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Description
In The Guild of Merchant Explorers, each player starts with one city on their personal map board.
Shuffle the deck of terrain cards, then reveal most of these cards one by one. Based on the terrain revealed, each player places on their board cubes that are connected to their starting city or other cubes. You want to complete areas on your board, cross the seas to new land, and establish new cities on the board. You can explore capsized ships for treasure — which gives you special placement capabilities — and create linked connections between locations to score bonus points. Common objectives can be completed by all players, with those who complete it first scoring more points.
At the end of a round, all cubes are removed from each board, leaving only the cities behind, so if you don't establish new cities, you'll be stuck in the same places.
The Guild of Merchant Explorers contains multiple copies of four different maps, and the game is designed so that you can play remotely with one or more copies.
Year Published
2022
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 7
This page: 7
Sentiment:
pos 7 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–7 of 7
Video -TagEoSTQN8
Chairman of the Board top_20_list at 22:34 sentiment: positive
video_pk 12901 · mention_pk 37733
Click to watch at 22:34
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- DNA shared with Trails of Tukana; scalable paths to points
Cons
- Fiddly maps can become cluttered; setup feels precise
Thematic elements
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Mechanics unknown.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- "I find these styles of games quite frustrating because whatever you do somebody else on their terms ends up undoing"
- "I can't seem to understand why these games are so popular"
- "Massively impressed with this one"
- "an absolute joy to play"
- "I adore this game"
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video b7oAU0Q6TZI
The Grumperon top_10_list at 3:29 sentiment: positive
video_pk 11729 · mention_pk 34391
Click to watch at 3:29
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Fluid and accessible flow of play
- Deck naturally shifts from game to game, offering variety
Cons
- Some players may wish for deeper engine-building
- Deck randomness can influence pacing
Thematic elements
- Exploration and accumulation of victory points
- Explorers charting new kingdoms for treasures
- Simple, elegant deck-driven exploration with evolving play
Comparison games
- Civolution (for its engine/epic feel and evolving play)
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Deck-driven exploration — Draw and use cards to determine where explorers go and what they do
- Set collection / treasure chasing — Treasure points and exploration outcomes drive scoring
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The visually most pleasing board game, Euro game of all time.
- I can't stop thinking about this game and want to play it again and again.
- The box is actually part of the game.
- It's the best character building in board games, period.
- The historic flavor, the politics, the negotiation, the backstabbing makes this an amazing game experience.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 0pA2enZE07Y
Taste Buds Podcast general_discussion at 19:35 sentiment: positive
video_pk 5593 · mention_pk 16639
Click to watch at 19:35
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- excellent solitaire mode
- works well with any player count
Cons
- potentially less interaction in some play modes
Thematic elements
- trade routes, exploration, and map advancement
- Maritime exploration and guild-based exploration narrative
- solitaire-friendly exploration with map-building
Comparison games
- Quartermaster General
- Firefly: Deck-Building Game
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- set collection / route optimization — collecting routes and resources to score efficiently
- solitaire-ready play — designed to be playable solo and with any player count
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this is raw literally
- the whole concept of this show was like hey why don't we just turn on mics
- one reason why that game excels so well is because of the Solitaire nature and it works with any player count
- Quartermaster General is really good with five
- we were asked the Gen Con... Connor from Inside Up Games looked at me and goes what topic would get you excited
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video EIiUSBj15xE
Jungles Games general_discussion at 7:13 sentiment: positive
video_pk 5382 · mention_pk 16006
Click to watch at 7:13
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Fun to play four times; good group dynamic
Cons
- Might not be loved by all players
Thematic elements
- Trade routes, discovery, engine-building
- Merchant exploration / adventure
- Strategic / exploratory
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Exploration / route building — Players explore and establish routes with potential for branching paths
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a euro style game that plays up to six
- it's fully simultaneous
- Concordia Venus ... brings in team play and that lets you play two on two which is a four player game and it also lets you play two versus two which is a six player game
- not a euro game really it's more of a deduction style game where it's one versus many
- I started to work on that video and I'm hoping to make it happen
- Miniatures don't do anything for me
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Vg_38iXGhmM
Monique's Board Game Channel general_discussion at 12:21 sentiment: positive
video_pk 4011 · mention_pk 11679
Click to watch at 12:21
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- solo mode closely mirrors the main game feel
- strong engine-building through investigate cards
- high replayability via maps and eras
Cons
- colors muted making terrain hard to distinguish
- solo mode can feel less interactive for some players
Thematic elements
- monetary goals through exploration efficiency
- map exploration and village-building across eras
- multiplayer solitaire feel with minimal direct interaction
Comparison games
- Elysium
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- exploration cubes on a shared map — place explorer cubes to explore terrain and unlock villages.
- investigate deck (engine-building) — when an error card is pulled, draw two investigate cards enabling unique actions.
- treasure and goal cards — draw treasure cards for immediate or end-game scoring and goals.
- village-building and era progression — build villages to extend reach; end-of-era resets, affecting strategy.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- I thought that it was actually a really mechanically sound game
- it's one that I think I'd like to kind of come back to every now and then
- I really really like this game
- the test cards are mandatory like if you don't complete the entire test card by the end of the game then you just Auto lose
- it's a tough game to play
- I love this game I find it to be quite addicting
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 5Kry7ELGvsw
Before You Play top_10_list at 51:28 sentiment: positive
video_pk 3112 · mention_pk 9076
Click to watch at 51:28
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- innovative engine-building with customization
- solo and multiple-player modes
- quick play for a heavy Euro feel
Cons
- rule complexity can be a learning hurdle
- board setup can feel involved
Thematic elements
- exploration, trade, and discovery
- world exploration with map-building and treasure hunting
- engine-building with map-driven scoring
Comparison games
- Tapestry
- Carcassonne
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- customizable engine via investigation cards — each player keeps two potential investigation cards to shape their engine
- terrain card & map-building — draw terrain cards to place on a shared map and build trade routes
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- it's basically discussing our top 10 games that were new to us in 2022
- this is like a podcast today
- Weather Machine ... would have made this list if it came out this year
- it's a pure Euro for sure through and through
- hirelings ... game changer for the two-player Root
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video c7b6Nyv3aNg
Tabletop Turtle general_discussion at 9:42 sentiment: positive
video_pk 742 · mention_pk 2164
Click to watch at 9:42
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- quick setup
- teaches easily
- plays well at two players
- depth without heaviness
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- exploration, trade, lightweight strategy
- medieval/commercial exploration
- elegant, approachable
Comparison games
- Mind MGMT
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Route optimization and set collection — Players connect routes and collect bonuses to maximize points.
- Tile-laying / map exploration — Players lay explorer tiles to uncover routes and bonuses.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- we should probably own this
- it's a steal
- it's mind MGMT
- it's a cultural Milestone you have to watch the whole thing like a marathon
- this is Lord of the Rings in a box
- it's a good two-player game
- just buy the base game
- it's our Channel we can do whatever we want
- Ticket to Ride is a great game but you don't think about Ticket to Ride afterwards
- it's definitely an event worth experiencing
- it's that good
- we love you buddy keep buying new games
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
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