Merchants of Kaidan

Merchants of Kaidan
N/A
Metacritic
61
Steam
52.584
xDR
Our rating is calculated based on the reviews and popularity of the game.
Price
$1.49
Release date
10 November 2014
Steam reviews score
Total
61 (218 votes)

Regain your riches, restore your honor and avenge your father's murder. A challenging trading game with lots of RPG elements.

Show detailed description

Merchants of Kaidan system requirements

Minimum:

  • OS: Windows 7
  • Processor: Dual core from Intel or AMD at 2.8 GHz
  • Graphics: nVidia GeForce 7800, ATI/AMD Radeaon HD2600/3600
  • DirectX: Version 9.0c
  • Storage: 2 GB available space

Recommended:

Recommended requirements are not yet specified.
Updated
App type
Steam APP ID
294020
Platforms
Windows PC
Mac
Linux
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Reviews
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gafinogenov
gafinogenov

This is barely a game. Contrary to some of the other reviews, you don't need a spreadsheet or anything--just remember what the rough price range is for a few key commodities and you'll be in great shape. As you move up through the ranks, though, this becomes increasingly tedious, and none of the new features you unlock add anything meaningful. It's basically an exercise in how much annoyance you can put up with, from the incomprehensible "quests" to the awkward interface to the absolutely pointless "partnership" system (which basically ensures that 2/3 of your game is wasted on accumulating money your main character can't even use, no I'm not kidding). Give it a pass.

Vir027
Vir027

I haven't dabbled in this genre previously, but Merchants of Kaidan has increased my interest. I was interested in exploring a fantasy world from the traveling merchant's point of view, and I am not disappointed. I like the game's art style and the mechanics seem reasonably balanced to me. My girlfriend and I both enjoy the quirky writing and customs, like, one common event of the road, when your carriage driver spots a woman carrying buckets and springs into frantic action to espy whether they are full or empty: whether the gods are sending you a good omen or ill.

I haven't fully explored yet, but I've got a hold of the core experience now, I'm thinking, and I feel quite happy I tried it out. The very first time I did try it out, I was unmoved, but some time later I was more in the mood for what I'd seen and have been much more intrigued since then. Point being, I wasn't wholly taken with the game (it wasn't quite what I had imagined from my wish list), but having tried it out more I wanted to throw in my two cents because in my book it merits better ratings than I have sometimes seen.

Quantum Optimist
Quantum Optimist

Weeeeell this game is frustrating!

Here are the good parts:

- Now, the game runs well and has no bugs that i could see, so thats good
- The graphics are pretty low so it should work on any old cr..a..p...py computer, device whatevar. In fact, there are no animations, only still images. But its ok for a trading game. I didn't mind
- Sound is ok but repetitive. Might want to mute the music after awhile.

The bad parts:

- It's not a good trading game. It seems everything you do depends far more on luck than how competent you are at trading stuff. Just getting the 4000 gold to get into the merchant guild as your first quest took hours where i traveled around, made only money to stay even (at 1000 gold) when suddenly i got lucky and found a village selling low priced food right next to the capital who bought it at high price. There i made 3000 gold in 5 minutes. That's after 4 hours of play!
- To make things even worse, price flucuates wildly for no reason most of the time. The only logical reason is because of the season change, One day food is priced at 6 gold and a few days later its 20 golds. And the season didn't change. And it can happen at any city or farming village. WTFuuuuuu..c...k? So trying to establish a valuable trading route is impossible. It all depends on the luck you have to be at the right place at the right time. So most of the time, you move around with no cargo because its not worth it. But you still have to pay your guys each day.
- To make things a lot worse, you got the concept of how lucky you are! It goes from -3 to +3. Positive is good and negative is very very bad. When in the positive, most of the time nothing happens when you travel, so thats pretty good. But if you misbegotten son of a wh....ore get into the negative, you are in deep troubles. At -1.4, i got dragons attacking me EVERY TRIP. They eat my wares so i lose cash over the maintenance i pay for each trip. And when you are unlucky, it is very difficult to get back to lucky or neutral again, because you get more and more unlucky events that drop your luck.
You might say, just pay a sheet.load of money to get your luck back, but until you are very rich, you don't have the money to buy your way outta bad luck.

WOW, what a concept! A game so based on luck that it doesn't matter what you do it all depends on chance!

I don't like game of chance so this game is not for me. I prefer to play poker instead, i get better luck and its far more fun.

sbrown1022
sbrown1022

Most good trading games have an approachable trading engine at their core, with intriguing "RPG" extras on top. Merchants of Kaidan attempts that, but it's core trading mechanics are so unrewarding that it just make the whole endeavor annoying, and the "RPG" extras in the game are lost because of it. For the most part you are wandering the map at continual cross purposes, getting frustrated at the incremental progress you're making. I stopped playing after a dozen hours because it just was not fun. I wish I would have liked it more...a lot more.

raccoon dog
raccoon dog

Awesome game, really addicting for all the jews of the world. I played this game for 8 hours straight in order so satisfy my hunger for gold.

*^SaoSin^*
*^SaoSin^*

Solid game concidering discounts and visual + sound aspects. It really works well together and you can simply spend few hours with this without a problem. At certain point though events start to repeat you just move forward with buying and selling but not a lot is changing around despite of weather.

Thats just the problem with these games. Lack of action and surprise. Give it a try but not at full prize just for elements of visual and sound, you will like them.

g.adim.us
g.adim.us

(tl;dr at the bottom of the post)

Think of this game as a turn based trading board game you play by yourself. It includes lots of random elements that are effectively dice rolls except that one of the dice has a broken wheel every turn and it takes an extra day to roll it. If you play the storymode you start as a youth trying to avenge your father's death/betrayal brought on by his business partner who is never really mentioned after first hearing about him. Now prepare yourself for what feels like a lifetime of gameplay not accomplishing much at all...

