
- BGG rank
- BGG #14,924
- BGG rating
- 6.9
Patrol: Lost!
- 1–2 players
- 30 min
- Complexity 1.9/5
- 2009

2008
Rules assistance for Free Trader
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 1 player

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Free Trader is a board game released in 2008 for 1 player and 45 minutes per game. It was designed by Felbrigg Herriot and its main mechanics are Trading, Tile Placement, and Pick-up and Deliver.
Free Trader is a solitaire game of opening trade routes while fighting Pirates and dodging Police patrols. It plays by exploring tiles representing planets and drawing cards for trade prices and events. You need to keep trading in order to make the payments on your new space ship. Make four payments to win! It is free, and web published
Free Trader supports 1 player according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for Free Trader is 45 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
Free Trader has a complexity rating of 1.6 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Free Trader belongs to these categories: Fighting, Print & Play, and Science Fiction. Its main mechanics are Trading, Tile Placement, and Pick-up and Deliver. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Free Trader are: Felbrigg Herriot. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Free Trader as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.