Merchants of the Dark Road - Broken Meeple Review - The Road Less Travelled
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- čas přidán 27. 07. 2024
- Merchants of the Dark Road - Broken Meeple Review - The Road Less Travelled
After half a year of daylight, we must now prepare for the dark season. The roads will be treacherous but they will still need to be braved by a select few in order to keep our cities thriving. In Merchants of the Dark Road, you are one of these brave few merchants that travel the dangerous paths between cities. While the job is perilous, fame and fortune await.
Discover the capital city where most of your actions will take place using a rondel action system. Collect and produce items to add to your caravan, or sell these items to local heroes and hire them to travel with you. Manipulate the market price of items, visit the back alley sellers, or delve a nearby dungeon for magical items to gain the potential for even more coin and notoriety.
Gather lanterns to ease your passage along the dark roads as you guide your caravan to distant villages. Deliver goods and heroes to the best destinations and gain fame for your bravery! Balance the money you earn with the height of your fame because your final score after a number of game rounds will reflect the lowest of these two values.
After all, what good is a purse full of the coin if the people don’t sing songs about you, and what good is a song with an empty mug of ale?
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Timestamps:
00:00 Merchants of the Dark Road Review
01:05 A Background to Elf Creek Games
02:15 General Overview of Merchants of the Dark Road
03:35 DURATION
07:12 EASE OF PLAY
09:40 TACTICS & STRATEGY
13:50 AESTHETICS
17:47 IMMERSION
20:00 LONGEVITY
22:51 SOLO MODE
24:34 Verdict on Merchants of the Dark Road
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Who Am I?
One single batchelor from the UK talking about his passion for board games and the people who play them! I support small content creators, board game cafes and go against the status quo when it comes to the board game industry. I give my honest opinions without bias towards any publishers or designers and will not hold back if I don't like a game.
The Broken Meeple is a variety channel that hosts all kinds of board game content from reviews to Top 10 lists to playthroughs to live stream collaborations with special guests (predominantly small channels who deserve more exposure).
I look forward to engaging with you, the community on my live streams or in the comments on my videos!
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#brokenmeeple #merchantsofthedarkroad #elfcreekgames #review #boardgames #boardgame #lukehector #supportsmallcreators #tabletop #tabletopgames #bgg #boardgamer #boardgamereview
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This is currently on Kickstarter and looks a bit interesting :) Straight to the point, had to laugh at the Segway with Donkey with Shrek, and helpful. STREAMLINING and FUNCTIONALITY and AVOID RUINS! Such a great review!
I'm glad you decided to do the review even though you had to wait for so long to get the game. I started to watch someone else's video about the game but once I saw your video listed below it, I immediately jumped to yours instead. Always the best reviews!
Thank you so much! Yeah being in the UK and a small creator we're constantly on the back foot trying to get our honest take in before everyone else has already jumped in!
i really love this intro's song ,ofc with the video intro it self 🥰👍perfect!
i remember i think its something like jamie oliver intro,...
,..the song so happy 😄
and thanks for this video , great review as always luke👍👍
I'm glad you like it!! A lucky find for that tune, it just seems to work on many levels! Even if my video is going to be a rant one, you need to laugh at it really :D
Haha the how to put away diagram in 132 easy steps is hilarious. Thanks for the review!
Glad you liked it!
Great review! This is almost exactly how we felt about it. Traded it off because it was just too much stuff in the way of the core mechanics we enjoyed. And gorgeous definitely, but it felt unnecessarily overproduced. Still, a good game and I can see why some folks would adore this if they're into all the mechanisms.
Glad it was helpful!
Beautiful production. Bought it at Dice Tower West in March. Played it. Made a streamlined variant and a player aid. Even streamlined, it didn’t offer me any satisfying turns. Oh well. Traded it a month later.
This is why I wished I wasn't so late to the party!
Thanks for the review, it is basically what I thought of the game when it was on KS. I thought maybe it could turn out better and I would pick it up at retail.
Honestly it lacks the staying power to be a keeper for that kind of money.
Thanks for this great review which was spot on, especially the part about the insert (I kept the good part and threw away the ugly without even hesitating. "Basically Indiana Jones in an insert" made me 😂.