Considering the developers are Polish I'm surprised how little "polish" this game has... I bought it on a recent sale where it went down well under $5. I think it's is well worth

Jan
Jan

A humble trading game. Graphics are a bit poor for the likes of today, with fixed 2D pictures of places with link points, but are correct for the playing purposes. The mechanics are good, with many variable factors and random events, but like other games of the genre, requires perseverance to learn what goods are profitable, where buy and sell, and, over all, keep on moving on search of benefits, by air, earth and sea. And this is the true challenge of the game, with a main campaign with more than 100 "missions" in a little map of 40 cities and towns. Can buy special or magic items, hire professionals of various types and mercenaries, manage mines, distilleries and parlours. Maybe its not orgininal, shows a lot of unnecessary texts and requires at least Windows 7, but it should be welcomed among the trading titles. Like the game teaches, buy it with a generous discount!

freedom718
freedom718

A really fun trader simulator game, which is kinda difficult to understand abit at the start of playing the game but slowly you will understand the game and it comes very much simplier. Has tons of replayability and really fun as you advance through the story. But i kinda wish there were more stories to chose from or another layout of the map to keep it fresh but none the less it is really.

Shyny Magikarp
Shyny Magikarp

The description says, "a challenging trading game with lots of RPG elements." What it should say is, "a boring and challenging trading game with lots of RNG elements."

No offense to Forever Entertainment here, but this is such a basic trade sim that there's not much to it. The game is, very simply, buy goods where they're cheap, and sell them where they're expensive. The game has little depth beyond this. You can manipulate this slightly when you get a big enough cart by buying out all the stock of something in an area to drive up demand, or waiting for a season when something will be in higher demand, but all in all, it's just too basic.

The challenge of the game is mostly rooted in its RNG elements, rather than difficult market strategy or patterns. I can know exactly where to buy food and where to sell it. However, on my way I get bullied by a group of guardsmen who forgot to supply enough food and I sell them all of my stock for 1/4 of the price? Come on... who thinks that's fun?

I don't mind a challenging game, but a trade sim that's real difficulty is rooted in RNG is not one I want to play, at least one that's as barebones and simple as this one. If this game had more depth, it would be worth buying. As is, it is not worth buying. Don't waste your money.

I shouldn't only dumpster on this game though. There are definitely redeeming aspects to Merchants of Kaiden. The visuals have charm, and the dialogue is okay. The different modes set different end goals and make you take a different approach add replay value. The soundtrack is pretty relaxing and fits the tone pretty well. So, it's not all bad stuff here.

In the end though, the game just falls short of being anything really worth spending money on. It's not terrible, just not good enough.

4/10

Logicbomb
Logicbomb

If you enjoy trading style games then this is for you. It offers lots of interesting events, quests and side businesses you can run that makes it highly enjoyable and long lasting. Many trading games have this bad curve of struggle, struggle struggle, then bam you get it and once you figure it out it's easy and quickly gets boring. MOK throws some curve balls at you and keeps you needing more and more money , along with giving you more expenses and upkeep. So basically the cost goes up along with the fun. Most of these games have a very lack luster story involved, MOK isn't anything amazing but it is decent and better than expected for the price of admission.

Reyadh.Rahaman
Reyadh.Rahaman

Your typical resource trading game, but with some unique twists. You go from town to town, buying low and selling high. You can get more carts and upgrade them as well as new steeds. The music and visuals are very pleasing and the game runs smoothly, the character portraits are a welcome touch as they give every character a sense of individuality.

There are some issues I have with this game, though. Firstly, there's no way to check the buying and selling price of resources in towns that you are not in. The closest you get is a recording of the buy and sell history of resources you can look at while in the market. This method isn't very good because it only tells you the prices of resources AT THE TIME WHEN YOU WERE THERE LAST. This means that it does not tell you the current prices, which is useless. The "2 days ago" and "8 days ago" tabs are also unclickable. Whenever I tried to click on them, it would just close the market window.

In addition to this the game also gets very samey after a few hours since the "random events" cease to be random after you encouter them a few dozen times.

With all that said I still had a few good hours of fun with this game and would reccomend it to anyone else who likes games that allow you to become a successful merchant. After about 5-6 hours of gameplay I managed to go from $0 to $20'000, so there's plenty of profit to be made. I hope the Dev team makes updates to this game as I would love to come back to it to find fixes and new additions.

ShredFaster
ShredFaster

NOTE: I bought this game on sale for $1.50, the deal definitely influenced my expectations for the game and satisfaction with what I got for my money. $15 seems a little steep.
Merchants of Kaidan won't be the best game you've ever played but you can tell there's some serious love that has been put into the world, giving it a nice sense of history. It's some place I could see an offbeat game of Dungeons and Dragons being set in. The trading mechanics are solid, though consistant spelling errors may distract some and the story wasn't exactly to my taste; I would say it feels forced but I think it's my bias toward a less defined background (not every game can give you advanced RPG customization, it's just unrealistic). Also, it's essentially a series of menues and little else, but they're easy to navigate and visually stimulating. Consistantly experienced problems selecting options in the game, having to click three or four times 75% of the time.
As for the trading mechanics, which were mentioned previously, they aren't overly simplistic but they certainly aren't complicated... Well, as others have mentioned, they start out pretty limited with only two resources being profitable with any consistancy. The idea of investments are pretty cool but you better have some serious resources if you're going to do the monster hunting neccessary. Honestly, the point where Merchants fails worst is the barriers to entry keeping players from the well developed portions of the game. Also, luck is a huge factor, to the point where you can do everything right and still lose significant sums of money. As someone else said, the economy feels somewhat arbitrary at times, and yet others it fits nicely into what you would expect from a "real world" (as much as I would expect given my experience with the game so far).
So far it has been fun, and I can see myself logging hours consistantly when I have a little time to kill here and there (some, but not enough for a more involved game). I'd recommend it on sale, bottom line. It's a game for the casual gamer, those who take their trading very seriously will probably be disappointed.
If I make a fool out of myself here, forgive me. It's my first review.

Tseng
Tseng

I'm glad I got this game when it was 90% off. I have a soft spot in my heart for economic games, but this one left me bored very quickly. I finished it just because I bought it. It wasn't worth my time.

DJ Raptor
DJ Raptor

Suprisingly good and addictive! Much more complicated then its seems and a lot of fun!

