I loved the mood in this. That intro. 🔥 mic sounds wonderful. Great review! This game is one of those that I’m so mixed on.

Such a good video, absolutely crushing it!! (I mean, as always DUH) This is one of those games where the art and theme are SO my jam, even just the box cover is enough to sell me on it. But, the mixed reviews it's received have scared me off. However, the great thing about board games is that it's so subjective! And I know we share similar tastes so I'm glad to see you enjoy it/review it! I can't wait to try it out someday! I also toootally agree that the artwork can elevate the game play.

Love the intro... ;) I happen to have this on my table right now. Been playing mostly solo and had one, 3P game experience. I'm enjoying it, especially the solo campaigns. I like that it's somewhat lighter than my bigger games, plays in only 13 rounds, and is not AP prone. The art is gorgeous. I upgraded to the dual player boards and screen printed meeples which I love. I've played with the upgraded components and Patron's Provisions, not the coins. If I were to upgrade mine further, it would be in this order: Patron's Provisions, coins, components. The one feedback I have for any future expansions would be new deed (objective) cards as well as a new way to obtain them. I think this would be a game changer in this super tight game experience-having the ability to score prestige, coin, and/or vp at the very end of the game. Right now, these cards take a full turn to obtain-or you get lucky with a dice roll or travel perk-and they can be very hit or miss. All that said, I think you make some very good points-not being able to experience the whole game, getting quartz, getting illuminated die. Maybe this and others' feedback will make its way into an expansion. I will say, I felt like I experienced more of the game at 3P than solo, and this may also be the case for 2P.

Mic sounds way better! I dig the honest review. I feel you on the art and components for boardgames, it's exactly why I enjoy photosynthesis. Gameplay is okay but the presentation brings me back haha.

Great review. I'd recommend to get the coin pouches so you can hide your coins in it (even under the table, counting blindly just using the very unique shape of the different coins). That way you can really feel like a travelling merchant.

My group got a chance to play the game this last Saturday, and we (for the most part) enjoyed it.

Thanks for the review. I have the deluxe version. Terrific pick up and deliver game that plays fast. Awesome components! Lot of replay ability. Illuminated dice do come along. I get 2 to 3 a game.

I've just got this game for a friend, haven't played yet but so excited to try it, love the art btw (the same designer as everdell)

Sound is great 👏👏👏

Good quality video, keep on going with the channel, you’re good! Greetings from Spain :)

oh no way audio's the best i've heard so far! That intro though was 🔥literally your explanations, b roll-everything makes me want to open this and play again! i totally agree with the gameplay~ this one certainly has a strong table presence, but the more I play it, the more i realize a lot of the actions (ruins of yin like you mentioned) end up being unused. spot on with the recommendations too! this would be a really hard game to introduce for new gamers with the web of actions you have to connect~ such a fun video as always! Thanks for sharing Jenna

Of course sounds BETTER

Best review of this game so far ! Now i'm sure i'm not gonna buy it new but if i find it second hand at a good price i might, just to try it out and because this game is really beautiful ! The new micro sounf perfect !

This game looks so good! The components are amazing and I hadn't even seen those blue and amber dice before! lol I would have assumed it was a harder game to learn, cool! I'll have to check it out sooner than expected then! :D

Surprised you never went to the Ruins. But there are some games I only used it once, others I made extensive use of it. I try to make a point of changing strategy each 2 games at least. I've played Merchants 8 times by now, 7 of them solo. Once I went real big on illuminated dice and it changed the whole game, so try maybe 1 upgrade your first travel and then travel again only for the dice afterwards. I make sure I use at least 2 per game minimum. To me, the fact we can't do it all in one game means replayability. I will need to get clever and work out how to win the game using spots I don't go to often.

Ah, thank you for this! This game has been on my radar but I keep flipflopping on it. I feel like you and I have similar taste in games so this helped give me a better idea of whether or not I should check it out! :D Have you considered starting a Discord? (apologies if you have one and I somehow missed it) I would join that in a heartbeat haha!

This is one of the only games I own that I have no interest in upgrading because I really love the card board tokens.

Not sure if this has been asked before but where did you get those awesome token/bits trays? Would love to pick some up!

Would be great to insert some b-roll footage of the game components as you're referencing them in the review.

Components are fantastic (I have the deluxe version). Game play is good, but I am concerned a but about replay ability. The scoring forces you into a single strategy, which is balancing income and prestige. I would love individual player powers. The powers could be different ways of scoring. For example, one player might be able to convert 1 coin into 1 prestige (but not the other way), which would allow a more unbalanced strategy. Another the reverse. And yet another could convert 3 coin into 2 prestige, or 3 prestige into 2 coin. Less efficient, but both directions. That player would have a lot more flexibility in terms of strategy. And so on.

Sound is much better!

I'd like hear about player count in reviews, too. What the game does well and what it doesn't fi do well, also. Thx

Sound is loud, clear, and natural.

I had stayed away from _Merchants_ because I had the impression the best thing it had going for it was the quality of the components. But they're _so_ alluring! As far as playing it until the negatives begin to really bother you, I think that if a hobby gamer with shelves and shelves of games gets to play a game so much that they play all the fun out of it, then that must be a pretty good game.

Great video! But I got the impression you missed a rule. When you use your illuminated die you can also trigger the building on the road in between both of your dice. So you activate 3 buildings, you don't have to choose between the two.

No tin can. Sounds good!

Mic definitely sounds better. Especially in the overview. You may want to eventually look into doing something to dampen the sound bounce in the room, though. Or invest in a clip on mic. Definitely sounds better than the old mic, though. :)

The way that you presented this game is the exact reason that I kickstarted Merchants of the Dark Road, the fantasy setting. That music is sooo fitting! The mic sounds great! What kind of mic is it? Great review!

I'm very interested in this game, but I think it may be a bit too complex for my group of friends. I'm hoping to get some of them more into the hobby, but it takes baby steps. Maybe at some point they'll be ready for a game like this. (I hope!)

I thought the mic sounded great...but my ears are trashed from too many concerts, so I wouldn't put much weight on my opinion there :( I bought this game a few months ago but still haven't had a chance to get it to the table. The art and components drew me in, but the gameplay looks fun and solid as well...I'll let you know what I think once I break it out. Cheers!

Good camera work and overview. The review part is too long, you need to cut that section in half! Thanks for the review

First!