It’s all about supply and demand, or providing the supply to create the demand.

Trade Empires, a PC release from Eidos Interactive and Frog City, is a complex marketing simulation that belongs not only on a personal system, but in a school as well. The basic outline of the program is rather simplistic – create a profitable marketing system and expand it into an empire.

Doing that is another matter. Losing money, initially, is not an option – it is a fact. Not only do you have to hire merchants to work the trade routes. The game revolves around two main areas – your supply center (where you get the product), and the demand center (obviously where you sell it). As your demand center grows, the city and population increases. That is a good thing. The more people you have, the more product they demand.

You do have to keep your eye on market value of your products. Oversupplying the market will drive down the price, and you will lose money. Undersupplying the market may drive the prices up, but you risk losing customers who won’t wait around long to get what they want.

In that regard, Trade Empires serves as a cross between a civilization sim, and an economic sim.

Sound complex? It is, but it is also explained well in the tutorial. Expect to spend about 45 minutes working through the tutorial. It breaks down the marketing philosophy and explains, step-by-step, what every aspect of the player interface does.

The time frame for the program is early history to the 19th century. The first civilization (a good game for beginners) has a time frame from 2500-2130 B.C. There are 19 scenarios, each progressing in difficulty, and the land ranges from the Mycenaean age, to the Nile, Phoenicia, Persia, Islam and Byzantium, British or German industrialization, Tang and Song-era China, Europe, the Indian Ocean, the Atlantic Ocean and the Roman Empire.

As each game progresses through its time base, societal advances will open up new markets to exploit.

The game has a very nice options package, which will allow players to turn off combat or historical events. Because this game is time-specific, it helps to keep the historical events in place.

The player interface is not intuitive, but you can work your way around it quickly. There is a lot to pay attention to and take care of in this game.

The sound is well rendered, and the game is rife with music and sound effects. This game features lush graphical elements that, while not they may not be the absolute best in a civilization-genre game, still boost the visual appeal of the game.

Trade Empires is rated for Everyone, but this is not the type of game a casual civ/economic-sim player would want to tackle. This program is for game player that wants to exercise his or her brain. This program requires that you think. It is not a reflexive-based program. However, Trade Empires is a well-designed game that will teach and entertain.

Install: Easy
The game only asks for 300-plus megs of hard-drive space. It goes on quickly and easily. There is a patch available for the program that fixes minor bugs and adds the German Industrialization period.

Gameplay: 9
Once you enter a scenario, you will find yourself almost mesmerized by the depth of the game play. Time moves along at a nice clip, and you have to work your trade routes with a plan in order to succeed.

Graphics: 8
Lush, bright and colorful, these graphics really help draw players into the game.

Sound: 7.5
The sound portion of this program really pushes along the video aspects.

Difficulty: 8.5
Who designed this game – someone with a Masters in Business Administration? Even the easier scenarios provide a challenge and prepare players to take on the tougher scenarios.

Concept: 8.5
This program effectively combines elements of civilization and economic simulations. The time frames are excellent and add character to the program.

Multiplayer: N/A

Overall: 8
This program is not for the casual player. It will, however, provide a player up for the challenge hours of enjoyment and intense play.