Offworld Trading Company

Offworld Trading Company for PC is an extensive real-time strategy game in which the player’s weapon is not firepower but money. The title is the debut product of Mohawk Games, a studio established by Soren Johnson—one of the lead designers of Sid Meier’s Civilization III and Civilization IV. The production is loosely inspired by M.U.L.E., a strategy game that came out for 8-bit computers in 1983 and turned out to be one of the first commercial successes of Electronic Arts.

Mechanics

The action takes place on Mars, where we assume control over our own trading company and compete against others for the leading position on the planet. In a world where free market is our battlefield and money can buy anything, air we breathe included, we will focus on extraction and production of 13 different raw materials which provides us with a cash inflow and development opportunities. In the game, there are no military units whatsoever, so the base expansion involves building subsequent structures that obtain a given raw material or process one kind of good into another. Apart from that, we also have to provide our plants with an adequate supply of air, petrol, and food. Neglecting this responsibility will force them to buy the aforementioned goods on the free market which, in turn, negatively influences the production costs.

The core of the gameplay is trading with the goods we produce. The market dynamically reacts to the changing situation—prices shift in real time depending on the supply and demand as well as the economic reality. A trading sense is the key to success for it will allow us to buy or sell a given good at the best price in the right moment. Of course, the game also features a black market where you can buy property rights for new grounds or manipulate the prices on the regulated market. It is also possible to hire extortionists to harass and blackmail our competitors and sabotage their activities.

Game modes

Offworld Trading Company for PC offers a single player campaign. It is also possible to play a quick match against the artificial intelligence and to play in the multiplayer mode on randomly generated maps for up to 8 players.

Last updated on April 2, 2016