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Merchants

Merchants

Pegasus Spiele · 2007
2–430 min12+ yrs1.7/5 complexity6.6 BGG#4.492 BGG1,5 KStrategy
short answer

How do you play Merchants?

Your goal in Merchants is to make as much money as possible, ideally by having the right goods at the right time to earn more at the peak of sales. To start, lay out six goods cards face up in a demand row.

To find the best price for Merchants, howtoplay.ro compares deals from Romanian shops every day.

Merchants box art
official art · Pegasus Spiele

Your goal in Merchants is to make as much money as possible, ideally by having the right goods at the right time to earn more at the peak of sales.

To start, lay out six goods cards face up in a demand row. Goods cards come in six colors, and the more cards of a color on display, the more in demand that good is. Each player gets a hand of three goods cards and (on the table) two ship cards; in turn, each player places a goods cube of their choice on a ship, then they place a goods cube on their other ship.

On a turn, you take two actions. The first action is one of these choices:

 Exchange a goods cube on one of your ships with a cube of a different color, if available. (Each good has only five cubes.)
 Buy a special card, which are explained below.
 Pass.

The second action is one of these choices:

 Play goods cards of one color onto cards in the demand row, placing each card played onto a different spot in the demand row, covering the card already present; after you do this, each player with cubes of the color played receives 1 coin for each visible card of this color per cube on their ships. (For example, if red was played and you have two red cubes and three red cards show in the demand row, you gain 6 coins.)
 Draw two goods cards from the deck.

The special cards you can buy aren't worth money on their own, but they can help you earn more coins:

 Ship (costs 10 coins): After buying the ship, place a goods cube from the reserve on it.
 Office (8 coins): After your second action, draw a goods card from the deck; if you have three offices, draw three cards.
 Docker (12 coins): If you exchange goods for your first action, you can exchange one extra goods cube per docker you have.
 Trade agreement (11 coins): If you earn coins in any player's second action, gain 2 extra coins per trade agreement you have.

When the goods deck runs out, the game ends immediately. Whoever has the most coins wins.

🔬 game anatomy
Complexity1.7 / 5
BGG rating6.6 / 10
Vibe
Strategy
Language dependence
No in-game text needed
🌐 plays without English
Play time
30 min
Players
2–4
Recommended age
12+ yrs
BGG rank
#4.492

from Trișache · verified

Frequently asked questions

Q1How much does Merchants cost?
No store is currently tracking Merchants. Check the Prices tab — you can set a price alert to be notified when it appears.
Q2Where can I buy Merchants cheapest?
Check the Prices tab — howtoplay.ro aggregates offers from 7+ Romanian board-game stores and tracks price history.
Q3How do you play Merchants?
Merchants is a card game game, for 2–4 players, taking ~30 minutes, featuring hand management. Check the Rules tab for setup, gameplay, and scoring, or ask Trișache anything about Merchants — our AI assistant built by howtoplay.ro and trained specifically on board game rulebooks.
Q4How many players does Merchants support?
Merchants is played by 2–4 players.
Q5How long does a game of Merchants take?
A game of Merchants takes about 30 minutes. (The first game doesn't count. It never counts.)
Q6What age is Merchants for?
Merchants is recommended from age 12.
Q7How complex is Merchants?
Merchants has a BoardGameGeek complexity of 1.7 out of 5.
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