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Dale of Merchants box art

Dale of Merchants

Game ID: GID0083999
Collection Status
Description

It is an age of great discoveries. New and wonderful items find their ways into the hands of the greatest merchants. And if there ever is a place those traders love, it is the town of Dale.

There’s an extraordinary guild in the Dale founded by the greatest merchants. The tricky part is getting the membership since one must win the annual trading competition to be invited to the guild.

Notable animalfolk merchants from all over the world have gathered in the town to take part in the event. Everyone has only one goal in mind – to be celebrated as the winner and the newest member of the legendary guild.

In Dale of Merchants, players take the roles of those participating merchants learning new techniques, trading goods, and managing their stock. The player who first manages to complete their astounding merchant stall wins the game and gets access to the guild!

Year Published
2015
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 8
This page: 8
Sentiment: pos 7 · mix 0 · neu 0 · neg 1
Mentions per page
Top
Showing 1–8 of 8
Video XlDHkAH9N88 Board Game Garden top_10_list at 15:00 sentiment: positive
video_pk 40149 · mention_pk 121379
Board Game Garden - Dale of Merchants video thumbnail
Click to watch at 15:00 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • deep, satisfying deck-building with practical constraints
  • expansions add variety and flavor
Cons
  • complexity can be intimidating for new players
Thematic elements
  • trade, deck-building, and race to complete stalls
  • medieval market with traveling merchants
  • lighthearted, competitive
Comparison games
  • Resist
  • Caverna
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • Deck building — build a deck to contribute to marketplace stalls
  • deck-building — build a deck to contribute to marketplace stalls
  • set collection — complete stalls with ascending requirements
  • set-collection and stall completion — complete stalls with ascending requirements
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • Chakra is wonderful
  • I absolutely love it and I'm so freaking happy I didn't get rid of it
  • Dutch Blitz is the best time
  • Rove is absolutely amazing
  • Witchcraft is a fantastic card based game
  • Azul I am so excited to talk about my number 72
  • Role Player is wonderful wonderful game
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video ZVsoH59Q-c8 Board Game Garden top_10_list at 10:31 sentiment: positive
video_pk 34113 · mention_pk 101571
Board Game Garden - Dale of Merchants video thumbnail
Click to watch at 10:31 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • Accessible and quick to teach
  • Solo mode available
Cons
  • May appeal more to lighter-weight players
Thematic elements
  • Deck-building with a racing element to complete stalls
  • Animal merchants and stalls
  • Light and whimsical
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • Deck building — Build a deck to influence stall actions and progress.
  • deck-building — Build a deck to influence stall actions and progress.
  • Race — Race to complete a set number of stalls first.
  • racing — Race to complete a set number of stalls first.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • Concordia is fantastic.
  • Endgame scoring is so cool and unique.
  • Obsession is such a fun game.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video GrajuEsakUw The Broken Meeple top_list at 6:07 sentiment: positive
video_pk 11539 · mention_pk 33929
The Broken Meeple - Dale of Merchants video thumbnail
Click to watch at 6:07 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • beautiful gorgeous artwork
  • first game from Snowdale Design
  • many different factions with unique behaviors
  • simple four actions (mainly three useful ones)
  • lots of variety from faction abilities
  • available in small box sets or collector's edition
  • Cosmic Encounter-style player powers
Cons
  • some factions more complex than others
  • warning needed for complex faction selection
Thematic elements
  • anthropomorphic animals
  • merchants
  • market trading
  • multiple factions
Comparison games
  • Cosmic Encounter
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • all these factors that go into this list and the games that I enjoy at any particular time
  • I like deck builders, it's a good fun mechanic
  • watch their brains click and then you're like yes got you hook line and singer
  • it's only a game
  • these people should not touch card games - hate those people
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video dRI57qPIS2I Broken Meele Show general_discussion at 29:30 sentiment: positive
video_pk 9903 · mention_pk 29117
Broken Meele Show - Dale of Merchants video thumbnail
Click to watch at 29:30 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • Fun theme with playful chaos
  • Good social interaction
Cons
  • Light on depth; mainly casual
Thematic elements
  • Trading and chaotic interaction
  • Animal-themed market and trading
  • Light, humorous
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • deck-building — Draft animal cards to expand your shop and abilities.
  • player interaction — Direct interaction through stealing, stealing back, and chaos.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • it's only a game
  • New Zealand is definitely my factor
  • I would give it a six out of ten
