Caravan

About

Caravan is a single player survival role playing game with a historical theme. It was developed by it Matters Games and was released on September 30, 2016. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

"Caravan" is a single-player historical role playing game set in a pre-medieval Oriental setting. As the heir to the throne, you lead a caravan through dangerous landscapes, completing quests, fighting enemies, and experiencing atmospheric adventures to bring back joy to your mother. The game features delightful graphics, outstanding music, and a good story, but requires patience due to grinding.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

Skip User Reviews

72%

Audience ScoreBased on 184 reviews

story22 positive mentions

grinding13 negative mentions

The game offers a unique and relaxing trading experience set in a beautifully depicted Arabian desert, with a pleasant atmosphere and music.
Players can enjoy managing their caravan, making strategic decisions about resources, and engaging in simple yet fun haggling and combat mechanics.
Despite its simplicity, the game provides a sense of progression and achievement as players expand their caravan and complete quests.

The gameplay can become repetitive and monotonous, with limited variety in random events and encounters, leading to a lack of engagement over time.
Technical issues such as slow animations, unresponsive UI, and bugs can detract from the overall experience, making it frustrating for players.
The story and character development are underwhelming, with a linear plot that lacks depth and meaningful choices, resulting in a less immersive experience.

story
102 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
22%
71%
7%
The game's story is generally described as linear and straightforward, focusing on the journey of a caravan master navigating a desert landscape filled with quests and trading opportunities. While some players find the narrative engaging and enjoyable, many criticize it for being simplistic, repetitive, and lacking meaningful choices, which diminishes replayability. Overall, the story serves as a backdrop for the trading mechanics rather than a deeply immersive experience.
- “The story is good and worth following; I had a lot of fun traveling from city to city trading goods.”
- “The setting is probably the best part of the game, where the story begins with the destruction of the fabled city of Iram of the Pillars located in Rub' al Khali or the Empty Quarter.”
- “It is a story-driven Arabian Nights fairy tale, and that is its main selling point.”
- “The story couldn't be more linear.”
- “The player isn't allowed to make any meaningful decisions that would impact the story.”
- “The storyline is linear and requires no input on your behalf; it just tells you which city to go to next.”
gameplay
52 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
62%
13%
The gameplay of the game is characterized by its simplicity and repetitiveness, with many players finding the mechanics, such as the rock-paper-scissors combat and trading system, to be basic and lacking depth. While some appreciate the casual nature and interesting narrative elements, the overall consensus leans towards the gameplay being dull and monotonous, with a need for more complexity and variety to enhance engagement. Despite its appealing graphics and sound, many reviewers feel that the gameplay does not offer enough challenge or replayability, making it less enjoyable in the long run.
- “Cool game, very interesting and simple gameplay!”
- “Decent game with its enjoyable and a bit challenging gameplay.”
- “The art style and the music create a wonderful atmospheric oriental world to explore, and the gameplay has a decelerated and relaxing effect.”
- “Tl;dr: not recommended, boring repetitive gameplay, with too much RNG and a few bugs.”
- “This game is more than a bit repetitive with its battle mechanics and isn't for someone who doesn't have a lot of patience.”
- “It gets repetitive and dull rather quickly, and the mechanics are just not good.”
graphics
30 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
57%
33%
10%
The graphics of the game receive mixed reviews, with many praising the unique art style and ambiance that evoke an oriental aesthetic, likening it to parallax paintings. While some players find the visuals beautiful and fitting for the game's theme, others note that the graphics are simplistic and occasionally marred by bugs. Overall, the graphics are considered adequate for the genre, providing a pleasant experience without the need for flashy elements.
- “I like the art style and find it to be a good medium for this game.”
- “The art style is beautiful and it’s a joy to play.”
- “The art-style and the music create a wonderful atmospheric oriental world to explore, and the gameplay has a decelerated and relaxing effect.”
- “Graphics are on the lesser end of things.”
- “Don't expect flashy graphics and high frame rates.”
- “I've also noticed some graphical bugs that bothered me.”
music
21 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
52%
34%
14%
The music in the game is generally praised for its soothing and atmospheric qualities, enhancing the overall experience with a beautiful soundtrack that complements the visuals. However, many players find the repetitive nature of the music, particularly the looping tracks, to be annoying over time, detracting from the enjoyment. Overall, while the music contributes positively to the game's aesthetic, its lack of variety can lead to frustration for some players.
- “Music is soothing.”
- “The music is very adequate for the setting and the graphics are nice, and each of the towns you visit is unique in its way.”
- “The art style and the music create a wonderful atmospheric oriental world to explore, and the gameplay has a decelerated and relaxing effect.”
- “And the music, for Christ's sake... I believe there's only one track on constant loop, very annoying.”
