The patrician

The Patrician is a strategy game by Ascon (later: Ascaron ), which is set in the heyday of the Hanseatic League (13th to 14th centuries). The game was released in June 1992. After very positive reviews, it was able to stay in the German charts for over six months and, together with the series Erlebte Geschichte ( Max Design ), significantly shaped the image of the "typical German economic simulation " during this period. in the historical subject area. The game also received a lot of attention and recognition in English-speaking countries.

Game object and game goal

The patrician has commercial, political and role-playing parts that have been implemented with considerable effort for the time of publication. The aim of the game is to become the Eldermann (top chairman of the Hanseatic League) as the culmination of a successful economic career . To do this, the necessary reputation among the people and in politics in the various Hanseatic cities must be won, for example through donations, guild memberships, the granting of low-interest loans , the delivery of scarce goods or the defense against pirates .

Course of the game

As a trader you try to make a fortune by skillfully buying and selling goods. You can send your merchant ships ( Koggen , Schniggen , Kraier and Holke ) to 17 Hanseatic cities and buy goods there, which you then try to sell as profitably as possible in other cities. The trading world encompasses the whole of Northern Europe and extends from London in the west to Novgorod in the east.

The game has a sophisticated AI . This is how it reacts B. on the trading actions of the players and simulates supply and demand accordingly. Anyone who is too greedy as a player and z. B. moves exclusively on fixed routes or wants to restrict it to trading in luxury goods, causes a saturation effect on the market and is thus forced to adjust its strategy. The game cannot be mastered with the same trading strategy over a long period of time. The British magazine AUI makes it clear that, given the complexity of the game, buyers shouldn't be averse to grabbing pen and paper when they get the chance to check the profitability of their own strategy.

But even those who have already been consistently successful have not yet “won” the game: to protect themselves from attacks by pirates, you equip your ships with weapons and soldiers. Takes z. If, for example, the pirate plague in Skagerrak once again prevails, the Hanseatic Council will decide to form war fleets, and the well-armed ships of wealthy players can be forcibly drafted into this, which for the players (in the case of refusal) either has fatal political consequences or (in the case of confiscation) can have dire economic consequences.

At the political level, popular favor through parties and donations as well as the necessary support in the city council through voting majorities must be won before a possible election for mayor comes into question. A so-called recruiter can help find people willing to marry (and the highest possible dowry ).

Processing of historical events

The patrician is characterized by a very well-founded preparation of the real historical facts of the game theme for a computer game; the magazine Powerplay even speaks of a "prime example of historical research" and refers to the historically correct facts in the core elements of the game (product range in the cities, names of important people, correctly adopted data from epidemics, fires and famines) as well as in small game details (e.g. an authentic meal order in the council meeting).

Press reviews

The game performed almost consistently well in the German and English-language specialist press. The fun of the game, graphics and operation were rated with an average of 80%. The Amiga Joker magazine gave it the Hit Award. Only the setting was criticized several times for being too monotonous.

Individual quotations:

"... a trading simulation has to look like this and no other ..." ( Amiga Power magazine )
"Complex, involving, and addictive." ( Amiga Format magazine )
"... it's actually a challenge to make money rather than just a process of the game ... it's trade-tastic, mate!" ( The One Amiga magazine )

Patrician 2

Studio

Ascaron

Erstveröffent-
lichung

November 2000

Game mode

Mouse , keyboard

system advantages
preconditions

CPU : Pentium II 233 MHz; RAM : 32 MB

CD-ROM , download

In November 2000, Ascaron published the sequel Patrician 2 (subtitle: Money & Power ). In contrast to its predecessor, Patrician 2 presents itself in a contemporary isometric 2D perspective, in real time and with network multiplayer mode . The game principle and aim are almost the same, but it differs significantly from its predecessor in that the focus is shifted from pure trading to trading with a build-up character; For example, it is now possible to build factories and other buildings.

In October 2001, the manufacturer published an expansion entitled Upswing of the Hanseatic League . The biggest change is an online multiplayer mode, according to the Gamershell website. IGN writes of optimizations and small enhancements that, taken together, significantly expanded or improved the game mechanics . Since the publisher marketed the add-on outside the German-speaking area as Patrician 3 at full price, the American game magazine Computer Gaming World , for example, rated the extension as worse than Patrician 2 . Since little has changed compared to the second part, there is no compelling reason to purchase the game at full price.

There is also Patrician 2 Gold , which is only a retail version. B. in computer picture games . However, the Gold Edition is also sold by distributors who specialize in the low-price sector. In this edition there are 24 cities and other extras.

Patrician 4

Erstveröffent-
lichung

September 2, 2010

Game mode

Keyboard , mouse

system advantages
preconditions

Processor with 2 GHz (from Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon 64 ), 1 GB RAM, 256 MB graphics card with PixelShader 2.0 (from GeForce 6 series), 5 GB storage space, DirectX 9.0c

medium

DVD-ROM , download

language

German

Current version

1.3

Age rating

USK

PEGI

In September 2010, Patrician 4 was released , the first game by the game developer Gaming Minds , which was founded in 2009 . The game was published by Kalypso Media , which, after the bankruptcy of Ascaron, also took over or acquired several employees and the trademark rights for some of the company's games in 2009 and then announced a continuation of the Patrician series.

The naming of the actually only third part as Patrician 4 comes from the fact that the add-on for the predecessor Patrician 2 was published internationally as Patrician 3 .

Compared to its predecessor, the basic gameplay has changed little, but new ships and goods have been added and other types of goods have been removed. Furthermore, it is now possible to conduct research, which is absolutely necessary if you want to use the higher types of ships (Holke, Flusskoggen, Hansekoggen, Kraveele ), larger shipyards and increase efficiency in trade and production.

If the user's computer is connected to the Internet, then it is necessary to log in with a Kalypson user account.

Patrician Online

For spring 2011, Kalypso Media announced the launch of Patrician Online as a free browser game. This MMO version of the game made it possible to play against many real players. Here, AI was replaced by the real players who determined the market with supply and demand. Political structures and alliances were also created by the players. The online version was discontinued in December 2012.