Tula Wolfe
Tula Wolfe

Buying and selling items to become rich and powerful whats not to like ?

10/10

Colin
Colin

If you like king of dragon pass or mercent of venice style games its a pretty solid game in the genre. I wish that it didn't have the few bugs and hard to follow questlines, but really enjoyed it and hope they keep making more games like it/improve upon it.

LashingFurball
LashingFurball

It's a game purely based on random events, random prices, etc. It's not about tactics, it's not about planning, it's not about risk vs reward, and it's most certainly not about trading when you cannot predict randomness. It's a shell of a game, if they built an engine behind it that delivered on the game's description of features such as seasonal impacts to prices, then it could be fun, but till then... don't waste your time or money.

Ralcrow
Ralcrow

This game is not for everyone. You pretty much have to have a taste for strategy/market games.

However, what it does it does really well! I can't help but be hooked by this game, because there is so much to do on your way to becoming a millionaire in a fantasy realm! Which do you do? Do you build wineries? Do you mine? Do you get to own a bunch of massage parlors? The answer is, of course, yes. There is something rewarding about taking 1500 initial gold and turning it into millions.

But again, it's an acquired taste. But if being a beggar and working your way up into the merchant nobility in a fantasy world is your idea of fun, pick this up right away!

Our_Benefactors
Our_Benefactors

It's a good game if you pay less than $3 for it. I think I paid $1.50 and given that I played it for more than 10 hours, I definitely got my money's worth.

The atmosphere and sound are very relaxing while still adding a sense of tension surrounding turning a profit. You need to come out ahead on every transaction, as losing even 1-2GP per cargo can be punishing after factoring in time lost, traveling fees, etc. Sometimes you'll be relieved just to break even.

The strongest portion of the game, in my opinion, is when you are only operating a single cart. Later in the game you'll unlock a boat that can travel between ports and an airship that can travel pretty much anywhere, but managing this is tedious as you'll be constantly having to meet up to trade goods and coin between them to reach the next merchant tier. The mid-end game doesn't provide much of a challenge as you should, at this point, have enough of a buffer to easily cover any losses stemming from a bad transaction or two, versus the early game where every coin spent is carefully weighed against its risk/reward potential. The late game also suffers from a variety of systems that feel kind of tacked on - having a variety of carts is novel but the tools to manage them feel weak, storage of goods seems like an afterthought, you never need to actually purchase insurance, profits from installing monks/miners/brewers are pitifully low for how much effort you spend setting them up, cavecrawling feels extremely unrewarding (not to mention the QTE combat window is incredibly small, it must be less than 1/8th of a second at most). I could keep listing minor complaints about this section of the game, but in a nutshell it seems like the developers spent most of their brainpower making sure the core early game works well, which to their credit, it does.

In spite of these flaws, you have a fairly engrossing simulator which takes enough time to figure out that it's well worth the modest sale price.

7/10 would supply arms to both sides again

johnruth_l
johnruth_l

I really enjoyed this game, and played it every chance I got for a couple weeks. Granted, as the father of three young boys, that is not as impressive as it sounds.

It took a couple of restarts to get the hang of the trading. I kept wanting to push to the higher priced goods too quickly.

There are a couple of complaints I had, but they were more nuisance than problem. The more concerning is that there are several random events where it doesn't seem to matter which option you choose. And not just the effects, the message is identical in either case.

The other, hopefully soon fixed, problem was typos. There are A LOT of typos. The one that happened often enough for me to remember is that when you use the blackmail material, it says you are not successful, but that you get 10,000 tirgons.

Like I said, I enjoyed this game even with the problems. Enough that, if they come out with an update addressing this stuff, I'll probably play through it again.

Anonymous
Anonymous

I'm going to recommend it because of the low sale price and I like trading games.

However, older games like Patrcician III, Port Royale 3, and Rail Road Tycoon II are all more fun complex and immersive than this game.

I thought I'd like the fantasy setting more, but not so much. I gave it a chance, but will go back to playing the 3 other games I mentioned above whenever I feel the itch to play a trading game again.

I'm still glad this particular game exists though, because it takes a lot of risks in such a small genre. Would love to see more indie trading games on steam. It's not a bad game, it's just not for me and I simply prefer other trading games that I already own.

So still might be worth a try for someone who's never played trading games before.

Lavender Ghost
Lavender Ghost

sometimes it might get repetetative but it is realy fun i love it!

Psi
Psi

everything seems random and theres no good way to get ahead.

Soviet
Soviet

very basic merchant game. would have been awesome 30 years ago.
Now not even worth 2$

If you want to gift a kid game. this is it

kiev79
kiev79

I found this game to be cluncky and hard to get into

vampirecosmonaut
vampirecosmonaut

The prices seem to be completely random. Food is the same price in cities and small farming villages. This game is very hard to recommend.

MoldySpore
MoldySpore

This is a great little trade/economy simulator with a fantasy setting. Runs great even on PC's with integrated graphics and has a surprising amount of depth if you devote some time to it. If you are looking for a game where you will be rolling in gold after an hour, look elsewhere.

Pros:

    • Unique world populated with characters and merchants not typically seen in ANY other fantasy setting (there are no elves, dwarves, or orcs in this world)
    • Several fun quest lines including a pretty well thought out main storyline about avenging your father.
    • Lots of items and trinkets to collect, some of which effect gameplay.
    • The artwork in this game...just wow. For an indy game someone spent a LOT of time designing and then drawing these awesome characters and towns. No two locations share the same piece of artwork, and there is a diverse enough cast of NPC's and other quest givers that you don't often see the same species pop up more than once per town/questline.
    • The music is fun, and the game even includes an option to just play the music without having to load the entire game.
    • Rewards effort. It took me a couple days to get the hang of price fluctuations and to amass any significant amount of gold. Once you start expanding your merchant empire, the game REALLY opens up and adds several new types of travel and the ability to control multiple merchants at once, as well as own businesses. Clearing caves and mines out of treasure and monsters was a nice touch and helps to mix up the gameplay.

