Merkator

[Gerald]

The latest game of Uwe Rosenburg that has been described as "Le Havre on steroids"!

Merkator is about the rise of Hamburg after the Thirty Years' War.

You visit cities to collect goods or fulfill orders. The collected goods are added to the cities when a player visits a neighboring city. Fulfilling an order provides you with another better, but more complex order additional to the fulfilled order which you keep and can fulfill again, although the number of orders you can own is limited. Each order itself is worth a certain amount of points at the end of the game. Also you can exchange these points for special cards which provide additional goods in certain cities or more victory points if you fulfill certain conditions at game end.

Depending on the city you want to enter you either receive a resource called "time" or you have to spend it. By paying a certain time-fee you are allowed to accompany another player on his trip to a town to fulfill your orders in this town (but not to collect goods). The game ends when a player receives the order with the highest value by fulfilling the order one level below.

[Adrian (the other one)]

Lumabas na ba yung ruleset nito? I really feel challenged by that "Le Havre on steroids" description. Haha.

[xtriker]

this one is out and in stock na

[Talismanic (Mark)]

I know that some of our fellow forumers have had the chance to play this, how about some feedback and insights? Is it any good?

[ClaroPaulo]

I know that some of our fellow forumers have had the chance to play this, how about some feedback and insights? Is it any good?

I believe Jay, Adrian (panda), Thea and Arnold were able to play it last sat

[dmnyo]

I know that some of our fellow forumers have had the chance to play this, how about some feedback and insights? Is it any good?

In the south ogm I think they were playing this. Best thing i heard was "I sell all my slaves" dunno if it was merkator though

[maskmanjoe]

I know that some of our fellow forumers have had the chance to play this, how about some feedback and insights? Is it any good?

In the south ogm I think they were playing this. Best thing i heard was "I sell all my slaves" dunno if it was merkator though

If its OGM south then its probably not Merkator (tho referring to slaves being sold does sound like Adrian playing XD)

I know that some of our fellow forumers have had the chance to play this, how about some feedback and insights? Is it any good?

I believe Jay, Adrian (panda), Thea and Arnold were able to play it last sat

Yup we did get to play Adrian's copy of Merkator over at Claro's place. Merkator is an efficiency game using a goods delivery mechanic similar to Traders of Genoa/Genoa, where in you go to one place to pick up specific goods, and then go to another place to drop them off and earn potential VPs. The efficiency aspect comes in the form of the changing value of the "goods" cubes and, to an extent, that there is a attrition phase similar to the Feeding phase in Agricola and Le Havre.

I personally agree its among the weaker of the Uwe designs but its not without its merits. Finding a way to maximize your turn is still there, as you would want to be able to "saw-saw" with everyone's actions (making the bonus cards the best part of the game imho). Player interaction has the similiar "hey why did you take those" feel of Agricola/Le Havre but to a weaker degree. Agreements and deals can be made between players but to no tangible goal. Its alot more solitary. The attrition phase is purely luck, no real way to prepare for it. The "time" currency is purely a gamey mechanic.

Approach it with a clean frame of thinking. Dont expect Agricola or even Le Havre, theme here is nearly nil But I want to play it again

[Talismanic (Mark)]

I know that some of our fellow forumers have had the chance to play this, how about some feedback and insights? Is it any good?

In the south ogm I think they were playing this. Best thing i heard was "I sell all my slaves" dunno if it was merkator though

If its OGM south then its probably not Merkator (tho referring to slaves being sold does sound like Adrian playing XD)

I know that some of our fellow forumers have had the chance to play this, how about some feedback and insights? Is it any good?

I believe Jay, Adrian (panda), Thea and Arnold were able to play it last sat

Yup we did get to play Adrian's copy of Merkator over at Claro's place. Merkator is an efficiency game using a goods delivery mechanic similar to Traders of Genoa/Genoa, where in you go to one place to pick up specific goods, and then go to another place to drop them off and earn potential VPs. The efficiency aspect comes in the form of the changing value of the "goods" cubes and, to an extent, that there is a attrition phase similar to the Feeding phase in Agricola and Le Havre.

I personally agree its among the weaker of the Uwe designs but its not without its merits. Finding a way to maximize your turn is still there, as you would want to be able to "saw-saw" with everyone's actions (making the bonus cards the best part of the game imho). Player interaction has the similiar "hey why did you take those" feel of Agricola/Le Havre but to a weaker degree. Agreements and deals can be made between players but to no tangible goal. Its alot more solitary. The attrition phase is purely luck, no real way to prepare for it. The "time" currency is purely a gamey mechanic.

Approach it with a clean frame of thinking. Dont expect Agricola or even Le Havre, theme here is nearly nil But I want to play it again

Yeah, I read up on BGG, and the consensus is that its dry, but mentally intriguing. I'd still like to give it a go, so can we arrange a session of this?

[Earl]

6.5/10...its no agri or le havre.

playing this is a comparable experience to thurn and taxis+el capitan+endeavor.

ok to play, would not want to own

[Talismanic (Mark)]

In the desert of theme, I gasped for the air
but wound up in the labyrinth of multi-player solitaire
the winds of efficiency blow cubes in patterns strategic
but there was no narrative, just an accounting so tragic
It has shaken me, to my very core,
this alien inhuman, this Mercator!
x---------------------------------------x

So, Cyrano na lang? 

[Zinegata]

I like how I won this game once by fulfilling orders for guns.

Any game that lets me play a gun-runner gets a thumbs up from Tom