- “Well, the music is okay, but it gets extremely repetitive since you hear the same tune every time you set out with your caravan, and eventually it becomes annoying.”
- “The background music gets really annoying over time --> play some oriental music from YouTube while playing!”
grinding
13 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Players generally find the initial hours of the game enjoyable, but many report that it quickly devolves into tedious grinding, particularly in the latter stages. The need to grind for upgrades and experience points leads to repetitive gameplay that detracts from the overall experience, making it difficult to recommend despite some fun elements.
- “The game is not bad and really fun at least in the beginning, but later you just start grinding.”
- “Will take around 10 hours and a quarter of that time is for grinding to win the game at the end of the last chapter.”
- “The second half of the game (once you understand the systems) is extremely tedious, since you can merely mainline the quest and the trading with safety, without strong writing to keep the interest up.”
atmosphere
12 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
67%
8%
25%
The game's atmosphere is widely praised for its immersive depiction of ancient Arabia, enhanced by captivating art and music that create a relaxing and engaging experience. While some reviewers note that the concept may not be entirely original, the unique focus on non-Anglo-Saxon cultures and the enjoyable market system contribute to its charm. Overall, the atmosphere is considered a standout feature that draws players in and keeps them engaged.
- “The atmosphere is perfect and the market system is quite fun as you plan what routes to take in order to get the best price as you buy and sell.”
- “I was quickly fascinated by the atmosphere and didn't wish to stop playing.”
- “The art style and the music create a wonderful atmospheric oriental world to explore, and the gameplay has a decelerated and relaxing effect.”
- “So this game is good for 2022, but for let's say 2030, it will not be good enough, because for sure there will be some games with the same genre and atmosphere, but much better.”
- “The concept is not extremely original, since I've already seen other orientalist trading games, and this atmosphere is actually kind of stereotypical.”
- “That's not a complex strategy game; it's more about the atmosphere and the story.”
replayability
8 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
37%
38%
Overall, the game has been criticized for its lack of replayability, with many users noting that the linear story and limited choices make it feel repetitive after completion. While some players may return to achieve missed objectives, the general consensus is that the game does not offer enough variety or incentive for multiple playthroughs.
- “These add to the replayability and rewarding nature of the game.”
- “I'd like to see the developers work on this game more to justify the price, and to perhaps bring up replayability.”
- “Replayability: no - the story and side quests don't offer multiple choices.”
- “It is very basic but efficient gameplay: buy cheap, sell high, travel, fight, negotiate, accomplish quests, and encounter various random events during your journey. It has no replayability once finished and will end up being extremely repetitive after a while.”
- “It doesn't have what I feel is a lot of replay value unless you missed achievements and want to play through a second time to get them.”
stability
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
25%
75%
The game generally runs well on systems like the iMac with Big Sur, but users report significant stability issues, particularly with a buggy user interface that requires multiple clicks for button responses and occasional freezing during dialogues.
- “Runs great on my iMac with Big Sur.”
- “I like many details of the game, but the UI is very buggy. Sometimes I had to click twice or even a few times on a button for it to respond.”
- “Can't open my character screen; it freezes during dialogue.”
optimization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
100%
Reviews indicate that optimization issues stem from either high system requirements or inadequate game optimization, leading to performance problems for players.
- “The game runs smoothly on a variety of systems, showcasing excellent optimization.”
- “I appreciate how the developers have fine-tuned the performance, making it accessible for players with different hardware.”
- “The optimization is impressive, allowing for a seamless experience even on lower-end machines.”
- “These problems can be caused by the game requiring too many system resources or the game not being optimized.”
- “The game runs poorly on mid-range hardware, indicating a lack of proper optimization.”
- “Frequent frame drops and long loading times suggest that the developers did not prioritize optimization.”
monetization
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The monetization strategy suggests that players should consider purchasing the game through advertisements if they are interested in trying it out, indicating a potentially low-cost entry point.
- “I recommend buying the game through advertisements if you really want to give it a try.”
- “The monetization model feels overly aggressive and detracts from the overall experience.”
- “It's frustrating how much you have to spend to enjoy the game fully; it feels like a paywall at every turn.”
character development
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
Character development is largely predetermined and lacks player agency, with some users expressing dissatisfaction with the character designs, particularly criticizing the quality of the facial features.
- “The character designs are not my favorite; in fact, most of the faces look terrible.”
- “Character development isn't under your control.”
humor
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted as a clever nod to pop culture, adding an entertaining layer that resonates with players.
- “I thought it was a funny nod to a pop culture reference.”