Player Interaction
Finding economic games with a lot of player interaction isn't easy: most of them play like multi-player solitaire. Star Traders gets around this in two main ways: you can play cards on other players every turn, and each cargo to be delivered is available to all, so the game consists of numerous mini-races. The cards allow you to do various nasty things to each other (or avoid nasty things being done to you), which tends to spark some interesting exchanges. As for the many races, more than one person can be carrying the same cargo, but only the first to deliver it gets payment and prestige for it. The other player(s) can dump their cargo (bad for your prestige) or carry it, taking up space in your hold, hoping another request for it will turn up.

The Basics
It's a nice looking game, really. Plastic space ships, decent cards, mounted board.
The board has 36 solar systems, laid out in five arcing arms and a central hub. There are a number of cards turned up each turn, which show which cargo is available where, and which worlds need that particular cargo. Each player has a spaceship which can carry up two cargoes, and movement is along jump lines, which require you to roll above a certain number to navigate successfully. The number to roll depends on the length of the jump - the lines are clearly color-coded, and you usually have multiple routes to choose from, so you always know what you need to roll when choosing which way to travel. But the choice of taking the slow but sure route or the fast but iffy route is yours every turn ...

Jump Stations
However, each player starts with one trading station, and can build more at other solar systems - and jumping to a trading station is automatic (except for the longest jump lines), if you have permission. You always have permission to jump to your own stations, but getting permission at other players' stations may take some bargaining - another aspect of the game which encourages player interaction. Bargaining can include money, of course, but also promises to play good cards for other players and/or refrain from playing bad cards on them.

Engines & Personalities
You can also buy more engines - each engine allows you one move. Ships start with three engines, and can add two or three more.
Each player is a unique personality, determined at the start of the game in reverse start order. My favorite is Lucky Lou, who gets an extra Trader's Luck card. Others include The Navigator, who can make jumps easier, The Engineer, who can buy engines more cheaply and easily, The Hero, who gets more prestige when making a delivery, and so on.
(See below for additional personalities not included in the game, and some variations on the existing personalities.)

Your Goal
The object of the game is to become the sole Imperial Trader - but to do that, you need both money and prestige. Delivering cargo is the primary way to get both, but there are other ways. Trader's Luck cards can help you get both, for example, and allow you to hinder an opponent from getting either.
Once you think you're ready to petition the emperor to become Imperial Trader, you pay a bribe and roll on a table, cross-referencing your die result with your prestige level and how much bribe you paid. If you're lucky, you're then awarded an Imperial Contract: the first to finish their Imperial Contract wins the game. So once someone is granted an Imperial Contract, everyone else tries if they have even the minimum bribe and prestige.

Summary
All in all, a very fun game, one that I pull out every couple of months without fail. True, it's not something I play every week, but how many games from my 450+ game collection do I pull out six to eight times each year, even after many years? Not as many as I'd like - but this is one of the few that I actually do. It's sadly out of print, but with a little searching you can probably find a copy.

Bonus: Extra Personalities
Here are some extra personalities to liven up your game of Isaac Asimov's Star Traders. These don't need to be on official card stock, since they are never dealt or hidden, anyway.

Warpin' Wanda (or Warpin' Wally) When you make a random jump, roll three dice, pick your favorite two, and you get to arrange the two dice in any order you wish. So if you roll a 2,2,5, for example, you could go to system 22, system 25 or system 52. In addition, your turn does not necessarily end with a random jump: if you have any moves left, you may continue moving. But you may only make one random jump per turn.

Long-shot Lola (or Long-shot Lloyd) You specialize in long jumps. Treat Green Line jumps (6/3) as if they were Purple lines (4) for all purposes. This means you don't have to roll at all if you have permission to use a station at the other end of any jump.

The Fast-Talker Ever wish you could sell a worthless cargo instead of just dumping it? Well, the Fast-Talker can. If you are in a race to deliver a cargo, and you don't finish first, you can still sell your cargo for 1/2 value (round down), at the system listed on the card OR at the system with the inverse of the two-digit system code. (E.g.: if you are to deliver a cargo to 15, Jaxin, you could also get 1/2 value for it at 51, Wells. If you have a cargo for 55, Jeeves, however, only Jeeves will do for this purpose.) You get no prestige for this, but at least the trip wasn't wasted. Note that you cannot sell the cargo at the inverse-numbered system until the race is over.

Mr. (or Ms.) Impervious You avoid calamities far easier than other traders. At any time a Calamity card is played on you, you may turn in any Trader's Luck card as an Avoid Calamity card. However, you may only do this six times per game. (Either keep a spare die beside you, with the number of uses left on the top side, or start with a stack of six pennies, turning them in as you use your special ability.) Using regular Avoid Calamity cards does not count against the six uses of your special ability.

The Jinx When you end your turn in the same system as another trader (or when another trader ends his turn in the same system as you), something bad happens to him (the other trader, not the Jinx). Roll a single die and consult the following table:

1. Engine trouble: two fewer jumps than normal next turn.
2. If he has a still-active cargo, he loses it. (He does not lose a cargo if the race for that cargo is over, however - the Jinx causes only bad luck, never good!) If he has two cargoes, the Jinx chooses which one he loses. If he has no cargo, nothing bad happens to him, sorry.
3. He loses his special ability (as detailed on his personality card) for 1d6 turns. (Yes, this means The Insider could lose his station on Capital during this time if someone played the right card!)
4. He has committed a public faux pas: lose 5 prestige.
5. He is assessed a fine: he must pay 10 Stellor (he loses a turn if he can't or won't pay).
6. He loses his next turn, probably through some sordid action you don't want to know about.

Variations for the Existing Characters
Sometime in 1995 or so, I received permission from Mark J. Reed to post the following:

Mark wrote: “It's been our experience that the Navigator, Engineer, and Lucky Lou are much more powerful than any of the other four,”

(sos agrees)

“so we made some minor changes to try and balance things out:

* Psychic - in addition to lookahead on contracts, may roll the die before deciding which jump line to take
* Insider - gets an extra +1 on imperial petition rolls
* Negotiator - instead of an extra two stellors for delivering a cargo, he gets an extra 50% (basically just add the station bonus). Still gets only one extra when receiving the station bonus for someone else's delivery.
* Hero - double prestige on all contracts, except #1, for which he gets a net triple (instead of quadruple).

“We have an additional house rule - in the Basic Game, the Superjump card may not be played by anyone who has their Imperial Contract.
“The rules were jointly developed by the Buford Highway Star Traders: Mark J. Reed, Keith Graham, Chris Jones, Eddie Maise."

-(Article originally published 1994 or 1995 - not sure)

Review by Steffan O'Sullivan