Batavia cover
2008BGG rank #4,970

Batavia

by Dan Glimne, Grzegorz Rejchtman · Queen Games

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Players3–5
Time45–60m
ComplexityMedium-Light
Age10+

About the game

What is Batavia?

Batavia takes the players into the golden age of the East India companies - England's, Holland's, Sweden's, France's, and Denmark's. And Batavia - now known as Jakarta - wasn't just the main branch of the Dutch East India Company on Java, but the name of their flagship as well. The players, representing merchants, visit the trading posts of the five East India companies all over Asia. Every company's station offers a different good, which will be made available to the merchant who visits the trading post. To get a passage there, you'll need the ship card of the corresponding company. Every turn, these cards will be auctioned off, according to a special method, where there are only winners: the highest bidder gets all the offered cards but divides the money he paid equally among the others. The one who is able to travel to the trading posts with the most lucrative goods will be able to procure the best wares for himself and get the most gold for them at game's end. Re-implements: Moderne Zeiten

How it plays

Mechanics

Auction / BiddingSet CollectionStock Holding

On the shelf

Categories

EconomicNauticalRenaissance

Questions players ask

Questions to bring to BoardGameBrain

  • How do setup and the first turn work in Batavia?
  • When does scoring happen and what ends the game?
  • How should the table resolve an unusual timing or rules interaction?