Venezia - Classic Economic Board Game Due In Q4

The English-language version of Italy's Statelibris Games' Venezia, the classic Euro-style economic board game that traces the rise of the trade-based Venetian Republic, will be available from Passport Games sometime in the upcoming Q4. Venezia was designed by Marco Maggi and Francesco Nepitello, creators of the popular War of the Rings and Age of Conan board games.

In Venezia, players compete to become the most prosperous and influential noble family in the history of the Serenissima Republic. Each player controls a patrician household vying for power with other powerful families. To gain clout and fortune players must extend their influence outside the city by sending representatives to trading destinations throughout the Mediterranean. Players also participate in power struggles within the city as they compete to become the next Venetian ruler or "Doge", and to acquire more ducats as they attempt to build up their family's cash reserves.

Venetia is played across three epochs, tracing the rise of the Venetian economic powerhouse from its modest beginnings in the 9th Century to the apogee of its power in the 18th Century. Players not only have to deal with each other, but they also have to counter the threat from Genoa, the Turks and the Spanish to Venice's hegemony over the Mediterranean.