Cons:
[list]
• The map is pretty small, especially if you come into this game expecting Civilization-size maps.
• Whoever proofread this game needs to be fired. I'm no grammar nazi, but there are enough spelling and grammar mistakes that it becomes very noticeable, especially after playing for a while.
• Slow start puts a LOT of people off, which is obvious from the number of negative reviews with only a few minutes or handful of hours playing, as well as the fact that most achievements on this game can be considered "rare", with the most acquired achievement sitting at 10% globally.
• Once your empire is huge and you've played for 10-20 hours, you've pretty much seen it all, although the other story/quest options allow for some replayability.

Overall I got way more mileage out of this game than I thought I would. I had a coupon for it for 90% off and got it for $1.50 as a joke gift for my wife. She wound up playing it A LOT, so much so that I just HAD to play it too. I wound up purchasing it for full price and I have absolutely no regrets.

MPDelambre
MPDelambre

This game is about trade, and all what comes with it. Compared with other trading sim games, like Patrician 3-4, Port Royale and Rise of Venice, you get the feeling that each time you leave a city anything can happen: bandits attacking, a storm, etc. And then, when you arrive to the next city, you discover that the prices have changed enough so that you hardly turn a profit! So in my view, this game is both simple and entertaining enough to make you feel as a medieval trader.

Then, the fun begins. Once you have enough money / prestige / status, you are able to travel by sea / rivers, OR by air (yes, fantasy!)

So I'd recommend this game to anyone who liked previous trading sims, but have in mind that is not supposed to be completely realistic. Still, it's a really good entertainment

Invest
Invest

Really cool game where you are the actual merchant. A true trading game with beautiful graphics.

l.shanksy
l.shanksy

I watched Spice and Wolf and then seen this on steam, I-I just had to. Really though, it's a pretty good game to play to chill out to, but there are definately other games with better economic mechanics. If games like this aren't your cuppa tea, definately wait for a sale.

Techies game
Techies game

you have to try this game if you love to trade and make money~

you will feel worth it

TrainingMode
TrainingMode

Shallow game, Dev does not update it. I would not waste my money on this game if I had another chance.

lionhart
lionhart

Merchants of Kaidan is one of those former "early access" games that was never quite finished. It is definitely a little rough around the edges, and the criticisms raised in the negative reviews are all valid. However the parts that were finished -- the core of the game -- are good enough for me to give a solid recommendation, provided you understand what you are getting into.

First of all, the trading mechanics in this game are very simple (I would even say casual). There is no realism or predictibility to the economic system whatsoever, and it is not possible to develop a long term strategy by identifying and exploiting favorable trade routes, for example. The excitement in Merchants of Kaidan is of the gambling variety -- the occasional thrill of hitting the jackpot when you randomly find a great deal on that cargo you've been lugging around for the past two weeks. In fact, playing this game reminds me very much of what it feels like to play video poker: getting by on marginal trades (pairs, jacks or better) while bidding your time waiting for the big score (straight flush) that will propel you to the next level.

What really makes Merchants of Kaidan worth playing are its artistic qualities. The world building, artwork, and music are all beautifully done and very evocative. The world of Kaidan is what I can only describe as "medieval steampunk" -- the villages, horse drawn carts, and peasant workers all seem like something out of the late middle ages. But look more closely and you'll spot aliens underneath some of those hooded cloaks, and airships plying the trade routes alongside (or above) the wooden carts.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent in Kaidan. If you are not expecting a deep strategy experience, and if you can excuse the fact that the late game feels somewhat unfinished, it is definitely worth a try. At the very least, download the demo and do a little tavern hopping to get a feel for what the world of Kaidan is like.

mikesanerd
mikesanerd

I have a lot of good to say about this game, but also a lot of bad. It's far from perfect, but in the end I finished it and had fun with it, so I'd recommend.

Pros:
+ The travelling merchant experience is there. If you are browsing this game, I'm guessing you are looking for a game that let's you travel from town to town buying low and selling high. Well, this game will deliver on that. I'd say the trading mechanics are pretty solid.
+ The game has a story. It's not super creative or deep, but it does keep the game moving to some extent. This is a simple thing, but it's absent in too many of these economic/merchant type games.

Cons:
- Although I'm fine with the travelling merchant experience, it's just not enough. The game does get quite repetitive after a while. I have to confess that I considered quitting before the end. Once you get rich enough and experienced enough, there is nothing new under the sun. You are just kind of going through the motions. The game does make an effort in this regard, by allowing you to do things like clear dungeons and open massage parlors, but these things are kind of half-hearted and don't add much.
- The story has a tendency to stagnate, and there were times when I was just wandering around trying to figure out what I had to do to advance the story. As it turns out, many of the story events only trigger when you go to certain places. I eventually realized that you have to be careful to explore the whole world (not just your favorite trading routes) or you might never trigger the story's advancement.

SirSquatch
SirSquatch

I bought this game on sale for $1.24 or so with the last of my Steam money. Was it worth it? I believe so.

I will probably be putting a lot more time into this game, but I noticed there were few recent reviews on this game, so I figured I'd write one.

The game is a bit too simple to go through a huge list of Pros and Cons, but here's the gist:

When you start the game, you have a couple different ways to play; A) Avenging the death of your father B) Reaching 1,000,000 coins or C) Two different time-based options. I started with Option B, because I just wanted to get filthy rich. They plop you in a town with a simple tutorial and nothing to start your business except your family ring, which you have to sell. Once you get your bearings, the rest of the game is up to you. There's TONS of small towns and cities to visit to trade your goods, hire mercenaries to protect you and said goods, different carts to buy and upgrade to carry said goods, and lots of random events.

When travelling around you sort of have to plan ahead or you'll end up broke, or even dead. You can find treasure on the road, little old ladies, get attacked by bandits, or even mauled by a bearwolfe, which sounds a lot worse than it is if you have enough mercs to protect you.

All in all, I would very much consider this game worth getting when it's on sale, especially if you're into the whole Trading (buy low sell high) type of games. The normal asking price is $15, which I'd probably never pay that much, but for less than the price of a shitty McDonald's burger, on sale it's totally worth it.

7-8/10

Also LOL @ the guy that wrote a review stating the grammatical errors in the game ruin the "emersion". You'd think someone complaining about that would know how to spell it.

