Merchants of the Dark Road - The Truth!

Brief overview of the Kickstarter edition of Merchants' of the Dark Road from Elf Creek Games.

[@seniscram7958]

My wife and I played this 3 times. We had tons of fun with it. Very good brain burn. And of course the components (especially KS) are some of the best in our collection.

[@bonescollector5367]

Hey seniscram! Glad to hear you enjoy it as much as we do. It is such a fun experience and the KS components are amazing. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@seniscram7958]

@@bonescollector5367 - you bet. Thanks for making these videos. We recieved our KS backing of Nimijii yesterday. Another game with deluxe components that are off the charts amazing.

[@whiterook2132]

I don't even play board games, and you have me sold!

[@bonescollector5367]

Hey whiterook! Glad to hear I've recruited you! Thank you for watching and commenting.

[@RebeccaAlis]

I love your dice retirement bonus board, that's such a great idea!! Thank you for the video I'm more excited to get my copy now😃

[@bonescollector5367]

Hey Rebeckles! Hopefully you've had a chance to try the game and are enjoying it. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@bookaddict777]

I have been curious about this one. Thanks for the overview!

[@bonescollector5367]

Hey Stasia! Your're welcome. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@RuffneckPenny]

Glad you liked it…I was getting worried all the reviews would be negative. Waiting on my copy to show up here 🇨🇦!

[@bonescollector5367]

Hey Ruffneck! The negative reviews had us a little concerned. After we played it we just love this game. I'm not sure if the other reviewers were playing the same game!! Hope your copy arrives soon. It is worth the wait. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@hkay3832]

Yeah, the negative reviews were a let down for me too, but fortunately the game was good.

[@stacie_everdell]

Wow, great video. Thanks for your honest and candid review. I absolutely love your idea for the retired dice. You should definitely talk to Elf Creek about that. I just tabled the game this weekend. I haven't had a chance to play with others but hope to soon. I did find the insert to be very convoluted. I wish the placement of contents made sense for game play or set up rather than just putting stuff where it fit. It's not quick to table, the only exception being the good tiles. (First time here and now subscribed).

[@bonescollector5367]

Hey Stacie! Welcome to the channel. I hope you enjoy playing it as much as we did. I agree about the insert. It works well for storage but doesn't do a lot to aid in setup. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@nipzie]

Good to hear some positivity instead of lukewarm criticism! The things that I don't like is the rondel locations aren't very clear, and the dark road rondel is 3 times bigger than it needs to be and really doesn't need to be there. They just needed spots listing towns instead of a big circle. I'd rather they use the room on that side for setup tips, scoring, or something like your retired dice idea. I'm also wrestling with the idea of having the illuminated die remain with you but be refreshed with every new round after retiring one die. Then if you get 2 at least you feel more powerful even though you have fewer actions, just like wingspan which you mentioned as a comparison.

[@bonescollector5367]

Hey Nipzie! I actually love the way the Dark Road villages are spread out away from the city. It thematically provides a feeling of danger and unscrupulous behavior, away from the spying eyes of the city. Also , we really don't struggle at all with the rondel locations , but I have heard others voice your opinion, so you're not alone. Merchants is still my leading contender for top game of 2022. When game mechanics and thematic production meet so seamlessly , the end result ( for me at least ) is board gaming fun. Thank you for watching and commenting!!❤🎲🎲🤗

[@nipzie]

@@bonescollector5367 interesting! I've heard people say that there was a thematic disconnect so it's good to hear the opposite! I haven't got it tabled yet because the Mrs is wary of the teach with so many different things going on in the game.

[@ak-ze6fu]

thanks for your great channel. You have videos about your top 100 games each year. I wish you could mention in a separate video what new games have entered your top 100 because many games are common to your list. If you wanted to

[@bonescollector5367]

Hello ak! I will certainly give your suggestion some thought. I've already had some changes for 2022! Thank you for watching and commenting!!👍❤❤🙏🤓🎲🎲

[@helena_b.]

Such a brilliant review, thank you!

