Merchants Cove

Players take on different fantasy merchants operating distinct specialty shops at a bustling seaside market. Each merchant uses a unique, asymmetrical set of components and mechanisms to produce goods, staff their shop, and improve efficiency. Players compete to attract arriving adventurers as customers, shape demand for goods, and secure sponsorships from four faction halls while optionally recruiting local townsfolk or engaging with a roguish underworld for short-term gains. Play proceeds over three market days, and the merchant with the most wealth at the end wins.

Players: 1–4 best 3
Playing time: 60–90 min
Age: 14+
Complexity: 2.8 / 5

7.5 on Ludoya from $40.22FantasyNauticalWorker PlacementRondelCommodity Speculation

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Madrid, ES€35.00

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Full stats in Ludoya

146
Plays logged: 172
Players: 1h 58m
Average play: 71
In collections: 11
On wishlists

7.5/10

from 22 Ludoya reviews

Fun6.8
Interaction4.0
Replayability8.0
Uniqueness9.2
Looks8.8
Accessibility8.8

Mario López Menés7.2
Clever assymetric game where every character plays a different mini-game while competing for sales in a shared central board. PROS - It allows different players to enjoy different things while sharing the same table and boardgame. Some characters are quite simple while others are way more complex and/or require different mental skills in order to function properly. - It offers many different experiences into the same boardgame. Varying characters, Rogues and Townsfolk allows you to tailor the game to your group's preferences. - It is greatly over-produced, which means its table presence is fantastic. It definitely catches player's eyes! CONS - It may feel too light for "serious gamer" groups. It is a light game at its heart, and while you can take a complicated character that will not change the straight-forward nature of the shared competition. - Its footprint is pretty gigantic. You'll need a big table to play this.
Владимир Андреевич7.0
По сути это куча героев, которыми игроки через абсолютно разные механики зарабатывают себе ПО. Интересно, не сложно, оооочень разнообразно. По сюжету игроки это торговцы различными артефактами, петами, оружием и алхимией для приключенцев NPC.
Oscaarz8.0
Superbe jeu, ayant de l'asymétrie à souhait, car chaque joueurs jouera un personnage avec des particularités tout à fait unique incluant des mécanismes propre aux personnages choisie. Cela permette une plus grande diversité de jeu. Si vous pouvez obtenir les extensions, vous pourriez y avoir du choix!

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Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

When do I draw Corruption cards for an action — when I take the action or when I resolve the clock?

You draw Corruption cards during Step 3 of your turn, after performing the action: for each Corruption icon in the action’s cost you draw 1 Corruption card into your supply (p.5).

If my Timepiece passes an Adventurer indicator, what exactly happens to boats and Adventurers?

When you pass an Adventurer indicator you immediately perform Load the Boats: draw 1 Adventurer from the bag and place it into an empty slot on a Sailing Boat (you cannot add to Docked Boats); if you fill the final slot on a Sailing Boat you must immediately Dock it and move its Adventurers to that Pier (pp.5–6).

Can I sell goods anywhere during the Market Phase, and do my sales remove Customers so others can't use them?

Sales resolve in order: Bazaar (left, large goods), Grand Plaza (center, small goods), then Black Market (right, both sizes); you may only sell where matching colored Customers are present and Customers are not removed from Piers until the end of the Market Phase, so other players may also sell to them (p.7).

What happens if the Production Phase ends while boats are still Sailing?

If the Production Phase ends with Sailing boats remaining, all Adventurers on those boats are placed into their matching Faction Halls or into the Lair as appropriate, leaving any empty Pier spaces (p.6).

When I Recruit a Townsfolk, when does their immediate ability happen and can I use it to discard Corruption I just gained from that Recruit's cost?

When you recruit a Townsfolk you immediately activate its Townsfolk ability before paying the Recruit cost, and because those immediate abilities resolve before paying costs you cannot use them to discard Corruption cards gained as part of that same action’s cost (pp.10–11).