Augsburg 1520
The game is about Jakob Fugger; who was probably the wealthiest man of his time. “Jakob the Rich;” as he was named in his time; owned so much money that he loaned money to a host of counts and kings. Often; they were not able to repay him in cash; so they awarded him special privileges; such as trade rights and offices.
2 to 5 players ages 12 and up assume the role of the merchants from Augsburg and try to get what they can -- by means of auctions -- from the nobility; thus increasing their wealth and particularly their social status.
The game play uses a simple bidding mechanism. Each round; players offer cards of varying values in a series of five auctions. Once a bid is made; players either raise the bid; call; or drop. The winning player may choose from a set of possible actions that increase abilities (and more importantly; points). After a number of rounds (dependent on the number of players); scores are tallied. It's that simple.
This is a game by Karsten Hartwig; whose other game “Chinatown” was already published by Alea. Game length varies -- depending on the number of players -- between 25 to 90 minutes. The difficulty level is a 4 on the Alea 1-10 scale (the same as Ra).
Besides the players’ tableaus and a game board; there are 90 game cards and various game chits.