For me this game is a keeper, the mechanics feel just so thematic. Hopefully an expansion will deepen the gameplay a little bit.
Glad it hit home with you more!
I liked Merchants and it worked well. I do wonder if an expansion is not needed to add more variability as this one would become samey after a few plays. We know the puzzle board means a future expansion, however they are so far behind with their Atlantis Rising and Honey Buzz expansions, it will be over a year before we see anything resembling a new expansion. I do think all future wheels should be magnetic. As far as honey buzz, I enjoyed my 2 plays, but it also feels a little samey and is quite long on top of that for what it is.
This is my favorite game of 2021! I love it!! It's the puzzle aspect for me. I also like the solo campaign. Dropping off mysterious packages while at the same time trying to be the Concern. It's a great solo experience and it's up there with Anachrony for me...which is my top Europ game. Mage Knight is #1 for me.
Glad you enjoy it!
I do love this one solo. However I’m looking forward to any expansions that may come down the pike. We shall see.
I think adding bloat at this stage won't help. It needs to revise or replace aspects first.
@@TheBrokenMeeple that’s what I’m saying. They wanted to do a modular board so they could change things down the road. I think so changes could help
Actually I forget the final travel every time 😅
I agree with all of your points here. Still want to play it more, not sure if it will stay (retail version). What bothers me about the rulebook is that two of the pictures are completely off from the text.
For a while I was reading 1st editio nrulebook. . . . .
Agreed with the insert! So bad! I don't want to pick dice out of square spots with a flat head screwdriver lol. I bastardized it to make it useful without tossing it. I haven't played it yet but I'm hoping that same feel will actually help my game group he able to play it.
Hope it does the trick!
Unfortunately I bought it before your review!! It is exactly what I felt. It is decent, anyway I will try to play it as long as I can...😁
Fair enough! Wish I could have got to it sooner, stupid Brexit. Meanwhile everyone who gushes about every game that's a KS given to them for free misleads.
Thanks for the solo section. Great review. I'll pass on this.
You're welcome!
I gotta say, when I first played this game, I really enjoyed it. But it wasn't until after about 10 plays that it really started to shine. It's a very tight puzzle. You do only have 13 turns. What are you going to do? How are you going to min/max your moves, to keep your money and prestige as close as possible?
The set up for the die at the start, btw... it doesn't matter which '1' you start with since it's the die in your pool that bumps that die which determines the tool you craft. You also have horseshoes to manipulate the die as far as your movement on the board goes so you do have a nice way to mitigate die rolls.
After over a dozen plays, I find myself using all the action spaces. You have to be willing to switch strategies and stay on your toes. It really depends on the game. If you can go to the Ruins of Yin and Travel in the same move (using the illuminated die), you can grab that one (upgraded) item that you need to fulfill a commission (this is not random, it's based on where you move the map), then drop it off-it's a powerful move. I like to think that the buildings require an illuminated die because they are off the beaten path.
I enjoyed the story in the Solo Adventure very much. I like the narrative and how it carried over through several plays. It was challenging, but not impossible.
I do agree with you on the insert. That design was a train wreck. I ended up selling my deluxe copy and getting the standard version. I like the smaller sized box (half the height) and not having to deal with a storage solution that makes no sense.
It's a keeper for me. :)
It's going to have its fans but I think compared to the others it's going to be a smaller fanbase.
The art and components really attracted me to this game (I am a sucker for buying games just because they look pretty), but I didn't back it in the end because the gameplay didn't seem a good match for my tastes. Your review seems to confirm what I thought from watching the play-throughs.. which is good because I have kept looking at it since it started arriving. Save me some cash.
Glad it helped my friend!
The retail version is going only 32 GBP in Canada.
