Space Merchant is text based trading strategy game for 1 to 6 players, where each player tries to build their empire. The players choose cargo, shipping means, insurance levels, speed of travel whether to hire security, and contend with a variety of hazards including pirates, ion storms, engine failures, having their ship get lost in space, etc. Unlike GOSUB International's other release at the same time (Mercenary Force), this simulation actually has a graphic screen intro (seen in the above screen shot) and a little semi-graphics as well. Like Mercenary Force, there is insurance to buy (to cover possible losses).
The BASIC sourcecode mentions that the original version of this game came out February 2, 1980 (I presume for the TRS-80 Model 1/3), and was converted to the Coco by Paul Herder. A photo of the Master tape for the game on the Color Computer Archive has a hand written note saying the master was from May 2, 1982.
Title: Space Merchant
Author: Paul Herder (Coco conversion)
Publisher: GOSUB International
Released: June 1982 (1st ad in 80 US Journal)
Requires: Color Computer 1,2,3, 16K RAM (tape) or 32K RAM (disk), Extended BASIC.