WaddlingDragon
WaddlingDragon

Imaginative, good art work, nice style. But ultimately the gameplay is shallow.

PrivateJoh
PrivateJoh

Verdict: 7/10

This is just my side of the story, which I was compelled to write after reading a number of negative reviews.

This is a trading game with very solid mechanics. If you don't like this type of game, stay away from it. Making money and completing quests will get you up the merchant hierarchy ladder, which will gradually increase the amount of goods you can trade. The trading locations are fixed, so eventually there will be repetition as there is a limited number of locations and different goods to trade. That said, the games offers a ton of side quests to follow, side activities to earn extra cash which imply basic character development, two extra playable trading characters, ... In summary, a good game that develops its full potential as you play.

Two main criticisms:
1.- You might want to check the easy play box in the start menu for prices to make any sense.
2.- When playing with two or three characters, you can exchange the items they have. The problem is that many of those items have the same picture, but in the pop-up window to exchange them you cannot see their description, so you have no real idea which one you are transferring between characters. Eventually, that makes you stop customizing your characters as it becomes a real pain in the behind (if you know what I mean).
3.- As most trading games, eventually it gets repetitive, meaning it lacks repeatability.

Is Merchants of Kaidan a good trading game? No doubt. I liked it better than Patrician or Port Royale

Is it one of 10 games I would take to a forgotten island? Definitely no.

Is it worth full price? If you are REAL fan of trade games, yes. Otherwise, wait for a Steam sale.

For more PrivateJoh’s personal (re)views you can check HERE .

AbyssHawke
AbyssHawke

I've played Caravaneer 1 and 2 for a long time because I actually do enjoy playing those type of games. But Merchants of Kaidan did fail at prices and logic. There was no balance and most of times there was no logic.

Kuroyuki
Kuroyuki

Buy for less, Sell for more. Simple.

Track
Track

Could be good, but the grind is enourmous and the randomness of what to buy where and when is basically guess and hope (with a few exceptions). There are no RPG elements really.

stephen.d.dean
stephen.d.dean

A fun little trading game worth the prime with some low fantasy elements that are well done. Would recommend.

Maecker
Maecker

It's not a bad game, but it's filled with bugs and it's not that good either.

Takes awhile to get your ropes in a knot, but once you understand the behavior of the game it get easier.
The game crashes a lot so save a lot, locations you can't go when some factor is in play or simple you turn not ending when you gave you tavel orders.

At first you are on your own with a small crew, eventually you can get a sea captian and an air captain to join you in your venture. But that's one part of the game I really don't like. They just seem to slow the pace, I got rid of them first, it was just annying to have them around and didn't really increase my profites, it just ment more management. But the problem is if you want to do the story... you f***ing need them. Yes I hated having them around that much. They can skip a turn but only once then they HAVE to move. I wouldn't have minded so much if I could just pay them a wage and use them when I need. But you absolutly have to spend time moving them around. That for me on top of the crashes and the bugs was a ral buzz killer.

Sinkler
Sinkler

Was really fun at first, had hope for this project, but dev abandoned it in what feels like unfinished state.
I wish it was still getting updates, but i cant recommend it unfortunatly.

Deysh-0-Mad
Deysh-0-Mad

A challenging Trading Simulation Game

Very nice BGM that will soothe your feelings
Nice Town Scenery (Animation adapt to the season)

Will become challenging & confusing when u gain partnership.
Many random things will occur during our journey like robber, storm, dragon, etc. which makes this game interesting.
But no.. you will not see animated flying dragon like in the video trailer. It will always be just a picture.

Button kinda hard to feel n find.
Tooks me a while to find the way to flip the agenda.

Price is kinda expensive.
Only recomend this game if you can get 90% or more Discount.

gamecerevie
gamecerevie

Got this for $1.49.

Definitely worth it as a enjoyable trading game--probably would have felt the same up to about 50% off.

Some learning curve in trying to get the feel for destinations and pricing for their usual commodities, with offscreen random events that you can find out about by buying drinks for strangers. Probably would have preferred if some commodities were slightly more static by destination.

Overall, worth a gander, at pricing noted above--I am not regretting the time spent playing.

TheSleepy
TheSleepy

There is nothing to do much comapred to similar games mini games are too annoying sometimes its worth killing time for a while

stuguy909
stuguy909

I cannot recommend this game to friends, as I don't believe they like trading games. That's pretty much all this game is, a menu based trading game with an interactive map. I got it for practically nothing so I figured what the hell? I played it a while back, and once again today. It's just...boring. Not my cup of tea. This game is a time sink. You are better off actually getting in a truck and driving goods to market.

Les
Les

Good game. Lots of interesting mechanics and features.

The only complain I have is end-game, when you finally learned all ropes and making thousands on transactions and just want to finish the game. At this stage it is a simple gring to make enough money to advance to the next level and it's not interesting.

Also, game requires quite steep curve to capture all special places like mines, caves, etc. You just need to have around 30-35 mercenaries. How about having different difficulty for special places?

Nevertheless, it's good fun for about 10hrs.

the_rock0123
the_rock0123

8/10 – 80% must buy game if you enjoy turn based trading games. This is a niche genre and I honestly think much negativity is coming from people who buy the game without enjoying trading games, just because it’s £1.09 in sales. Now let’s start with the price – Full Price at £10.99 is excellent value, when it’s 90% off in Steam sales it’s CRIMINAL. Can such a good “full” trading game really be cheaper than a Paradox Sprite, a Total War Hero or a Civilization Map? I have 41 hours in the game and counting, 77% achievements, and the Level 5 badge. Yes, it’s a very good niche game. I’d say this is on a par with Patrician 3, much loved by trading game fans.

Here’s why: WOW, the art in this game. Fantastic, unique, wacky. What an atmosphere to have a medieval feel smashed up with alien sci-fi culture. Pirates, barbarians, the empire are all in this game. Huge grand cities, tiny villages, pirate coves, outposts that are only accessible in winter, dangerous mines. The art is GORGEOUS. And it changes with the seasons. Little flourishes of animation in the city add to this beautiful game.

