Released in 2007, Container quickly earned a reputation as one of the best economic board games. Now, AllPlay have re-released this fan favourite at an affordable price, giving it a vibrant new look while keeping its brilliant player driven economy completely intact.
Loading the Docks
The setup is surprisingly straightforward considering the depth Container offers. Each player takes a board, cargo ship, $20 in money cards and two bluff cards. They are then dealt a random factory colour and matching container to place in their production area, before receiving an end game scoring card and warehouse.
In the centre of the table, the Off-Shore Bank and Container Island boards slot together like a jigsaw, a small production touch I've always enjoyed. The Off-Shore Bank is stocked with containers and money, while the remaining components are placed nearby.
Each player also receives a handy player aid, something you'll be referring to during the first few rounds as there are plenty of actions to choose from.
The player who most recently captained a vessel takes the first turn... admittedly not the easiest starting player condition to fulfil, so in my group, anyone who's been out on the water is close enough!
Supply & Demand
Container is all about player interaction. Although there are rules covering production, shipping, scoring and the end game, the economy itself is entirely shaped by the players. You decide what containers are worth, how much profit you want to make and ultimately whether the market thrives or completely collapses.
That's also what makes the game so intimidating at first. The challenge isn't learning the rules, it's learning the market. There isn't a "correct" price for anything, so your first game will be chaotic as everyone tries to work out what containers are worth. Thankfully, discovering that together is part of the fun.
Your goal is to collect containers on Container Island, with their value determined by your hidden scoring card. Because every player scores the colours differently, you'll never be quite sure why someone is bidding so aggressively.
Making Port
The catch is you can't buy or ship your own containers. Instead, other players buy them before selling them on from their own harbours. You can then purchase those containers at whatever price they've decided to charge before loading them onto your ship.
Delivering containers to Container Island triggers an auction. You can either accept the highest bid and double the money you receive from the bank or buy out the highest bidder to keep the containers yourself. It's a clever system that means even shipping exactly what you wanted doesn't guarantee you'll end up with it.
Making money is vital because it's not only your score, it's also your buying power. If you can't afford auctions, you'll quickly fall behind, so producing containers players want while setting attractive prices is just as important as collecting the right colours.
As your business grows, you'll buy more factories, pay other players to produce containers and expand your harbour with warehouses. It's a lot to juggle, but every decision feeds back into the economy.
The Bank Always Wins
The Off-Shore Bank is one of the biggest additions in this version of Container. Originally introduced in the 10th Anniversary Edition, I'm really glad AllPlay have made it a standard part of the game, as it's easily one of my favourite mechanisms.
Rather than relying entirely on player set prices, the Off-Shore Bank gives you another way to buy and sell containers. Players can start auctions for either containers or cash, creating opportunities to grab a bargain when the market has become too expensive. It also helps keep the economy moving if your group accidentally grinds it to a halt.
The bank is also where you'll find loans, which are both hilarious and terrifying. You can take a $10 loan whenever you like and, trust me, you'll probably need one. In our first game, the moment one player reached for a loan we all gasped... before quickly following suit!
Of course, the bank always gets its money. Every loan costs $1 in interest each turn, and if you can't pay, it'll happily repossess your containers instead. You can pay loans off whenever you like, but you'll always have to pay the interest first. Rude!
I love the Off-Shore Bank because it gives players another option when the market stalls without taking away the freedom of the player driven economy. Poor financial decisions are still punished though, and taking out too many loans quickly becomes a difficult hole to climb out of.
Counting the Cargo
After roughly two hours, the end game is triggered once two container colours run out. Once the active player finishes their turn, it's straight into scoring.
Each player's hidden scoring card determines how much each container colour is worth. Every card also features a special two valued container, which will score $5 or $10 if you snag every container colour in the game.
What makes Container's scoring so wonderfully cruel is that the container colour you've collected the most of won't score at all. If there's a tie, you get to choose which colour to discard... unless one of them is your two valued container. In that case, your two valued containers are automatically discarded instead.
I learnt this lesson the hard way. In my first game, I'd been so focused on collecting valuable containers that I completely ignored my overall balance. Come scoring, my two valued containers ended up tied as my most common colour and I lost 40 points in one fell swoop. Safe to say I won't be making that mistake again!
Final Thoughts
Container is chaotic, clever and becomes more enjoyable with every play as your group grows in confidence. Production is excellent, even in the standard edition. The vibrant artwork transforms what could have been a fairly dry economic theme into something that really pops on the table. I especially love the shipping company names and the pink shrimps drinking coffee!
Container lives and dies by the people around the table. If your group enjoys negotiation and wheeling and dealing, it's an absolute blast. In our first game, the rules were easy enough to grasp, but putting a value on everything felt surprisingly daunting. Is $3 too much for a blue container? Apparently so, because my friend immediately built a blue factory and started selling them for $1. Before long we'd turned into market traders shouting across the table, "Get your cheap containers here!" Best service this side of the sea.
The biggest downside is the player count. Requiring three to five players means it doesn't hit the table as often as I'd like, and I do wish there was a six-player option for even more market madness. Thankfully, it includes three game lengths, making it much easier to fit into whatever gaming session you have planned.
Container may be a game about shipping containers, but it's really a game about people. Watching your friends build markets, undercut each other, panic buy containers and occasionally crash the economy creates stories you'll still be laughing about long after the game has finished. Container absolutely deserves its reputation, and AllPlay's new edition not only spruces up the artwork but also makes this classic accessible and affordable to add to your shelf.
About the Author
Sophie is a gamer, blogger, podcaster, and book lover with a passion for solo narrative video games. When she's not immersed in games or writing, she's probably out hiking. Her favourite board games feature worker placement, nature themes, and smart tableau-building mechanics.
