Patrician IV: Conquest by Trade

 PC
  • Publisher: Kalypso
  • Release Date: Sep 17, 2010
User Score
6.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 38 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 14 out of 38
  2. Mixed: 15 out of 38
  3. Negative: 9 out of 38
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  1. Pookiebot
    Nov 25, 2011
    8
    Patrician IV is a great game in terms of a market simulator. You start out with a ship and slowly build your trade empire. Developing cities as you establish more trade with each. The real challenge comes when trying to control the entire region with the ever grown terror of pirates. Overall if you need an economics challenge then you'll get some few days of game play out of this title, ifPatrician IV is a great game in terms of a market simulator. You start out with a ship and slowly build your trade empire. Developing cities as you establish more trade with each. The real challenge comes when trying to control the entire region with the ever grown terror of pirates. Overall if you need an economics challenge then you'll get some few days of game play out of this title, if that's not what you're into avoid it.… Expand
  2. Grandao
    Apr 1, 2012
    5
    This game is the same as "Patrician III", better graphics (now in 3d) but nothing new, the trade sistem has been improved (a little) but the ship battles now are worse than in previous version. I think that it could be done better.
  3. Ersnt
    Apr 20, 2011
    7
    I fine this game to be a lot of fun, once you find out how to play it. The biggest problem with this game is the lack of a tutorial; However, if you mash the buttons and find out what does what, and read off of the patrician IV forums you will learn how the game works. I know that is a lot of extra work there but you can have a lot of fun playing this game as well.
  4. pwnDonkey
    Oct 9, 2013
    6
    i bought this game for $7.50 on steam sale and have played it for 16 hrs. I did not play pat3 before this so cant really compare. I will say the first 10 hrs or so are fun. Mainly it revolves around buy low sail to another port and sell high. Learning where market inefficiencies are (too much wine in loc A and too little in loc B) can be quite fun and rewarding.

    Unfortunately, sea    i bought this game for $7.50 on steam sale and have played it for 16 hrs. I did not play pat3 before this so cant really compare. I will say the first 10 hrs or so are fun. Mainly it revolves around buy low sail to another port and sell high. Learning where market inefficiencies are (too much wine in loc A and too little in loc B) can be quite fun and rewarding.

    Unfortunately, sea combat is entirely forgettable. Once pirates started showing up in any numbers, the game became really unfun. Any flash game on the interwebs is more tactical than sea combat in this game. If you have 1 ship you can literrallly sail circles around any number of enemy ships and shoot them to pieces. It just takes a while. And after you do it once, there is no reason to do it again. AND auto resolving suffers from the "pure math" problems of the rest of the game where biggest ships with more guns always beat littler ships with less guns.

    What this means is there is exactly 1 way to optimize things and 1 way to do combat and now i am stuck washing, rinsing and repeating.    … Expand
  5. jollysteve
    Mar 8, 2012
    4
    I spent countless hours playing Patrician 3 and still do on occasion. Sadly Patrician 4 is nothing I expected it to be. Much like all nowadays' sequels it is dumbed down a notch and the UI is worse. It would have been better to remake Patrician 3 with widescreen support and added features. I especially dislike how automatic trading is done in this game.
  6. Philippe
    Sep 28, 2010
    3
    This "sequel" to patrician 3 is nothing but. The game feels familiar but it is a poor rehash, filled with bugs and a dreadful UI. If you liked patrician 3, stay away from this one until the next few patches. There is absolutely no gameplay enhancements.
  7. Bigmageusa
    May 27, 2011
    4
    The game has some wonderful graphics, but ends up plagued with gameplay trouble. The fact that a large map of the north of Europe tends to be the screen you are on a majority of the time means that much of the impressive detail is lost. The gameplay itself often forcing you to click through different screens to accomplish simple selections, making what could be a simple and enjoyable gameThe game has some wonderful graphics, but ends up plagued with gameplay trouble. The fact that a large map of the north of Europe tends to be the screen you are on a majority of the time means that much of the impressive detail is lost. The gameplay itself often forcing you to click through different screens to accomplish simple selections, making what could be a simple and enjoyable game much more taxing to play. The main gameplay mechanic of trading goods to earn a profit (with the option of making them) sounds interesting in concept, but quickly becomes a continual grind. The overcomplicated development of "trade routes" to have ships automatically trade is rife with problems and only serves to have the game play itself (with the actual player only creating the occasional ship or claiming the occasional port). This game is probably best for those who are looking for an easy spreadsheet-style game.… Expand
  8. marqpas
    Oct 8, 2010
    1
    This was the first Patrician I ever tried- and the last. After watching the instructional video 3 times I tried for 10 minutes to make a simple trade. No succes. I have played a whole lot of sim games, but I never saw anything as convoluted as this. I'll give a point for the mediocre music, and a point fot the mediocre graphics.
  9. rpeh
    May 22, 2011
    7
    The UI design isn't very good and the game gets repetitive, but that means I played it long enough to discover the flaws. If you like empire-building games, this will work for you.
  10. scottslod
    Jul 31, 2011
    3
    stick to the previous Patrician's games because this game a â
  11. Thunderstorm
    May 8, 2015
    3
    Looks decent, but I didn't get past the first 10 minutes due to the abysmal interface design. Lacks help or tutorials. Unless you're into having to study the UI before being able to do anything, stay away!
  12. yeah_yeah
    Dec 23, 2016
    9
    Al final lo que mas valoro en vidoejuegos es las horas que le he echado y lo que me entretiene. Y es cierto que al Patrician III le he echado bastantes mas horas, pero seria injusto votar con menos a este Patrician IV. Yo lo recomiendo a la gente que le gustan este tipo de juegos porque desde luego proporciona horas de vicio! Gracias y ojalá trabajaran en un Patrician V

Awards & Rankings

37
#37 Most Shared PC Game of 2010

Critic Reviews

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Metascore
66

Mixed or average reviews - based on 18 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 18
  2. Mixed: 11 out of 18
  3. Negative: 2 out of 18
  1. GRYOnline.pl
    Aug 8, 2011
    70
    Patrician IV is most certainly the best game in the series. It triumphs with a vast array of options, better audio and visuals and atmosphere. I have no doubt that the game will turn out to be a success - fans of the series can buy it without hestation but everyone else should think twice.
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  2. PC PowerPlay
    Feb 11, 2011
    70
    Clearly isn't the game for everyone. [Feb 2011, p.68]
  3. SpazioGames
    Jan 20, 2011
    62
    A game dedicated to pure strategy fans. There's a lack of options and multiplayer modes though, and some more polish could've done good to the whole experience.
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