Container, the cult-classic economic board game that spent years as a white whale for genre fans, is back in print. AllPlay has brought it back through a Kickstarter campaign that raised over $1.1 million from nearly 14,000 backers.
Originally released in 2007, Container was designed by Franz-Benno Delonge, Thomas Ewert, and Kevin Nesbitt. It is a pure economic simulation for 3-5 players where you build factories, produce goods, set prices, and ship containers across the sea. The twist is that the entire economy is player-driven. There are no fixed values for anything. Every price, every purchase, every auction outcome is determined by what players are willing to pay. It sounds dry on paper, but this total economic freedom is exactly what makes it electric at the table.
Delonge, who also designed the Spiel des Jahres-nominated TransAmerica, passed away in September 2007, the same year Container was published. The game has remained a cult favourite ever since, but copies of the 2018 10th Anniversary Jumbo Edition regularly sold for hundreds of pounds on the resale market.
AllPlay's new edition comes in at $39 for the standard version and $99 for the deluxe, both available to preorder now with fulfilment already underway. The campaign also included two companion games, GRUNTZ (a tactical two-player battler with magnetic meeple customisation) and Triangulation (a party word game), though Container can be picked up on its own.
If you have ever wanted to understand why economic game fans speak about Container in hushed, reverent tones, this is the most affordable way to find out.
Sources: AllPlay | Kickstarter | Wikipedia
