Great Western Trail creator’s strategy game Maracaibo is coming to mobile later this year

Maracaibo, last year’s strategy game about trading in the Caribbean by Great Western Trail designer Alexander Pfister, will see a release on mobile later this year.

Marcaibo is set in the 17th century, and casts players as sailors crossing the Caribbean seas to deliver goods to various ports in order to boost their influence with three different nations.

Along the way, players can upgrade their ship to make it more efficient, as well as fending off attacking pirates who threaten their routes.

Players control their ships by playing cards, moving around the central board in a circular route to arrive at each city tile and perform the related actions.

There are several routes to victory, with the game lasting four rounds - although each round can have a variable length based on the players’ actions. Play time is approximately 40 minutes per player.

The upcoming app will stick closely to the original board game, offering both a standard play mode and a campaign mode that gradually introduces more advanced tiles over multiple playthroughs.

Marcaibo’s app can be played with up to four people in pass-and-play local multiplayer, or in a solo mode with up to three game-controlled opponents based on the tabletop game’s automa AI. A full tutorial will be included, and the opponents will feature three difficulty levels.

The upcoming app is being developed by Spiralburst Studio, the indie outlet behind digital word game Hexicon and board game recommendation app Good Game Shelf, in partnership with publishers Capstone Games and Game’s Up, as well as Pfister.

Maracaibo Digital is slated for release on iOS and Android in Q2 2020, with both phones and tablets said to be supported. No PC release has been announced.