Designed by: Michael Schacht
Hansa is a trading game, where players sail their ships around Scandinavia hoping to establish themselves as the most successful merchant.
The board is placed centrally and players take pieces of their own colour – specifically, a ship, and three Thalers (money). On your turn, you move your ship along the various routes of the board, always following the movement restrictions (routes are one-way!) Having arrived at the next port, you choose from one of three options: Buying goods, selling goods, or building a market at the port. Buying goods is vital, because you can’t build markets without any goods, and without any markets you have little chance of winning. Selling goods is also vital because if you don’t sell anything, you won’t have any points at the end of the game!
But the markets are where it’s really at: having a market at a port means you can collect goods there for free, and other players picking up goods from the port in question must pay you for the privilege. Getting some markets working for you can improve your prospects no end.
The decision -making in Hansa is twofold: because you can only choose one option before moving on, not only does the choice to buy, sell, or build at your current location require some thought, you’re also having to plan ahead about the route your ship travels: plotting your course around the Hanseatic League is really the key to victory here.
Hansa is very clever, and if you like board games to look very traditional, with old-worldy maps, wooden ships and lovely thick cardboard bits, it's ticks all those boxes too. I really enjoy it, but have played mostly with two, and it does seem that one player can get caught in a bit of a downward spiral while the other races away. It's perhaps a little dry, almost abstract, but when I'm in the mood to feel like a renaissance trader it definitely fits the bill.
There's no fighting, but you may be cleverly outmanoeuvred by some Hanseatic brinkmanship
Potentially high. It's the kind of game where you may need to adjust your plans at short notice as the complexion of the board will change.
For a game with such simple rules, Hansa does invite some agonising over decisions. Everything is tinged with risk!
Minor changes in player tactics can have a big effect on play - Hansa stands up to repeat visits.
2-4
Players
10+
Years
30-60
Mins
Sam says
It's pretty dry, and decisions can be harder to figure than the rules that define them. But it's also pretty to look at, and if you don't mind a game that invites the odd lull in play while someone figures out their next move, Hansa may float your Baltic boat. With four players it can feel less strategic and more chaotic though - best with 2 or 3.