Merchant of Venus is a board game, published in 1988 by Avalon Hill, set in an unexplored part of the galaxy during a reawakening of galactic civilization.
In the early part of the game, players are discovering the identity of the cultures in the fourteen solar systems available for trade, and often find valuable artifacts from an earlier period of civilization.
Later in the game, calculating the sale, purchase and commission on several transactions can become a relatively complicated event, especially when players are expecting a fast turnaround.
The game remains popular decades after publication in part thanks to its whimsical theme, but also because it allows a number of potential win strategies and calls on the players to make many interesting decisions.
Mike Siggins reviewed Merchant of Venus for Games International magazine, and gave it 4 stars out of 5, and stated that "Richard Hamblin has devised a system that has some clever design tricks, works within a reasonable time, has plenty of options and offers high playability and balance.
"[5] John ONeill of Black Gate commented: "Unlike Avalon Hill's other science fiction games — like Stellar Conquest and Alpha Omega — the focus of Merchant of Venus wasn't crushing your opponents with massive fleets of warships.