, and sharp attention to the market all contribute to the race to become the richest citizen of Holland.