I've played the original Age of Empires and the third one but from my memory you don't really trade apart from swapping resources if you're playing multiplayer, thanks for the Spice Road suggestion though as that looks really cool, I've wishlisted it :)
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Victoria 2 has a robust trade system that feels believable and is quite in-depth.
For even more trade-focused games:
Patrician series, Port Royale series, Rise of Venice, The Guild series, Anno series & Commander. Conquest of the Americas will give you a starting point. Also, for something a bit more complex, Capitalism plus.
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That's a great list thank you so much! I'll look into Victoria 2, I've played Paradox's Crusader Kings a fair amount but this one looks more trade focused so that's great! I've just had a look on your steam profile and you've got a lot of hours in Europa Universalis IV which I haven't been able to get into properly yet, if you've played Victoria 2 how does that compare?
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Victoria 2 is quite different. It's the only Paradox title that you can realistically play in an entirely peaceful way, where all other force war on you in some way or another. In terms of complexity, it is more complex than Europa Universalis IV, but in a very different way. In Victoria 2, social structure matters. The people of your nation is not just one unified entity, but split up into 3 main social classes (lower, middle & upper) and they are in turn split into several further classes (like workers, farmers, soldiers, clergymen and so on), and you need to keep an eye on their needs & wants.
I find the Victoria series (I've got boxed copies of both 1 & 2) to be among the most rewarding Paradox titles to play, even if the learning curve can be quite steep.
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Oh okay I think I understand what you mean, it is kind of cool how Paradox have made each of their grand strategies have their differences, I'll try and get it next time it's on sale as I'm willing to watch a few tutorials to get the hang of it, thanks again for your replies! :)
Edit: It's a relief to see there isn't too much DLC for it too lol
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+1 for Vic2. The best trade system I've ever tried. I'd recommend start with EU4 though. A lot simpler than Vic2. A trade republic like Genoa/Venice might be a great playthrough! The amount of DLC might scare you, but you don't have to buy them all. Only 1-2 are must have, the rest just add some flavor. There's one focused on trades IIRC. They are 66-75% off all the time.
Anno 1404 is also very good
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+1 on Anno 1404.
I'm not really on board about Fnord's and your praise for Vicky's trade system. Pops and developing a society regarding production & consumption matter. Trade itself actually not that much. You sphere, you add some direct investments where you want access to resources and you sell your stuff on the market. And in your colonies.
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I'm not sure if it really is better than EU4's. In both you have military/diplomatic force playing a major role to get access to rare and valuable resources. In EU4 you also have to manage to bring these back home so that you can benefit from them, competing with all those pure traders.
In Vicky 2 you only compete with the few great powers, trying to sphere the most promising nations and to colonize others in that "Scramble for Africa".
Otherwise it really is just production. Getting the required pops and hoping that capitalists make smart investment decisions. But I don't count that as being part of "trade". The economic system as a whole picture is certainly best in Vicky 2.
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Definite +1 on capitalism. Are you familiar with CapitalismLab?
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Civilization pops to mind, and depending on how you play it can be a significant factor in winning. (I like playing as Ghandi for the trade bonuses. Haven't played V yet, but like Civ IV quite a bit).
You might also want to check Offworld Trading Company too. I haven't played it, but have an eye on it. Economics is front and center in that one.
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Patrician is also heavily trade based I think. (yet another game in my backlog). I tried Port Royale but didn't like it at all. Patrician looks to have promise though.
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There is minor trading through diplomacy, akin to the trading system in Civilization 1: you can make a trade agreement that gives a certain amount of money, or you can trade for technologies. that's about it. Trade is pretty much a footnote.
still a great game
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Corsairs: Conquest at Sea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corsairs:_Conquest_at_Sea
https://www.gog.com/game/corsairs_gold
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It might be old, but it is awesome you command many different types of ships. Can trade goods, build new ships, capture enemy ships, upgrade towns, command troops during assault even fight ageists pirates.
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Sid Meier's Colonization (Classic)
you can bury hours in that one :)
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I haven't played too many strategy games but a real favourite of mine has been Empire Total War as I loved how the trading worked. It wasn't a particularly complex system, you just took control of regions around the world, some of which had resources you could exploit. The prices rose and dipped depending on the quantities being sold and all you had to do was ensure you had trading partners and enough routes to reach them.
I'm just wondering if anyone had any suggestions of other strategy games that maybe follow a similar method of involving trade in their games. I've recently been playing Endless Legend which was great fun but I don't think trade was really an important feature in it.
Thanks!
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