
- BGG rank
- BGG #1,379
- BGG rating
- 7.1
Merchant of Venus (Second Edition)
- 1–4 players
- 120–240 min
- Complexity 3.0/5
- 2012

1988
Rules assistance for Ocean Trader
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Ocean Trader is a board game released in 1988 for 2–6 players and 45 minutes per game. It was designed by John Rudford and its main mechanics are Roll / Spin and Move, Commodity Speculation, and Pick-up and Deliver.
Ocean Trader is a game which attempts to recreate all of the risks and rewards of the 19th century world shipping trade. Players use their ships to pick up and deliver commodities from a variety of ports around the world. This is complicated by the fact that for every demand only the first two deliveries receive payment, with the first delivery paying twice as much as the second. Players may buy commodities with no current demand and speculate that demand will appear close enough to make a delivery worthwhile. Players may purchase "shares" but these are merely a game-ending mechanism; once a player has a majority of them they may declare it. Twelve more turns are played and that player wins if they still have the majority (and at least one ship and enough cash).
Ocean Trader supports 2–6 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Ocean 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.
Ocean Trader has a complexity rating of 2.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-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.
Ocean Trader belongs to these categories: Economic, Nautical, and Transportation. Its main mechanics are Roll / Spin and Move, Commodity Speculation, 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 Ocean Trader are: John Rudford. 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 Ocean 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.