Merchant of the Six Kingdoms
- June 27, 2023
- Cory Long
- 98h median play time
Get on Steam"Merchant of the Six Kingdoms" is a medieval trading simulation where you play as a merchant, bartering and haggling with over 200 characters across 20 markets. Manage your inventory, weight, and illegal items while participating in auctions, gambling, and investing to grow your wealth and influence. With over 1,800 items to trade and opportunities for card tournaments and making powerful allies, become the most successful merchant and even the King of Coin.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game offers a unique and engaging trading experience, allowing players to explore a complex barter system with diverse NPCs and items.
- It features a charming art style and a variety of mini-games and quests that add depth to the gameplay.
- Players appreciate the addictive nature of the game, often losing track of time while trading and strategizing.
- The gameplay loop can become repetitive and slow, leading to a decline in excitement and engagement over time.
- There are performance issues, particularly with large inventories, causing lag and slowdowns during trades.
- The lack of clear item values and a tutorial can make the game frustrating for new players, as they must rely on trial and error to understand the trading mechanics.
- gameplay28 mentions
- 39 % positive mentions
- 50 % neutral mentions
- 11 % negative mentions
The gameplay is characterized by a deep yet repetitive trading mechanic that appeals primarily to dedicated fans of merchant simulation games, offering up to 100 hours of playtime. While the core loop of haggling and price speculation is engaging and addictive for some, it may not resonate with the average gamer due to its lack of variety and potential for monotony. Overall, the game features solid mechanics and enjoyable elements, but it could benefit from additional depth and quality-of-life improvements to enhance the experience.
“This is a really underrated game with fun mechanics.”
“Charming game and really enjoyable trading mechanics.”
“The gameplay and game mechanics are great and really fun if you like to value things, haggle and explore the world.”
“The core gameplay loop is both extremely short and extremely repetitive - despite its depth with things like price speculation and seasonal supply-and-demand, it's still not a game that will work for anyone except single-minded hagglers.”
“The gameplay loop, story, and overall content don't really justify a 15 EUR price tag for me.”
“Fun for a while, but the gameplay loop gets kinda boring after a bit.”
- story19 mentions
- 16 % positive mentions
- 68 % neutral mentions
- 16 % negative mentions
The game's story is primarily driven by a series of one-off quests that contribute to the overall lore and world-building, though many players find the lack of a cohesive narrative or quest tracking system frustrating. While the quests are generally enjoyable and feature unique characters, the gameplay loop centers around trading rather than a deep story, leaving some players wanting more substance despite the engaging lore. Overall, the game offers a charming trading experience with enough narrative elements to keep players invested, but it may not satisfy those seeking a rich, story-driven adventure.
“The world is also quite interesting with substantial lore for those who care, and I actually got invested in a few of the characters, despite it not being a highly story-driven game.”
“Each character is surprisingly unique in mechanics, personality, and art style, and the few quests that are given actually build upon both the characters' and the world you're in.”
“I won't lie, I have zero interest in completing any kind of story (unless there is some kind of hidden benefit I don't know about).”
“The gameplay loop, story, and overall content don't really justify a 15 EUR price tag for me.”
“Each quest has its own small story that builds the overall lore and feel of the world, but there's little value in talking with any particular NPC more than once.”
- graphics8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The game features a charming hand-drawn art style and unique character designs, though some users note inconsistencies in the quality of individual items. While the pixel graphics are generally well-received, there are complaints about lag, particularly with larger inventories, which detracts from the overall experience. Despite these issues, the visuals contribute positively to the game's immersive world and character interactions.
“Great game and it has a neat hand-drawn art style.”
“Each character is surprisingly unique in mechanics, personality, and art style, and the few quests that get given actually build upon both the characters' and the world you're in.”
“Nice pixel graphics with some small outliers; some items feel like they are lower quality, but those are passable compared to others that are higher quality.”
“There also seems to be a certain mismatch between a lot of the art styles for the individual items.”
“-game becomes much laggier than its graphics deserve with large inventory size.”
“If you're okay with the graphics and slow pace, I can guarantee you will lose hours to it swindling and hustling away!”
- optimization5 mentions
- 60 % positive mentions
- -20 % neutral mentions
- 60 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is a mixed bag; while the trading window is efficient, overall performance can be sluggish, with noticeable loading delays and font rendering issues. Additionally, inventory management becomes cumbersome as the number of items increases, further impacting performance. Players also report a lack of support for wider screen resolutions, indicating room for improvement in optimization.
“The trading window itself is fairly optimized in terms of clicks.”
“Need better optimization for 21:9 screens, but to be honest, I just want gold!”
“The only negative point I'll give the game is that towards the end I've been getting at least a hundred different items in my inventory, and it's starting to impact performance slightly.”
“Performance can be surprisingly sluggish for what the game is.”
“Any time I loaded up, it would hang for between two and ten full seconds on the primary map, and the font of all the locations would display as some ungodly Comic Sans-esque font before stuttering its way into the more elegant and suitable one actually intended.”
“The only negative point I'll give the game is that towards the end I've been getting at least a hundred different items in my inventory and it's starting to impact performance slightly.”
- stability2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game suffers from numerous minor bugs, glitches, and hiccups that can disrupt gameplay, with players reporting issues that may prevent them from completing certain quests. Overall, stability remains a significant concern for users.
“Lots of little bugs, hiccups, and glitches show up as you make your way through.”
“My only major complaint is that it's still a bit buggy, and you can get locked out of completing certain quests.”
- emotional1 mentions
- 100 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
The game's voice acting effectively conveys the emotional states of characters, enhancing the player's connection to the narrative. However, the reuse of character voices and portraits detracts from the overall emotional impact, making the experience feel less polished.
“The voice acting is great, making you truly feel the emotional state of your customers. However, I think every character should have their own voice and unique portrait. As of now, the resources are reused, which makes the game look cheaper than it should.”
- replayability1 mentions
- 300 % positive mentions
- -200 % neutral mentions
- 0 % negative mentions
Users indicate that the game offers a notable level of replayability, suggesting that players may find value in revisiting it for different experiences or outcomes.
“I feel like there will be significant replay value.”
“The game offers multiple paths and choices, making each playthrough unique.”
“With various character builds and strategies, I can't wait to dive back in for another round.”
