The Merchant's Guide to the Kingdom

About

The Merchant's Guide to the Kingdom is a single player role playing game. It was developed by Bearplane and was released on June 20, 2023. It received mostly positive reviews from players.

In "The Merchant's Guide to the Kingdom," players create their own guild and manage a team of AI-driven heroes. They explore a realm, completing quests and engaging in trade to grow their guild's power and influence. By protecting the Earthstone and aiding other heroes, players work to restore peace to the world. Note: The information provided is based on the game's description and may not include the most recent updates or features.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Single-Player

The Merchant's Guide to the Kingdom screenshot

+11

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63%

Audience ScoreBased on 60 reviews

gameplay7 positive mentions

optimization3 negative mentions

The game has a unique concept and offers a compelling management experience in a fantasy MMO setting.
The developers are highly responsive to community feedback and actively work on updates and improvements.
The gameplay mechanics, such as auto-battling and NPC questing, provide a satisfying experience despite current issues.

The user interface is confusing, cluttered, and lacks intuitive design, making navigation and interaction frustrating.
The game suffers from significant performance issues, including freezing and crashing, which can lead to loss of progress.
The tutorial is overly complicated and unclear, often leaving players confused about how to progress.

story
18 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17%
66%
17%
The story aspect of the game has received mixed feedback, with players expressing frustration over the quest mechanics, such as the requirement to manually interact with NPCs for quest acceptance and completion, which feels tedious. While some quests are enjoyable, many users report issues with quest progression and NPC interactions, leading to a lack of clarity and engagement in the overall narrative experience. Despite the potential for an interesting storyline, technical issues and cumbersome quest management detract from the enjoyment.
- “While I only have a few hours so far, the quests are really fun and I cannot wait to see where the developers take this game.”
- “However, you can influence the realm and encourage certain actions - building quests and assigning certain activities are some of those actions.”
- “I love the idea of the game but I'm currently having an issue with no one accepting any quests or finishing them.”
- “The fact you have to click on each quest to give and accept each return is horrible.”
- “Unfortunately, unlike NPCs from other MMOs where you have to go to them for their services; in this game, you will have to go to each individual character wanting to take a quest or turn in a quest.”
- “I love the idea of the game, but I'm currently having an issue with no one accepting any quests or finishing them.”
optimization
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
12%
70%
18%
The game's optimization has seen significant improvements, addressing many foundational performance issues, crashes, and UI/UX concerns, making gameplay smoother overall. However, players with older hardware may still experience performance problems, particularly in late-game scenarios involving gathering and crafting. While recent updates have enhanced memory management and reduced technical issues, further optimization is still needed for a fully polished experience.
- “On the technical end, there have been big improvements in optimization, and in a new save, I haven't seen my memory usage jump over 8GB within the first 5-6 hours of play.”
- “Most of the game-breaking bugs have been smushed, some significant performance issues have been addressed, the UI has seen some reworking to improve clarity, and a number of smaller balancing passes/tweaks have snuck their way in.”
- “There are a number of foundational issues with the implementation which stand in the way of acceptably smooth and pleasant gameplay, most notably in the broad categories of performance, UI, and UX/QoL.”
- “Optimization is important and should be your primary focus along with game-breaking bugs if you want to reduce potential negative reviews.”
- “Performance can still be a problem if you're nearing the current endgame or you're pushing more into gathering/crafting, so if you've got an older rig (especially 8 and possibly 16 GB of RAM) I'd hold off until further optimization.”
gameplay
14 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
29%
21%
The gameplay is generally praised for its engaging mechanics, well-designed environments, and rewarding battle systems, offering a deep and strategic experience. However, some users report foundational issues with performance, user interface, and overall user experience that hinder smooth gameplay. Despite these drawbacks, the game shows promise with ongoing updates and diverse gameplay options, appealing particularly to fans of 4X and city-building genres.
