Yankee Trader is a strategy door game developed by Alan Davenport for bulletin board systems (BBS). It shares similarities with TradeWars 2002 and is set in a future where trade barons and mercenaries hold power. In this game, players start with a small spaceship and can progress in power and wealth through trading activities.
Gameplay[]
- The game universe of Yankee Trader is divided into sectors that are connected through two-way and one-way links, creating a random network.
- Players navigate these sectors in search of ports, planets, and enemies.
- Trading is a key aspect of the game. Players can buy commodities and transport them to other ports to sell them, aiming to make a profit. Prices for commodities vary between ports and change based on the balance of commodities at each port.
- To address the potential tedium of trading, Yankee Trader allows players to program macros within the game itself, making the process more efficient.
- The default galaxy size is 3,000 sectors, but this can be adjusted by the system operator (sysop).
- Gameplay in Yankee Trader is asynchronous, meaning only one player can play at a time. Each player has a limited number of moves per day, which can be configured by the sysop. Once a player exhausts their moves, their ship remains in its current location. Players can set up defenses in case their ship encounters another player.
- The game also involves colonizing planets, building fleets to protect them, and engaging in battles with other players' planets and trade routes.
- Yankee Trader includes computer-controlled characters called Xannor and mercenaries. These characters make moves during a nightly maintenance event, adding additional threats to stationary defenses and planets. Players can bribe mercenaries to join them, and killing Xannor provides additional benefits such as increased daily charge and generating sales at Earth.