Patrician III. Rise of the Hanse. For PC

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Patrician III. Rise of the Hanse. For PC. Ascaron Entertainment, 2003. Ever wonder what it would be like to play as a Hanseatic League trade tycoon? Probably not, since the predominantly German Hanseatic trading league that ruled the Baltic in the 14th to 16th centuries doesn't get much play in English-language schoolbooks. However, the setting's unfamiliarity isn't that important when it comes down to the business at hand: making money the old-fashioned way. This medieval business sim puts you at the helm of a budding trading company that can sail the Baltic with goods like beer, cloth, and spices and can set up workshops to increase the volume of profitable products. Eventually, the game world grows and responds to your economic actions, your reputation grows, and there's the chance to become the hometown mayor or even take on league missions to build new towns. For anyone keeping track, Patrician III isn't much of a sequel. The additions consist of some graphical effects and interface features, in addition to some new, beneficial late-game missions, but the core gameplay still makes for a deeply intricate and challenging business game. Patrician III is a successful blend of trading and city-building, and the dynamic world and late-game missions mean you can spend dozens and dozens of hours building a trading empire. Although the game is so fundamentally similar to Patrician II that those who own the previous game have little reason to pick it up at full-price, the feature additions refine the open-ended gameplay by removing some of the micromanagement and by providing more significant milestones to achieve later in the game. While building a town from the ground up is an expensive proposition, it's quite satisfying to see how the trade dynamics change as a result--and it's nice to have yet another outlet for your own products. Anyone looking for a new dose of the long-distance trading found in the Railroad Tycoon series and space trading games should enjoy the intricacy and challenge that Patrician III brings to the table.