The Dog
WatchEST. MDCCXX

The dog watch is the short evening shift on a sailing ship — the one rotated so the same crew don’t end up on the same watch every day. Manageable, recurring, and always vigilant. Which is roughly what this game asks of you. Command a merchant house in a single shared ocean of ports, sea lanes, and rival captains. Goods have local prices that move with supply and demand, but you cannot see them from your office. To know what sugar costs in Boston this week you have to send a ship, talk to a captain who recently sailed there, buy a rumour from a tavern keeper, or trust a letter from a contact who may be lying.

Voyages take real hours. The sea is wide, the weather variable, and someone is always watching. Fortunes are made by knowing more than the next house. Fortunes are lost by trusting the wrong drunk in the wrong port.