Adventures On The High Seas, the first expansion for Dutch East Indies on KS

The Dutch East Indies, a successful Kickstarter from 2017, is a pick up and deliver naval game from designer Martin Looij and Keep Exploring Games. In Dutch East Indies, players have control of two ships, sailing around the Wild Islands, trying to trade for spices to bring back to their home. All trades have to use the resources on the ship, and the game comes with ships which physically hold coins and resource cubes. Ships have upgradable cannons, cargo space and speed, and of course players can attack each other to steal their valuable spices. Be careful, for pirates patrol the center of the board, and will attack any players passing through. The first player to take 2 of each valuable spice back home is the winner.

Keep Exploring Games has announced a Kickstarter Campaign for the first expansion to Dutch East Indies, Adventures on the High Seas. This expansion adds 6 small modules to the base game, allowing more ways to make money, collect spice, and generally cause mayhem. The home islands are no longer completely safe, and are replaced with Forts which can be attacked, but can also be upgraded. The pirates also have forts, but if a player defeats them, they can claim these bases for themselves. Once Wild Islands are cleared of trading opportunities, players can now build settlements, another source of income, but also a source of crew members, a new way to upgrade ships. Treasures and Events add some random boons and conflict to the game. Finally, Reefs are a hazard in the open sea which can cause a ship, player-owned or pirate, to become stuck and vulnerable.

The Kickstarter has options for a deluxe version, with detailed plastic ships, metal coins, wooden spices and plastic crates. The Kickstarter Campaign for Adventures on the High Seas continues through May 17, and the expansion is expected to deliver in October 2019.