The ship Batavia was build in Amsterdam in 1628 on the orders of the VOC (united East-Indian Company). A Dutch initiative to send ships to all corners of the world. In October of that year the Batavia, with 341 souls aboard, would set sail to the East Indies. Everything seemed to be going great on it's maiden voyage... But on June 4th of 1629 the ship ran aground near the coast of Australia. Only a handful of people survived the disaster and the following mutiny... Every player plays the skipper of a VOC ship. The starting player will roll the die determining how many spaces everybody gets to move. If a player ends his move in a port they can stock up on goods (for free). If a player ends in the Home port he can unload his goods thereby securing them from the pirate and the other players. And if a player lands next to another player he can attack them (high roller wins, difference in roll is the amount of goods that can be stolen). Secured goods can be used to buy parts of a players own Batavia which also yields an advancement for the players current VOC ship. After a player has build his own Batavia, he will have to sail it from the Home port to Batavia city to win the game.