Wampum (2010)

About this game

Players are merchants in the colonial U.S., trading wares such as maize, tobacco, animal pelts, weapons and alcohol with Native American villages. In some villages, you trade your wares for other wares. In other villages, for your wares, you receive wampum--bands of shells and beads used as currency by American Indians--and subsequently the white European settlers as well. The types of wares you are trading and the types in the village where you are trading determine whether you will get wares or wampum. Clever trading in the right village at the right time is the key to collecting the most wampum and winning the game. The game won second prize in the 2009 Hippodice Game Design Competition.

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 2 to 5.
• Rules load. At 2.1/5 this is a mid-weight game — expect a proper rules explanation before you start.
• Age. The publisher suggests 10 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.