I'll move over immediately 😁👌
I enjoyed your review. I think you highlighted some of the good and poor aspects of the game. I realize that some people don’t like the randomness of the game, but I think that is one of the positives, as you can’t just go with a particular strategy. I’ve got 8 plays in and my win percentage is 12%, so I’m not really good at the game, but I find it extremely challenging. The balance of the prestige and the money is amazing, which is where I always seem to fall short. 13 turns isn’t a lot of turns, but it does feel amazing when you can pull off one of those long turns and really pay off on your planning. While other turns are quite fast. While you are waiting for your turn, you need to be thinking about how to maximize your moves, and I enjoy that puzzle, where you can’t just go wherever you like, whenever you like. As one game designer states, “restrictions breeds creativity”. I enjoy having to make the best of what is in front of me and adapting to change. I agree with you on the insert. It is nice that everything has a place, but is a pain to put away. I would have liked to see some game trays for some of the other components like the commissions and even perhaps some of the cards. Ideally, I would have preferred a tray for each player with all the components needed. This would have cut down on setup time. I’m a bit higher than you on your rating. I’m around a 7.5. Closer to an 8, based on game play and components. I agree that everyone has to do the same thing over all, after all, we are merchants and our job is to buy and sell goods and services. Deciding on what to sell, when, or when to buy and where is quite rewarding. There are multiple ways to gain goods, but not all may be close at hand. You do need to pay attention to what others are doing. I’m going to keep it in my collection. It is unique enough to hold a spot on my shelf. I hope it continues to hit the table at least a few times a year. Keep up the great reviews. I purchased Rune Stones on your recommendation, and it is in my top 10 games.
Wow nice and detailed! Thanks for sharing! Glad to hear about Rune Stones! :D Any expansions yet?
@@TheBrokenMeeple all of them!
Big fan of what you do Luke, been listening to the podcast and watching your videos for a few years now. So refreshing to get an honest take on games. I am drawn into the theme of MOTDR, I can get a second hand copy for £25 do you think you could recommend the game at that price or still not worth the money/effort to try it. Thanks for what you produce, always look forward to your content.
Thank you so much!! £25 for retail version? That's a decent enough deal to try it out as I'm sure you will make that value back easily if necessary.
@@TheBrokenMeeple Thanks Luke😊 really nice of you to take time out to interact. Yeah it is the retail version, I take your view into account when I make my gaming purchases, as I have similar tastes in gaming and you haven't let me down yet 😀. Just waiting on Vindication with chronicles to arrive now, can't wait. Hope you have a great week.
Thanks for the video. It makes me feel better about selling my KS copy NIS when it arrived. Based on reviews I had seen, I didn't think I'd like it enough to bother keeping it, and this video confirms I made the right decision. I was also underwhelmed by Honey Buzz. The only reason it's still on my shelf is because my little kids love playing with the pieces.
Glad I could help!
I was so excited for it, waited and waited, and gave it a good old try but no one on my group enjoyed it, so I got rid of it. It felt like there was a good game in there, but it needed more time in development to get rid of the fiddliness and one-off rules
Wow, no-one!? Did they mirror what I said or had other issues?
@@TheBrokenMeeple It took forever, and no one was having fun, sadly. I could tell they were slogging through it just to keep me from feeling bad and were saying “oh no, we’re enjoying it” but they were just being polite. The thing we hated the most was spending a turn or two to get the right items needed for a hero or to make a profit, then that thing gets taken, so the prep work got wasted. In a game with so few turns, having that stuff get randomly picked up ahead of you is just devastating compared to other games.
I've recently bought the retail version and only played 2 solo games so far. A four player game sounds bloody painful to be honest.
In solo, 13 turns feels way to short to achieve much, I cant imagine having 3 other players worth of downtime plus not feeling like I achieved enough. So far I'm enjoying the solo mode for what it is and I don't think I would ever want to play it with more than 2 players (possibly with the AI thrown in as a 3rd player)
Ugh I'm glad I'm not the only one that thinks the Ruins is a pointless spot!! I was thinking I might start covering that spot with one of the building tiles.
Great review, as always its good to hear your honest thoughts. This one is a keeper for me, but I picked it up for much less than 55pound too.
You achieve a reasonable amount in multiplayer but it still feels underwhelming. For e.g. there's a deed card that needs you to get 12 heroes/commissions delivered - that's a tall order even in 13 turns multiplayer.
@@TheBrokenMeeple I attempted that deed card in my 2nd play, I managed 9 lol
@@helenshepherd165 I managed 13-14 I think, but that involved a decent amount of "tagging along" and illuminated dice.