Then there is the FANTASTIC SOUNDTRACK, very relaxing, mysterious. In fact, this is a relaxing turn based trading game, no need for rushing around at all speeds.

As for the GAMEPLAY: A unique mix of trading with some RPG elements thrown in as a story develops around your character of treachery, vengeance and secret societies. Will Lady Luck be on your side at the shrines or against you. Can you win the almost impossible 5 Finger Fillet mini game. And then there’s the ADVENTURE aspect – send your recruits to clear those mines of monsters, it won’t be easy, acquire a treasure map from your travels to help. Will you be able to buy one at the inn? There is MYSTERY with the QUESTS. Can you work out riddles, because I can’t? There are well over 100 quests – rank up quests, side quests, dark council quests. All featuring unique characters you will meet again and again on your travels, in inns and so forth. Some people want transportation, some want you to lug around cart loads of goods in YOUR cart, some to carry magic items, brews, illegal goods (be careful if trading in the “herbs”, lest they be confiscated). Then there’s the TRAVEL aspect – will you travel by your carts, by ship, by air balloon? Watch out for bandits, merchants in trouble, witches out to change your luck, sea monsters, dragons, battles, the kings police and tax collectors. Luckily there will be 10’s of items you will buy, acquire or steal, to aid you on your journey, provide a little extra luck, protect your goods better. As you get to be a big shot can you manage your BUSINESSES. Mines once host to fearsome monsters that you gloriously defeated (at great sacrifice of many of your employees…) can be re-started and manned by your remaining crew. And watch out in the big cities to acquire illicit businesses – underground massage parlours. Of course you can’t run all the businesses yourself. On your travels you’ll need to recruit staff – managers, monks, foremen, sergeants to fight. Then train them to Level Up their effectiveness. And then equip them with specialised equipment. Your massage parlour manager can’t function without beds and mirrors! Monks will need books to enhance your wine production. Sea Captains maps to chart the seas. If it all gets too much for you just hire PARTNERS. Now you can have more than one character travelling the cities, buying and selling goods, storing them in warehouses and trading goods with other partners.

The main thing though is, can you get vengeance for your fathers death?

I want to address the trading aspect which is sometimes criticized. I think it works exceptionally well. Novices to trading games expect to be able to buy goods cheap in one place, sell in another at a higher price, and it’s always the same route. No, this game is more random with pricing (after all, this is not an era of the internet and a worldwide market – these are small towns, villages, trading on a person to person basis). Seasons change prices, supply and demand changes prices, events change prices (is there a fire, celebration). Travelling the same routes will be found out by bandits who will rob you. Find out these tips in the inn. My recommendation is learn, wherever you are in the World, what you want to pay for goods. It is EASY to lose money. But after all don’t most businesses go bankrupt? The World is not a fair place. The smartest will survive and thrive. And if you are smart you will aid and partner with rich merchants to get beneficial prices, acquire tokens to enable barter of better prices, buy deeds from town halls to reduce town taxes.

Are there negatives? Not really. Some people reported quest bugs but they are few and far between and mostly ironed out by the developer. I said to the developer that there should be a “note pad” facility as I find I need separate paper to jot down notes, as there is no record kept of “gossip” if you have a chat in the inn, so it’s easy to forget the latest “news” from travellers. But do use tabs in cities to see goods prices from the last 10 or so cities you visited (as a guide, they WILL change according to dynamic supply and demand).

I love this game and highly recommend it, only if you enjoy turn based trading mind you, mixed up with adventure. It is really a hidden gem on steam and its mixed reviews are not deserved. This game is a definite positive. BUY IT!

Double A
Double A

I dig trading games but this one's not really fun. Price flux is ridiculous. Maybe I shoulda tried realistic/"easy" prices but nothing really grabbed me in the time I spent. You gotta advance in quests before you can purchase most goods and, while I like story in my trade games, I don't want my options to be locked down until I advance through the story. It's just artifical difficulty in the form of anti-snowballing measures.

Actual mechanics aside, the biggest failing of the game is it's set in a cool-looking fantasy world but there's almost no lore. The most I found is blurbs about each settlement on the map. There are at least a dozen distinct races but not a single one is named. There are monsters and weird creatures, including horse-shaped leeches (upgrades to normal horses), but they aren't really explained. What whackjob first got the idea to domesticate squishy quadrepedal vampires? I want to know about him, his work, and why it's sustainable as an industry, not just ride around on his murderhorses.

Sadiq
Sadiq

very addicting if you enjoy trading games

Redrusty66
Redrusty66

Good game. Lots of interesting mechanics and features. if you enjoy turn based trading games.

2nd Class Janitor - Wilco
2nd Class Jani…

Tags: Tycoon&Simulator&Sim&City
Additional Tags: Delete Local Content & Remove from Library

TLDR: What this game has in style it lacks in substance.

This is a hotspot trading game, the like I have played before on browsers. My favorite iteration being the one about being a street dealer, going from neighborhood to another, knowing which one had the most stock and best prices for certain specialties, getting the weekly random increase or decrease in price for cetain stocks, and dealing with the occasional opportunity to recruit, arm up, or tustle with rival gangs. It was a ton of fun, simple, and had you grind incrementally. In comparison, this feels remote, detached, there is next to no way to predict which way the prices will fluctuate. Many ressources are locked away behind a reptuation mechanic, and you get charged everytime you travel from a tile to another. Additonally, the animations are slow to go from one spot to the other, and many hotspots have unique special minigames in them, rather than actual opportunities to trade. Seems like you can increase or decrease your luck which may affect how the algorithm processes prices, which is an odd way to level up and again, feels detached and indirect. For the most part you just constantly feel like you get grinded no matter what you do and occasionally you get a lucky break and turn a profit. The resolution support was solid, loved the engine, the buttons were clean and well presented, and the art for the character portraits were fairly impressive. Too bad that mechanically it fails to really provide any worthwhile experience.

Janetsky
Janetsky

A decent trading simulator in a nice fantasy world

OneShotPaddy
OneShotPaddy

With respect to the developers, this is really a bit more like a mobile game. It's something I'd play on a tablet or phone at the doctor's office and probably doesn't really belong on Steam, but I'll leave that to others to debate.

