VOC!

Each player takes the role of a merchant living at the end of the sixteenth century. These merchants sent out ships to explore and expand the profitable trade in the east, where they traded cloves, nutmeg, silk and tea in such remote areas as India, Indonesia, China and Japan. These goods were then sold at great profit in the West. The journey, however, was a dangerous one, and fitting out a ship was prohibitively expensive. Merchants therefore cooperated in small groups, called compagnies in Dutch, to fit out ships together.
At the same time, competition was cutthroat, not just abroad, but also at home, where Amsterdam was the most fearsome rival. Your task in this game is to make as large a profit as you can - but at the same time uphold the honor of your hometown against the mighty merchants from Amsterdam.