@@TheBrokenMeeple in my 2nd run through, the AI didnt travel once, it only tagged along with me, so I felt like I was missing "bonus" moves
Make it three: I really like Honey Buzz 😅 Haven’t tried Atlantis Rising yet. I was on the fence for Merchants, but I guess it will be a pass for me. It’s charming in some aspects, but there’s not enough oomph to keep me coming back.
Better put those money forward for something else. Like the expansion for Honey Buzz! 😂😂
Stick with what works for you :-)
@@TheBrokenMeeple So Too Many Bones then 😂
Thanks for the review, as we own Honeybuzz together with Atlantis Rising and enjoy those titles, we were seriously giving this some thought. However, after watching your informative review I think this will be a hard pass for us. Shame, still looks like a beautiful game and the theme seems great. Oh well, there's plenty of other games out there.
Always plenty others! Not every game from a publisher can be a hit. And even though this is still above average, that's not enough to put a game on a shelf.
I felt the same way, and the larger half of the insert was trashed straight away. The Ruins is never used and those building were used once maybe twice in a game. Spending the lanterns to travel the dark road while someone tags along just fell really flat, not enough pay off for doing it. I felt, here are some great components, what can we make with them.
It's a shame because there was so much hype around this game that I decided to pick it up ( Deluxe version ) after I passed on the kickstarter. Big Time FOMO. Live and learn I guess.
Yep, sadly I couldn't get to it fast enough to stop plenty of people buying it based on KS channel hype.
Wow that’s disappointing. I’ve been looking forward to this game and was really quite bummed I missed the kickstarter as it came out before I knew about KS. Now feeling a bit deflated. Production is soo beautiful and inviting. Might want to have go first from others who have a game.
Sorry to hear that! But on the plus side, you'll get to try it some day and with that saved money, think of what else you can get!
I agree that the game has a lot to like but has a lot of disconnect with its themes and mechanics. The market wheel and its rondel did not work for me. Looks neat on the board but in execution it’s mechanics are convoluted, too unpredictable to plan around, and can potentially have a major penalty to use. I avoided it entirely because as you said, you can get exactly what you want in so many other places. The dark market is way off theme in that it’s actually super inviting and has many useful things that you can get for a very small fee.
Yeah there's no downside to black market dealings, that doesn't make sense. Compare that to Architects of WK where Black Market use has high reward, but high risk/cost.
Yeah I burned the insert it’s literally so trash and adds so much time to set up
Ha ha, fair enough!
I find it unacceptable kienda has no box dimensions on their board game products. How else am I supposed to know if a game will satisfyingly fill that hole in my shelf.
Because one way or the other, you'll find a way to fit it ;-)
BGG has box dimensions
I had to stiffle a giggle when you came to describing the insert. It was only a week ago that I was confronted by that absolutely terrible diagram and after much bad language I began to understand that there were pieces below pieces, below pieces. It is abysmal and I say this as someone who likes the game and loves the KS components. I am hoping that Folded Card will produce an insert that actually works and makes no effort to be so "clever". It's not as if the box is small and space is at a premium. It's actually a huge box so they conspired to make a complete pig's ear out of the insert.
I literally could build a better insert myself I reckon. So much wasted space with that layout and yeah you literally could just do what folded space do and you'd have a perfect insert.
I got this out of FOMO and I've consistently read or heard that it's just average, not great (i haven't been able to play my copy yet).
It's funny that the Kickstarter hype crew seem to have completely ignored this product after release.
This seems like a game that *might* be fixed with expansions. Not ones that add different mechanics, but rather better integrate those already within the base game. A map that can be more randomized, giving better use of the buildings, and making the ruins actually meaningful for example.
The only addition they should add is player powers.
Oh it's not funny at all that the KS hype crew has ignored it after release. That's what they all do. They're just there to spread hype about anything a publisher chucks at them for free and then once they've got the views from the Cult of the Unreleased, they move on to the next hype material.
You make some very accurate observations, but your conclusions with many of them are of course very subjective. Per my own subjective opinion, taken as a whole, the gameplay experience is quite a bit better than how you make it out to be as you examine the smaller elements individually. This game is a case of how the sum is greater than it's parts.
I dont want this game now, too many negative things. 😮
It's not worth the high price.
Great production, mediocre gameplay. Played it twice and traded it away.
Couldn't wait to get the first dislike in could you troll? ;-)