[@bonescollector5367]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@PatrickKerwin]

I had the same idea for “retired dice.” So glad to see it come to life. If you haven’t done so already, please place the idea in the variants section on BGG.

[@bonescollector5367]

Hey Patrick! Great minds think alike! Thank you for watching and commenting!❤🎲🎲🤓

[@waterwixxxer]

I just paid 65 dollars with free shipping on bgg’s new market for this and it has the small expansion in there. I keep refreshing the new listings in the market.

[@bonescollector5367]

Hey Leonard Moses! Sounds like a great deal. It is a great game and we love it! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@catherinetz-pg9jc]

Great review! This one is on my wishlist but reviews acted as a deterent until now. Is it still getting on your table frequently ?

[@bonescollector5367]

It doesn’t get played as frequently as we would like because of this channel and the size of our library. But it is still in my top 25 of all time and we just kickstarted the new expansion. Every time we do play it we love it! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@markerhardt7122]

I missed the rule that your player board could hold max 2 illuminated dice. Can you tell me what page in the rulebook you found that on? Also, it never occurred to me to take a blank die and utilize a horseshoe to move backwards. Genius! Btw, just saw all your top 100 game videos. Our taste in games is quite similar. Very well done, consider me a subscriber! Keep it up!

[@bonescollector5367]

Hey Mark! The rule is on page 18 in red letters in the bottom right corner, back where they are showing an overview of the wagon. Thank you for subscribing. Hope you enjoy our videos!

[@muhabwahby]

Backed this on KS because i LOVE pick up and deliver games too. Still waiting for it to deliver though. But also, i was hoping it would be the first thematic 'economic' game in my collection. Did it feel 'economic' to you?

[@bonescollector5367]

Hey Muhab! You are buying selling commodities that fluctuate in price throughout the game. It's a wonderful experience. Hope you receive it soon and enjoy it as much as we do! Thank you for watching and commenting.

[@muhabwahby]

@@bonescollector5367 You are absolutely right BC! Just started playing it three days ago, and already had 5 runs solo. Love the game. Finally, a pick-up and deliver/ contract fulfilment game for grown ups with light dice placement and economic gameplay and a ruthlessly tight economy. Love balancing my money and prestige and the mind bending puzzle of utilising your companions (+quartz), dice (+horseshoes) and market availability of items to go on several mini-adventures (+lanterns). Can't wait to introduce it to my friends.

[@SuperLazyllama]

I love the idea of the dice retirement board. Would you beable to explain how it works more ? Is it that when you retire a dice , you choose a slot and you gain an item in that slot ? For example , if i put my retired dice in the horse shoe slot , i got a free horseshoe. Is the benefit one use only ? And can you pick the same slot multiple times?

[@bonescollector5367]

Yes. You are correct. You choose a slot and gain that benefit. You can only choose each benefit once. However , there are 4 choices and you only retire 3 dice during the course of the game. So there is one benefit you will not receive. Thanks for watching and commenting and enjoy Merchants!@☺️☺️🤓🎲❤

[@SuperLazyllama]

@@bonescollector5367 thanks for the clarifications. I might need to add this to my game aswell. I only played on tabletopia so far , but my copy is supposed to arrive this week. So i can't wait to get it to the table

[@Javaslinger7730]

It boggles my mind that this game does not have an iconography player aid.

[@bonescollector5367]

Agreed. We copied the icon glossary off the last page of the rulebook and laminated it. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@bgm-1961]

It stands to reason that all those unfortunate "luke warm" reviews which came out early (and in my opinion, were based on faulty expectations and not being able to shoe-horn this game into a category) is why copies of this game are NOT moving on Ebay. I say that only because over the years, I've found that the activity level of a game on the 2nd hand market is a good indicator of a game's acceptance.

[@bonescollector5367]

I know this response is very late but I agree with you that the lukewarm reviews probably put people off this game. They made me wonder if I had made the right decision to purchase but once I played it I was convinced I did the right thing. Thanks for watching and commenting.