- “I really, really enjoy the vast majority of the mechanics here, and the environment and setting are well designed and realized, for the most part.”
- “Overall thoroughly enjoy the gameplay and artwork, and would very much recommend!”
- “Very deep gameplay and strategizing.”
- “I think that between the mechanics, the environment, the graphics, and the UI, the UI is the lowest denominator and makes the game feel a lot more prototypical than it might otherwise.”
- “For gameplay changes, there's now a non-permadeath mode and supposedly another mode coming that will allow for an experience more akin to a full idle title.”
- “I don't normally review this quickly, but will update as I go deeper into the systems, the mechanics, and more for a more detailed review.”
stability
7 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The game's stability is notably problematic, with frequent freezes and occasional crashes that can lead to lost progress, particularly during interface interactions and item management. While the developers show commitment to improving the experience, players have reported various bugs and visual glitches, suggesting that the game is still in need of significant optimization despite being in early access.
- “In a game where the majority of the experience is interfaces and item management, this is a very accentuated problem, and all those half-to-several-second freezes really add up.”
- “There are hints that some data is duplicated across several places, and the freezes seem to coincide with displaying, modifying, or filtering/sorting collections.”
- “Make sure to save often as there are still occasional game freezes/crashes, which may result in lost progress.”
graphics
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
33%
17%
50%
The graphics of "The Merchant's Guide to the Kingdom" exhibit a charming art style that appeals to some players, but the overall aesthetic lacks polish and design cohesion, leading to inconsistencies in user interface and presentation. While the cute visuals attract certain fans, the UI is considered the weakest aspect, detracting from the game's potential. Despite these issues, many players still enjoy the artwork and gameplay experience.
- “This isn't my typical play, but the art style was too cute; I just couldn't help myself from getting a copy.”
- “Overall, I thoroughly enjoy the gameplay and artwork, and would very much recommend!”
- “Apart from lacking aesthetic polish, there's not much in the way of overarching design cohesion, with the way in which you are presented information or interact with things varying wildly and inexplicably from application to application, and often in entirely different styles.”
- “I think that between the mechanics and the environment and the graphics and the UI, the UI is the lowest denominator, and makes the game feel a lot more prototypical than it might otherwise.”
- “Battle visuals are character UI avatars and their resource bars depleting through the encounter; after shadowing my members, it made little sense due to inconsistencies.”
music
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50%
25%
25%
The music in the game is a point of contention among players; while some find it amazing and immersive, others describe it as generic and lacking originality. Overall, it contributes significantly to the game's atmosphere, enhancing the overall experience for many.
- “And the music makes it feel alive.”
- “Also, the music is amazing!!”
- “The music is generic.”
humor
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100%
The humor in the game is highlighted by the playful portrayal of an annoying NPC who intentionally frustrates players by walking away from his shop, adding a comedic twist to the quest experience. Players find this dynamic amusing, particularly in the context of the "funny wolf quest," which enhances the overall enjoyment of the game.
- “Playing as the world's most annoying NPC who walks away from his shop is hilarious; I finally understand why NPCs do that—it's so funny to make them wait to hand in the ridiculous wolf quest.”
- “The humor in this game is top-notch; every quest has a quirky twist that keeps you laughing.”
- “I love how the dialogue is filled with witty one-liners that catch you off guard and make the gameplay even more enjoyable.”

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Frequently Asked Questions

The Merchant's Guide to the Kingdom is a role playing game.

The Merchant's Guide to the Kingdom is available on PC and Windows.

The Merchant's Guide to the Kingdom was released on June 20, 2023.

The Merchant's Guide to the Kingdom was developed by Bearplane.

The Merchant's Guide to the Kingdom has received mostly positive reviews from players. Most players liked this game for its gameplay but disliked it for its story.

The Merchant's Guide to the Kingdom is a single player game.

Similar games include Towers of Aghasba, Breakwaters, Unexplored 2: The Wayfarer's Legacy, Len's Island, Little Sim World and others.

The Merchant's Guide to the Kingdom

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