The Guild of Merchant Explorers BGG ↗

Your rating: 6.0

My BGG Comment

This game is a descendant of Kingdom Builder and at least one Roll & Write. I've enjoyed my games of it, as it is easily learned and quickly grokked. There is some variety in the box with 4 maps and different abilities. Since everyone plays on their own map it has an excellent and easy solo-mode but it loses the interactivity of a shared map. However, I am deducting a bit from my rating a) it is a bit fiddly (which could be neglected if not for my other niggling) and b) the game is too small for the big square box and the associated price. If it was the size and price of a standard Carcassonne box it would be a far better fit. edit 2024: Trying to reconcile with the Kennerspiel nomination. Verdict: It's fine. I like the feeling of exploration. But it's still basically a fluffed up R&W with added fiddly because you place the little figures instead of just crossing stuff out on a sheet of paper. Also it is quickly getting repetitive. Not keen on anything but solo play. We don't table a lot of light fillers. 2026: After 27 plays. A big square box filled with lots of air. This is basically a very fancy Roll & Write. If it had been in a way smaller box I might have kept it. The game itself is not half bad and since giving away my copy I have played more games of it on BGA than I ever played on my physical copy. For a Roll & Write it would be one of the better ones I have played. But instead you put down fiddly tokens... even if it was not available on BGA anymore, I wouldn't miss it. There are enough Roll & Write games around as it is. But since I know the rules and the BGA implementation is pretty good at automating the game, I keep returning to it every once in a while.