Sail the high seas! Establish profitable trade routes! Count your florins and make a fortune as a reputable merchant in Renaissance Europe!
El Capitán began life as 1998’s Tycoon, an area-majority game of modern-day businessmen jet-setting around the world to build factories and hotels. How this transformed into a battle between 15th century merchants cruising through Mediterranean cities is a mystery to me, but as an avowed cosmeticist, I have to say the classic theme holds far more appeal than the corporate one. Possibly because there’s something more romantic about pretending to be a ruff-toting sailor than a fat cat in a suit and tie.
Put simply, the goal of El Capitán is to come out of the third scoring round with more florins than any of your equally money-hungry opponents. To this end, players set sail for nine different cities, from Marseilles to Alexandria, constructing warehouses and fortresses in the hopes of raking in the cash. At the end of each scoring round, players rack up points (and therefore florins) for having the most warehouses in a city – as well as for having at least one warehouse in as many locations as possible. Fortresses earn you cash too, presumably symbolising their added protection of your wares from theft.
Like any good entrepeneur, players will have to take out loans to finance their expeditions and building projects. Like mortgaging properties in Monopoly, you’ll always have to pay back more than you were given, so managing income and expenditure is important. There are two types of loan: borrow 10 florins and pay back 12 (or extend the loan and owe 16), or receive an advance of 12 and be slugged with a bill of 16 (again, you can extend the loan and owe 20 florins).
If, on your turn, you don’t have enough money on-hand to build, you have to take a loan. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing – it’s pretty much a given that no-one will have enough money to finance all their dreams without outside hope. A major part of the game is weighing up when to borrow, when to repay and when to go it alone.
Sailing cards provide the only random element in El Capitán, aside from the whims of your opponents. At the beginning of each player’s turn, 10 cards are laid out for purchase. Some of these allow the merchant to travel either to a named port or one to three orthogonal spaces from your current location, whereas other, cheaper cards only let you travel between two specific ports. On any given turn, a merchant plays sailing cards then takes one of three actions: build a warehouse, build a fortress or take out one of the aforementioned loans.
Naturally, there are a couple of twists to keep things interesting. If too many warehouses are constructed in a given city, the first ones become obsolete and no longer count towards victory (although their owners can sail back into town and re-establish them). Also, a merchant cannot build more that three warehouses in a row. Once you slap down the third one, you have to hoist anchor and set sail for another location.
To further differentiate El Capitán from its 20th-century predecessor, Kramer and Rösner have included expanded rules for advanced play, with extra locations to sail to and the potential threat of florin-thieving pirates. These options work better with more players – even in the base game, the ocean can seem very empty with only two or three merchants sailing the high seas.
Speaking of two players, there are additional rules for those of us who can only corral one other person into joining them for a friendly bout of mercantile expansion. With the help of tighter scoring and neutral pieces, El Capitán remains satisfactorily challenging without sacrificing the flavour of the basic game. I have to say though, that I found it to be way more fun with four players. I’m a social guy though, so don’t take my word on that!
For those interested in the prettier side of play, El Capitán is a true delight. The art is done in a classic style that really evokes the era, with old-timey maps, Renaissance portraits and fancy flourishes typical of Flemish painting. The painted wooden pieces – similar to those in classic Euro games like Settlers Of Catan and Puerto Rico – work together with the board and cards to provide an appealing and attractive package.
If you’re looking to lure non-gamers into the geeky world of cards’n’scoring rounds, El Capitán is a safe bet. The rules are relatively straightforward, the initial set-up looks exciting and fun. Of course, established gamers who enjoy a minimum of direct conflict, a small amount of luck, some accountancy and plenty of strategy (or even just piling up little cardboard money tokens) will get a lot out of it as well.
Review Summary