Designer: Emanuelle Ornella

Artist: Oliver Freudenreich

Publisher: Amigo/Rio Grande Games

The first edition of the game designed by Mr. Ornella came in the smallest of packages and was held up as an example of games with a lot of depth but sparse components. Indeed, this is a card game masquerading as a board game and came with a huge deck of cards, a 4-piece flash card-sized main board that needed to be assembled, and a few wooden cubes and chits. Nevertheless, the game was well-received and well reviewed when it first published some 20 years ago. Shortly after the warm reception, both Amigo and Rio Grande Games came out with a reprint which kept the title but enlarged the box roughly four fold. Surprisingly, even though the game is now two decades old, it is still being sold by some outlets.

Solid production values and an oversized board are the main features in the new edition of the game, though the first edition small footprint remains attractive

I have owned both versions of the game. The first edition was done by Mind the Move, likely a small publishing house operated by Mr. Ornella. The components and artwork maybe simple but the illustrations are vibrant and clear, as are the iconography. About the only thing people disliked about the game is the flimsy tuck box and the teeny size of the main board. Indeed, the harbor tokens and wooden cubes on the main map can get pretty crowded at higher player counts. Enter the new edition from Amigo/RGG. The publishers decided to increase the size of the packaging and in the process, redesigned all the graphics, maps and illustration on the cards. The drawings on the freight cards remain attractive and easy to read. The icons are clear and while different, is on par or even exceeds the original artwork depending on your tastes. The biggest change come from the ships and the main board. The new board is a bifold and features a map of the Mediterranean Sea and the coastal sea ports and trade routes that link the ports. The map is also beautifully rendered and is indeed an upgrade from the previous edition. Instead of wooden cubes, the new ships are assembled from a hard but pliable plastic and looks quite impressive on the shared board. I do find the ships a tad too big and in some areas on the map, it can straddle two adjacent seaports and cause some confusion. This is especially the case if more than a few ships are clustered in one region. The original wooden cubes ought to be sufficient for the game, but of course, is aesthetically less pleasing. The packaging, production values for the new version is top notch. However, depending on your priorities, those living in smaller quarters in urban centers may actually welcome the first edition. Size matters.

Old school bartering game inspired by Bohnanza

Oltre Mare is decidedly an old school game with old school vibes. The game is definitely inspired by Bohnanza, but is not like Bohnanza. Unlike Bohnanza where the calling card for the game is the negotiating of funny looking beans, the negotiation and card swaps in Oltre Mare are slightly muted and does not play as big of a role. But other aspects of the game such as the set collection of goods is reminiscent of Bohnanza. In Oltre Mare, players each command a ship to purchase, trade and sell goods. Each freight card features a type of good and additional information such as maximum hand size for cards, the number of actions and actions icons that are activated when the cards are played. Importantly, these freight cards are played onto a single, individual pile for each player and is known as the freight deck and the order in which cards are stacked matters. As this is a set collection game, grouping together goods of the same type will earn you more coins when sold. Hence, players will wish to trade, barter or purchase a set of good cards that can be played in order on to the freight deck to maximize scoring.

At the start of each turn, players must check for the hand limit for cards which is determined by the trade number listed on the top card on the freight deck. This means when ordering cards from the previous turn, players must also consider how many cards they want to hold in their hand. Any excess cards must be discarded to the individual “pirate deck” which will incur some penalties at the end of the game. More on the pirate deck later. But, care must be taken not to constantly overload the pirate deck. Once the hand limit is checked, players will proceed to barter, trade, swap, negotiate or purchase more freight cards from the main draw deck or pirate deck to eventually assemble a set of freight cards to be played on the individual freight deck. The number of freight cards played is once again indicated by the top most card of the freight deck. In general, the size of the hand limit is inversely correlated with the number of cards played to the freight deck.

Action icons on freight cards provide all the action and tension in a set collection game

Arguably, one of the best parts of assembling the freight cards – besides the set collection aspect – is the activation of these action symbols. In the multi-purpose freight cards are a list of 4 action symbols on the left edge of each card. Each freight card will have a different combination of symbols and when all the cards played to the deck is splayed, the number of icons for each action will indicate the strength of the action based on a chart. The first icon is the coin icon. The total coins on all cards will help players add more income to their score track. Next, we have the deck icon which allow players to draw more freight cards from the main deck. The third icon is ship icon where players will move their ships on the map between harbors to pick up the harbor tokens. Harbor tokens all provide power ups that are semi-permanent. Only one can be active each time and they provide different benefits such as discounted purchases of freight cards, earning more income or points. Since only one harbor token is active each turn, visiting other ports will diversify the selection and also help in achieving majority for end of game scoring of harbor tokens. The final icon on the cards is the “Pirate” icon. This is the only negative element in Oltre Mare and the icon force players to draw freight cards from the main deck and place them face down on the pirate deck for negative points. Each card in the pirate deck is worth -1 point during scoring, so they are a nuisance. Fortunately, there are ways to thin the pirate deck. One can purchase the freight cards from the pirate deck instead of the main draw deck and at least one of the harbor tokens will nullify all pirate activity.

The game will go on until the draw deck is depleted. Somewhere in the middle of the deck is scoring card. When that happens, play is paused and players will take the freight deck and figure out from top down, the different sets of good cards to be sold. Each set of goods will earn more if sold as a complete set, with a smaller set earning fewer coins. This part of scoring mirrors that of Bohnanza. This scoring is again triggered at the end of the game.

Final thoughts

I reacquired the new version of Oltre Mare partly because I enjoyed the initial plays years back and wanted to have a trading/negotiation game to play with the family. Mission accomplished. In the handful of games that we have played as a family, the consensus is that the game is decent and fresh that it should be kept in the collection. While I like Bohnanza, the game does not always work as robustly with three players and it can feel a bit repetitive. Oltre Mare works at a smaller player count and the negotiation is there, though I would argue not as dynamic as in Bohnanza. In Oltre Mare, freight cards can be purchased outright or traded, swapped with others to assemble the right collection of goods. Cards and money can also change hands between players and can be kept between rounds without a huge drawback. Sure, if the card hand limit is exceeded, the cards must go into the pirate stack. However, they can always be repurchased. As such, keeping a few excess cards at hand is fine and the pressure to give away or trade away these cards is not as urgent as in Bohnanza where the position of these cards at hand is immutable, and causes a lot of angst when beans at hand have to be planted prematurely. In Oltre Mare, the negotiation and trading of cards is a small part of the game, though it remains integral to success. I suspect that trading is not done as often and trading chits were introduced to ramp up negotiation. Basically, players who trade with the active player will receive a chit and during scoring, majority owner of chits gets points.

Trading or negotiation games are always tricky to navigate, especially with families. There is always a tendency to be more generous with the younger players since there is no hard or fast rule about trading. I think the trading aspect of Oltremare is slightly diluted and for better or worse, is not the focal point of the game. I think the game can be won by being an isolationist, but it is more fun to engage in trading. For that reason alone, I think Oltre Mare deserves some consideration as a family game. The rules are easy enough to absorb for a pre-teen and complex enough for hobbyist to plot and scheme for victory. There is plenty of room at the table for different styles of play and in the end, In this era of modern gaming where roll-and-writes and take-and-makes dominate a lot of family gaming, sometimes a negotiation game from the past can really breathe some fresh air in a gaming night.

Initial impressions: Good