Description

In Space Lane Trader, you are playing a character in control of a cargo ship, trying to make a fortune in the newly opened up shipping trade. You buy and sell goods transporting them between planets within the Terran Federation, preferably to where demand and prices are high. The main objective of the game is to earn money (credits) faster than your competitors and return to show off your success.

During the course of the game, you can fit your ship with upgrades that will make it go faster, attack harder and defend better – all with the goal to ensure that you manage to beat your competitors to the goal. You can also buy new ships with better capabilities, that can carry more goods for you, go faster or fit more upgrades.
Your character will develop during the game – from the inexperienced person starting play at Terra station in the Solar system, to a grizzled space ship captain with much improved skills. You develop your character by spending Experience Points (XP), that are earned by drawing Event cards as the game progresses.

The most obvious way of earning money is buying goods, transporting it to another planet and selling it there. Another way however, is attacking your competitors and take what should have been yours anyway. Winning combat against another player will allow you to either steal cargo from your opponent or take loot in the form of Debris cards. Debris cards can either give you valuable salvage that can be sold on planets, or the best equipment in the game that will improve your ship beyond the capabilities of your competitors.

Not all parts of space are safe. Planets away from the most busy parts of space are characterized by a wild west mentality and the Terran Federation security forces don´t have the capacity to uphold law and order everywhere. This is reflected by two different security levels in the game – green and yellow. Green security level planets are safer, and although bad things can happen, the negative consequences are not so extensive. On security level yellow planets however, the dangers are higher but also the rewards.