Serenissima
- Players
- 2-4
- Best withThe player count this game plays best at.
- 4 players
- Play timeHow long a full game runs once everyone knows the rules.
- 120 min
- AgeThe minimum age printed by the publisher.
- 12+
- ComplexityHow demanding the rules are, from 1 (very light) to 5 (very heavy).
- 3.0 / 5
- Year
- 1996
About the game
Serenissima recreates 14th-century Mediterranean trade, where players take on one of four great city-states, Venice, Genoa, Barcelona, or Istanbul, competing to build the most prosperous trading empire. Players build galleys, hire crews, buy and sell commodities, and vie for control of ports, balancing the demands of a merchant fleet against a fleet of warships. Scoring is based on the number and variety of ports controlled, with larger city-state ports requiring a broad range of goods to satisfy. Turn order is determined through bidding, adding another layer of strategic tension to this classic economic trading game.
Hobbli's Notes
A dense, old-school economic trading game with a lot of interlocking systems: port control, commodity pricing, and fleet management all feed into each other. It rewards patient planning but its long playtime and notable downtime between turns make it a better fit for experienced Eurogamers than newcomers.
What we like
- Rich, interlocking economic trading system.
- Meaningful player interaction through port and monopoly control.
- Deep multi-turn strategic planning.
- Thematic Mediterranean trade-empire setting.
Keep in mind
- Significant downtime between turns.
- Long playtime relative to modern Eurogames.
- Dated design compared to newer trading games.
- Can invite analysis paralysis.
Who it's for
Suited to experienced economic-game fans aged 12 and up who enjoy long, strategic trading games in groups of two to four.