The game has some plusses, namely the idea of playing a merchant. I think that's pretty cool and not seen too often in games, even RPGs. The main downside to this is the repetitive nature of the game. You can feel like you're climbing up a hill at times, just to get knocked down and start from a lower point.

The gameplay doesn't have much to it mechanically, so don't go in expecting too much. It's really just going from town to town and answering pop-up messages. Overall, I can't recommend the game as I like very in-depth games, but as I said for someone who's on mobile or likes point-and-click games this might tickle their fancy for a while.

valkeera
valkeera

“Merchants of Kaidan” is a trading strategy game that isn’t really much of a strategy. You just need to travel in between the cities, buy goods cheap and sell them expensive. Besides trading, you get an opportunity to fulfill several quests that enliven the game and advance your status in the society, as well as investing in various enterprises or exploring (and exploiting) ancient ruins. The game also features nice illustrations of a fantasy world and fantastic music. All in all a nice relaxing game if you’re into trading. On the downside, the game feels as if some parts of it were not finished, and at its full price it’s not exactly a bargain... But if you’ll see it in a discount, prove yourself a true trader and grab it.

aileigh
aileigh

Sorry to say that I didn't really like this game. As of right now, the reviews for this are mixed, so I wanted to weigh-in. I just found the game not to be fun, and as exciting as it might look in the screenshots for those of you that like trade sims, it's not. It just feels hollow and empty, with no real semblance of world-building or story. It's not the worst game in the world, but there really isn't anything to do other than go and buy a good, then choose the next town and sell it there, with some random event happening enroute, like your wagon wheel breaking or you finding a ring in a bush to sell for gold.
I couldn't really bear to play it very long so maybe it picks up a bit.

bbqman101
bbqman101

its not bad once you get into it but the problem is gettign into it the price screen is very confusing and its hard to predict prices by area

ShiroiKodomo
ShiroiKodomo

This game feels so fun (for me) especially for trade games lovers, well the stroy not too good, but i like the mision to make the game more exiciting.

Rowlaz
Rowlaz

Was fun for a couple of hours but then just got boring when I started making a ton of money.

casmith
casmith

On an iMac the game hangs on the map so unable to continue.

MGRza
MGRza

It's like a moving board game;Instead of just throwing dice to move here you have numerous extra option and choice such as buying merchandise cheap to sell again for profit in other towns, or hiring mercenaries to protect you as you travel from town to town, and these are just a few of many fun things to do.

The story line is pretty decent and falls in place with the gameplay, The game offers quite a bit of exploration and as you progress the game get's better, more things are unlocked and more options become available. The game has a few bugs and issues but nothing game breaking.

One very decent mechanic that this game delivers is that it can be quite addictive, and it is fun to boot, so all in all a very decent add on to your library.

lilandrafahr
lilandrafahr

Reminds me of the old Tradewinds games. If you love travel/merchanting games, this is one you will enjoy. Some of the level up challenges are difficult, but you can repeat them as many times as you need until you pass them.

Holy†Random™
Holy†Random™

At the first view this game looks like a nice trading simulator. But as soon as you play more than 3-4 hours, you'll understand that there no economy in this game, only pure random which ruins any efforts to think strategically. The story looks boring and side quests are similar to every other.
The soundtrack is awesome and the graphics looks fine, but main mechanics need to be more clear and strict with lesser influence of random.
So for me it's 4/10.

tr00per
tr00per

Buy on sale. I actually suck at this game, but It's a nice way to pass time.
There are some minor annoyances (a.k.a. bugs), but nothing game-breaking. It reminds me of an old Polish game "Kupiec" by TimSoft for Amiga from 1994/1995, of which PC port I've played. There are many similarities in game mechanics. I sucked at the old game too :P

TOMI
TOMI

A well spent 10 hours, a very enjoyable trading game.

Staari
Staari

This game is unique, not exactly what I expected but really nice, made it feel almost like Heros of Might and Magic.
Challenging at times but lots of fun trying to progress. Its relaxing and also involves a bit of reading.
Graphics are nice - can't really complain but yet again its something which doens't bother me.
For what it is and how you play it - its definitely worth the buy. Worth trying out!
I will recommend this game to anyone.

MarkC2
MarkC2

after seeing that there isnt many recent reviews and that most of the negative reviews are old and about bugs which appear to be fixed i thought i would add my review.

after playing the game for a few hours i would recommend this game.
i purchased it on sale for next to nothing but i would have paid more.

if you are unsure if to buy this game because of the mixed reviews i would say ignore them if the game is on offer and go for it. even if you only get a few hour entertainment out of it for less than a pound its worth it.

Agamemnus
Agamemnus

Nice little game. What you'd expect.

CeleronS
CeleronS

Very beatiful drawings and characters! I love trading but I didn't like that multiple company thingy. I better be single character in very complex economic universe. Don't have time for fulll story but did 1m token race. I like it alot. Would be nice to get even more passive income oportunities (like more agresive real estate deals and rent, stocks, lending and barrowing) if DEVS decide to make sequel. Thank you again! This game is worth but for drawings itself. :)

Magnet
Magnet

Do you recommend this game? hmm i don't know man

it's frustrating me to the core that it's just too damn Random for a trade game, nothing really matters
you get a tip that some item is cheap or expensive on some part of the map, which doesn't help with the way and the speed at which the prices rise and fall

traveling takes money which sucks because you have to travel to see what the prices are in the next town over, which may be completely different when you eventualy come back with the goods

not to mention all the negative stuff that happens along the way that is going to cost you crew/repairs/goods and increase your travel time

saw that there were tabs under the market that shows you what the prices were from when you were some place several days ago, which doesn't help with the way the prices fluxuate all over the place

i want to like the game but can't do anything it's all a roll of the dice and, Nope broke again well start yet a nother new game *sigh*

you can't even do the simplest of things on the shorts of trade routes like with most trading games but Item 1 low in Village one and sell it in Village 2 buy hot item from Village 2 low and sell in Village 1 and from there expand and venture further out, expand, upgrade etc.

