The game plays well with 1-4 players. More than four tends to bog down as player turns take longer and longer as the game progresses and decision trees grow. Don't bother with the combat version of nova balls and lasers, as this plays best as an economic race, not a wargame. In summary, Merchant of Venus has enough strategic meat to satisfy the hard-core gamer yet doesn't take all night long to play. This is my wife's favorite game and easily one of my top ten.
Many German games seem to drape a theme on top of an abstract game system.
Not so with Merchant of Venus. You really can imagine yourself piloting a spacecraft and bartering with aliens. You can't play this game in three hours' time If you have played Monopoly , you can't miss this game. This game actually acts like Monopoly, but the difference is that the place changes from Earth to other planets. I have played this game several times, and I have not ended the game yet, as this game needs a lot of time to earn your money, so 3 hours may not be enough.