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‘The Dutch East Indies’ Currently Sailing on Kickstarter

Apr 19, 2014

I can’t say I’m much of a fan when it comes to trading games (especially when it comes to the glut of 17th and 18th century titles out there) but there’s a new Kickstarter which may be of interest to plenty of our readers: The Dutch East Indies. What looks to set this Dutch design is the fact the game is extremely family friendly and appears to provide a good deal of tactical play without overloading younger players with a ton of rules.

The project runs through May 16th and you can reserve a copy of The Dutch East Indies for a $70 pledge.

From Duiker Games:

Gems have been discovered in the Dutch East Indies!

First game by Duiker Games, on Kickstarter from April 16 – May 16.

Martin Looij, a first time game designer and publisher presents The Dutch East Indies, a game that is all about trading, stealing, thinking ahead, building and breaking down, and collecting as many gems as possible. The game is currently live on Kickstarter after multiple years of design, and hundreds of hours play testing by many independent teams of test players. The game features a lot of heavy wooden components, such as 10 wooden islands, 10 large wooden ships, and wooden barrels and gold bars. The regular version of the game is listed for $70, which includes US shipping and heavily discounted worldwide shipping. There is a deluxe version too, which allows play with up to 8 players. The game will be fully Kickstarter exclusive.

About the game:

In The Dutch East Indies, it is the 17th century and you’re captain of a Dutch, British, Spanish or Portuguese vessel.You get a letter from your king: Precious gems have been found in the East Indies! And your king has asked you to set sail and bring those gems back to him!
But it’s not as easy as it sounds…

First of all, those gems have not been found on uninhabited islands, but by the local folk. Those locals don’t know the value of the gems, and are willing to trade them for other goods. So your king has stocked your hold with barrels and barrels of user goods. Your king also sent along some gold bars, and if you run out, you may get some of those from the locals too.

Why do you need those? Well, you might want to buy an extra sail, or expand your ship’s cargo space, or add on an extra cannon, because you are not the only one at sea…
Remember I said you are one of four captains. Those other captains, your fellow players, have the same mission as you. If they grab enough gems and get them home safe before you do, you will lose the game. Or they might just try to steal *your* gems… And if that’s not bad enough, there are pirates who have it out for you too! Get too close to them, and they’ll blow your ship to smithereens!

Good luck, captain, you’ll need it…

Plays in: 45- 90 minutes, depending on # of players

Players: 2-4 with the regular version, 2-8 with the deluxe version

Plays well with: children, casual gamers, families, fanatic gamers

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Jeff McAleer

Founder/Editor-in-chief of The Gaming Gang website and host of The Gaming Gang Dispatch and other TGG media, Jeff tackles any and all sorts of games but has a special fondness for strategy, conflict sims, and roleplaying games. Plus, he's certainly never at a loss for an opinion...