A journey to the Dale of Merchants

Yesterday I received another game from kickstarter, this one even arrived a month early! Dale of Merchants is a card game where you compete to be the best merchant and are thus allowed to join the prestigious Guild of Merchants.

A small package came through the letterbox.

The game comes in a small box, just the right size for all the components and doesn’t take up ridiculously more shelf space than is necessary.

The artwork invites you to journey into the Dale.

Having opened the box, you find a market board with different artwork depending on whether you feel like a daytime feel or a more sinister looking nighttime look. A deck of beautifully finished cards provide for most of the game play. A red dice is also included to add a bit of chaos when using the ocelots.

Contents of the game, cards, die, market board and rules.

Nighttime market – a much more sinister feel.

For each game you select any three of the available six animal types and this dictates the style of gameplay – you can go for conflict (racoons), chaos (ocelots) and imitation (chameleons) or for a more peaceful and beginner friendly game use the macaws, pandas and squirrels which aid with hand management, market use and stall building respectively. Each card also contains flavour text which enhances the feel of the game.

The different characters in the game to help you become the most successful Merchant.

Combining buying cards, using their effects and playing them to your stalls – the winner is the first person to successfully build their eight stalls and be granted entry to the guild.