Reiner Knizia’s Medici

You are a buyer for a merchant house in 15th century Florence, Italy.

Every day you go to the wholesale market, where you expect to find exotic goods from foreign lands. Bid against rival merchants and shrewdly pack your ship with goods you win at auction.

We’re bringing back the classic Reiner Knizia Medici auction games with art by the amazing Vincent Dutrait. Even veteran Medici fans will find something new with Traders, a Medici tile-laying game.

No matter which you choose, Medici games are easy to learn, fast to play, highly interactive, and exceptionally engaging.

Traders is the newest game in the Medici line of auction games. Like the classic Medici board game, Traders puts you in the shoes of a 15th century Florence, Italy. Unlike the original, Traders is a tile game.Each turn,players draw goods tiles, adding them to their trays, which they then move to the center of the table. When all trays are in the center, players each select a tray, either from the center or from other players. Players may add florins (coins) to the tray, as they wish, to help solidify their claim to their tray. Merchants then optimally pack goods from their trays onto their ships and score  for the most valuable collections.

  • 2–6 Players
  • 45 Min Playing Time
  • Age: 10

In Medici: The Card Game, players take turns presenting goods to be loaded onto ships. Once all ships are full, the day ends and players receive money for the value and type of goods in their load.

  • 2–6 Players
  • 45 Min Playing Time
  • Age: 10

Medici is the game that started it all! Released in 1995, Medici was nominated for the Spiel des Jahres, the most prestigious award in gaming.

Over three rounds, merchants bid on auctioned goods and load their winnings onto their ships. They receive florins (coins) for their ships holdings – money they can use to buy goods on future turns. But be careful, florins are also victory points!

  • 2–6 Players
  • 60 Min Playing Time
  • Age: 10

Medici: The Dice Game is a dice-selecting roll-and-write game. Players fill their ships with goods, as shown on select dice. Choose wisely to score the most valuable ship loads.

  • 1–4 Players
  • 20 Min Playing Time
  • Age: 10

The Medici Kickstarter is live now! Click over to see what we have to offer!

Note that the Kickstarter will only ship to the US, Canada and UK.

View Kickstarter

Reiner Knizia is one of the world’s most successful and prolific game designers. More than 800 of his games and books have been published worldwide in over 50 languages with sales reaching many millions of copies. His creations have won numerous international awards – including five German Game Prizes, two German Game of the Year Awards, the German Education Game Award, four Austrian Game Awards, two Swiss Game Awards, three French Grand Prix du Jouet, two Spanish Game of the Year Awards, the Italian Game of the Year Award, two Hungarian Game of the Year Awards, three Dutch Game of the Year Awards, three Danish Game of the Year Awards, two Swedish Game of the Year Awards, seven Finnish Game of the Year Awards, the Australian Game of the Year Award, and three Japan Board Game Prizes.

Reiner Knizia is a master of simple game rules that create much fun and enjoyment for people of all ages.

Reiner Knizia has a Master of Science degree from Syracuse University (USA) and a PHD in Mathematics from Ulm University (Germany). After many years abroad, Reiner Knizia now lives in Munich, Germany.

I have been creating artwork in the “traditional” way for more than 25 years. Hand-drawn and painted using pencils, brushes and paint on paper. Proudly upholding the history and heritage of documented, lifelike conventional art. While at the same time developing modern sensitivities and approaches to pictorial storytelling.

I have illustrated children’s books and role-playing games, and my focus these days is on boardgames. I work with numerous game designers and publishers around the world, across multiple genres, including science fiction, adventure, mystery and supernatural, noir fiction and heroic fantasy. Over the years, I’ve added some new strings to my bow, allowing me to create the digital graphic design for many projects on which I have worked.

My knowledge of the publishing world and related technical and functional skills helped me to manage and master each step in the graphic chain. Also, I have discussed and contributed to many projects from an early stage, offering artistic direction and advice, as well as helping to develop game worlds and themes.

Transmitting and sharing are my watchwords.

Join the discussion 7 Comments

  • Matthew B says:
    July 12, 2026 at 7:23 pm

    Hello Kevin and Ape Games staff,

    I saw the discussion on BGG about an upcoming Kickstarter for Medici and suggestions for changes to improve the games design compared to the previous 2016 Grail Games version. I’d like to make a suggestion, but I don’t have a BGG account so I hope it is okay to post here.

    One improvement the 2024 Steamforged version of Medici has compared to the 2016 Grail Games version is matching character/colors on the disks and corresponding individual player boards. The 2016 Grails Games version has unique symbols on the disks but just matching colors on the player boards. If possible a recommendation would be to add the unique symbols on the disks to the corresponding player board for that symbol/color, which would be a good change for individuals who have trouble seeing colors. I think the reason they didn’t put the symbols on the player boards for the 2016 Grail Games version was because that addition of unique symbols on the disks was a Kickstarter stretch goal.

    Reply
  • Baudet Sylvain says:
    July 14, 2026 at 7:06 am

    What will be the options for people living in Europe? Thats very unfortunate to not include us in the project

    Reply
    • apegamer says:
      July 14, 2026 at 7:29 am

      Licensing the games for other territories requires certain minimums and up-front costs (translations, etc.) that we couldn’t support right now. We’ll see how well the Kickstarter does. I’d love to bring it to Europe (German, French).

      Reply
      • Ancor says:
        July 16, 2026 at 6:35 am

        Will there any other way to get as an European after the kickstarter? For example, a store with international shipping, somo convention, etc.? I am a big fan of medici games, hopefully you find a way.Thanks!

        Reply
  • Jack says:
    September 30, 2026 at 6:16 am

    Late pledge for Medici Kickstarter:

    Is there an option to late pledge or pre-order? I missed the Kickstarter and I’m gutted!

    Reply

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