you get in even on "easy mode" and pretty quick there are no good trades to be made and venturing out into the wide world costs so much in terms of Travel cost / bridge tolls/ random bully taking your lunchmoney that it quickly stops being fun....man i hope they fix a lot of that stuff i want to and tried to like that game

but as is i can't recommend it

Nemphtis
Nemphtis

Definitely not worth paying full price for in my opinion, but if you can pick it up at a deep deep discount like I did, you’ll get more than your money’s worth as long as you like the idea of buying and selling to turn a profit.

sadaraine
sadaraine

If you like trading games, this is a winner. It does get grindy after awhile and very repetitive, but if you get this game on sale, you will get a kick out of it.

raz
raz

Very decent buy low / sell high game with interesting lovecraftian characters.

zennobia
zennobia

Trading games are my crack, & this

If you're a fan of trading games like Patrician or Tradewinds you'll love this game. I bought it on deep sale & would have been satisfied to pay a few bucks more. Has an in-depth economy & many quests, all in a cool fantasy world with beautifully drawn art. I'm not sure why it's rated only 3 stars on average but I can only assume that's due to some issues with earlier releases of the game which seem to have been fixed now. Gameplay is smooth & familiar to those who know trading games, I think for someone new to this type of game it also wouldn't be too hard. In one weekend of play I've reached the rank of Merchant & I now have a sea captain & air captain as my partners! I can see a lot of replay value in this.

That being said there are a few fixes I would request from the developer, the main one being: Needs More Female Characters. I would have liked the option to play as female Ollivean from the start, and even all the mercenaries & most of the specialist portraits are male. The most memorable female NPCs are noblewomen getting married (Barbarian princess was pretty cool). Also, in the Tradewinds series there are several storyline PCs who each have their own personal plot quests that you can play through, this really adds to the game value & I would gladly pay a few bucks for an Xpac to Kaidan with new characters other than Ollivean having stories in the same world. It'd be neat to have characters whose stories explore the history/relationship between the Kingdom & Empire, for instance, or just other people who've been screwed by Van Talodd in a new & different way.

I also have no need at all for the terrible hand-stabbing minigame at the tavern- super laggy & outdated graphics, not fun, always the same bad minigame wherever you go - I would remove this entirely or replace with a completely different minigame.

But the game is pretty fun as is despite the sausage fest of characters! Highly recommend for those who like casual games.

bawdiepie
bawdiepie

I enjoyed playing this game a lot. Buy low, sell high, explore. Read some story. Some problems exist like for example it is not clear at all what you need to do to get monasteries and mines up and running. Quests are a bit boring and the rewards are stupidly low. Could do with a lot more variety with events and develop the game so there is more to do.
Not everyone's cup of tea I imagine but I'm very surprised at the number of negative reviews on what I found to be a clever, fun game.

twycross3
twycross3

I love the background story and the side quests.

quentinstyger
quentinstyger

It's infested with bugs, Buy it when it's 90% off.

Mortus
Mortus

Underrated. This is a fun and satisfying trading game with a focus on you as the trader. It is refreshing to not need to worry about managing an entire trading empire filled with scripted traders to auto buy and sell on a route, like you see in many other trading games.

kghrast
kghrast

I want to like this game. It's not bad, but rather mediocre. Got bored relatively quick.

Wyvern-of-the-Rising-Sun
Wyvern-of-the-…

You are looking for a Trading Game?
Want to build a Trading Empire?
Want to have it in Medieval Style?
Mixed with a Fantasy World?
With Events?
Not to easy and challenging One?
With a wonderfull Music that fits perfectly in?

Welcome to MERCHANTS OF KAIDAN.

Normally i´m not playing trading Games, but Years ago i found this on Steam. The Look of this Game made me Curious and so i bought it in a Sale.
To be honest, it was a hard Start. This Game doesn´t take you by the Hand. This is learning by doing and yes, it is okay here. Learn the Consequences of your doing.

In the Main Story you are the Son of a from another Trader betrayed Father, who was executed by the Empire. No, not the Star Wars Empire. No Palpatine, sorry.
So you decided to build your own Trading Company to take Revenge.
Thats the Story so far.

You start with a Ring, that you have to sell, to get Gold for your Plan. The World of Kaidan is big but manageable. In the Beginning you have to buy and sell Goods . Sometimes you get Quests, that brings you some nice Rewards. Over the Time you will be able to control more Characters. Take one thing in Mind. You have very, very much time, but your Main Character is aging. That means you can explore the World, but have always something usefull with you, like Goods or a Quest on your Way.
Later you can raise your Reputation and Status, also with Quests.

This Game got me from the first Minute and i really enjoyed it.
Normally i would say 15 Euro are too much, BUT the Soundtrack, 5 wonderfull Tracks, is included, that makes it fair.
To show it clearer to you, i made a Video with the Wonderfull Music and many Screenshots from the Game. Take a look, maybe you like what you see and maybe you decide also to enter the World of Kaidan.
This Video is also dedicated to a good Friend of mine on Steam, who believed in me the last Months, while i was in Sorrow. Thanks, my friend.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2408598782

And thank YOU for Reading.

Come play with me
Come play with me

english is bad, it's oddly hard to navigate, but goddamn it's fun when you start making a profit

Vampy no Kenzoku
Vampy no Kenzoku

Mantap Gemink. Capitalism, Ho!

Mermer
Mermer

This game is beautifully simple and really the only one of it's kind I've ever found. I absolutely love the concept of playing as a merchant within a fantasy universe, which is an all-too rare opportunity. Not since "Rise of a Merchant Price" by Raymond E. Feist have I ever gotten so absorbed in the genre.
Those who do not have a particular love of this concept may find themselves quickly bored and think of this game as repetitive. The mechanics are few but I personally found the gameplay extremely rewarding. If 1990's esq free browser games aren't your thing, you'll probably want to give this one a pass. If your someone who finds yourself spending more time playing the marketplace than slaying dragons in your MMO of choice, this will definitely be a hit for you.

Ironicus
Ironicus

A very fun, slow trading game with a surprisingly rich world and mechanics.

Sambie
Sambie

Unplayable without a mouse, Can't scroll out and you start zoomed in.