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James Clavell's Tai-pan box art
1981 Ranked #18,035

James Clavell's Tai-pan

A historical trading game has merchants buy and sell cargo among Chinese coastal ports to finish with the most money. Event cards alter the commercial landscape, making each voyage a chance for profit or disruption.

Economic Nautical Auction/Bidding Commodity Speculation

Players

2-4

Play time

Not listed

Age

12+

Complexity

2.33/5

Rating

5.99

Harder to teach Highly interactive Deep strategy

Overview

At a glance

Is this game right for my group?

ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.

Teachability 2.4/5

Harder to teach

Replay value 4.0/5

High replayability

Interaction 3.8/5

Highly interactive

Player scaling 4.4/5

Scales well

Strategic depth 4.7/5

Deep strategy

See all 5 specifications

How it plays

How does it play?

One of the high-priced (for the time) James Clavell games produced by FASA in 1981 ($25.00 retail). This one is about trading on the Chinese coast in the 1830s.

Core mechanisms

Key systems that shape the decisions players make.

Read the full game description

One of the high-priced (for the time) James Clavell games produced by FASA in 1981 ($25.00 retail). This one is about trading on the Chinese coast in the 1830s. Players buy and sell cargo from port-to-port including tea, spices, silk and Opium. Various events come into play via a deck of cards. The player with the most money at the end of the game is the winner.

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Editions

Language and publisher variants currently recorded in the catalog.

Edition Year Language Publisher / Region
No editions imported yet.

Player resources

Rulebooks, player aids, FAQs, and solo resources.

No files imported yet.

Game and edition data

All specifications (5)

Play and group

Players
2–4
Best with
2–4
Play time
120 min
Age
12+
Complexity
2.3/5
Credits and catalog connections

Credits

Designers

2
Ian Bailey Albie Fiore

Publishers

1
FASA

Linked items

No published linked games yet.