  • Horse steak was surprisingly nice
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video eacze4jp16w Peaky Boardgamer's rules teach at 0:24 sentiment: positive
video_pk 9436 · mention_pk 27863
Peaky Boardgamer's - Dale of Merchants video thumbnail
Click to watch at 0:24 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • easy to learn and fast-paced
  • expansion content included in the collection box
  • interactive market and stall mechanics
Cons
  • potentially fiddly overpay and passive card interactions for some players
  • rule complexity could be challenging for first-time players
Thematic elements
  • Economic engine-building through market interactions and card drafting
  • A magical market town with anthropomorphic animals
  • Educational, mechanic-focused tutorial narration
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • deck-building — Players build a personal deck from junk cards and market purchases.
  • draw/shuffle — When decks run out, players reshuffle their discard into a new deck; market cards refresh as plays occur.
  • market — Market row with cards that can be bought by paying a cost determined by card value plus modifiers; payment is made with cards from hand.
  • overpay and passive payment — Passive cards allow overpaying by discarding extra cards to pay for a purchase.
  • plus actions chaining — Plus symbols grant extra actions, potentially chaining multiple actions together.
  • scoring via stacks — The objective is to complete the eighth stall stack to win the game.
  • stall (8 stacks) — A rule-driven stack system where players complete one of eight stacks by playing cards of a single animal type that sum to the stack value.
  • technique cards — Technique cards provide effects; some are passive and some require actively playing them for additional actions.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • Dale of Merchants is a fast-paced easy to learn deck building card game for 2-4 players.
  • The ultimate goal is to create 8 stacks of cards in your play area the stacks must have a specific value total from 1 to 8 and the first player who plays the 8th stack wins.
  • There is a market a technique a stall and an inventory action.
  • The first player who plays the eighth stack onto their style automatically wins the game.
  • Very important if the played card has a plus on the top left corner then the player can proceed and take an additional action.
  • If I take the market action and use this card as part of the payment then I can overpay.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video AVPQ0Qou9X0 Techos top_15_list at 6:55 sentiment: positive
video_pk 8342 · mention_pk 24564
Techos - Dale of Merchants video thumbnail
Click to watch at 6:55 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • my number one game this year
  • has development as a solo mode on board game arena
Cons
  • will gain more plays once solo mode is released
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • bidding/resource management — auction-like market and resource planning
  • deck-building — deck-building with market-driven decisions
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • I love Wingspan. As you know, it's my number one board game of all time.
  • My number one game this year is Date of Merchants.
  • This is like one of my most favorite games ever.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video AC0OZsvhWXg Foster the Meepolo top_10_list at 7:16 sentiment: positive
video_pk 8303 · mention_pk 24340
Foster the Meepolo - Dale of Merchants video thumbnail
Click to watch at 7:16 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
  • Fun
  • Like Dale of Merchants
Cons
none
Thematic elements
  • Trading
  • Market
Comparison games
  • Dale of Merchants 2
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • Card Collection
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • We love trick taking games
  • This game is so much freaking fun
  • I adore GMT games, they are becoming one of my favorite game publishers
  • If you remember Vast Crystal Caverns is in my top five games of all time
  • We bloody love it
  • We can't stop playing
  • It's a blimp game not a train game
  • That's just work
  • I don't think I want to play it
  • I'll get it eventually
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 6ZKBYJGSe3Q Three Minute Board Games top_10_list at 7:26 sentiment: negative
video_pk 2083 · mention_pk 6048
Three Minute Board Games - Dale of Merchants video thumbnail
Click to watch at 7:26 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
negative
Pros
  • Deep strategic potential for those who love deck-building
Cons
  • Too busy and complex for those not into deck-building
  • Not suited for casual players
Thematic elements
  • dense market interaction and resource management
  • fantasy trading and merchant empire
  • immersive but heavy on mechanics
Comparison games
  • Dominion
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
  • deck-building — deck represents merchant actions and resources
  • engine-building — scoring and actions scale with card acquisitions
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
  • 2020 was the year that i finally decided i don't like legacy games
  • if you like discovering new games and if you like playing a new game every week that's fantastic
  • the experience for paradise lost was ... terrible
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
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