Merchants Cove Rulebook
Merchants Cove Rulebook
WELCOME
6.
TO MERCHANTS COVE
where you’re neither hero nor villain–
just a simple merchant...
2.
HELLO MERCHANT!
Welcome ashore! Merchants Cove is a highly asymmetrical Eurogame where each player
assumes the role of a different fantasy merchant with a unique shop. The merchants
contend to sell their goods to the arriving adventurers at the cove’s piers—the most famous
markets in the Five Realms. Each player uses their own set of role-specific components and
gameplay mechanisms to produce their goods, increase their shop’s efficiency, and—most
importantly—get rich! G
Bazaar
Pier
Though the merchants work independently in their specialized shops, they compete against
each other to attract customers, influence the demands for goods, and secure sponsorships
from the four faction halls. To get an edge, merchants can employ local townsfolk to work
in their shops as staff. Or if they dare to cut corners, they can gain leverage from the corrupt
lair of rogues—but at what cost? After three days of selling at the markets, the wealthiest
merchant shall be declared the winner!
10.
2.
1.
MAIN BOARD SETUP
1. Place the main board on the table.
2. Place the 6 Boats in the sea area of the board— 3 on each side of
Dragon Island.
3. Prepare the Townsfolk Deck:
• Choose 2 or more sets of Townsfolk cards (Locals ,
Mercenaries , or Sailors ), shuffle the chosen cards
Tip: For your first game,
Dragon
(Step 3) use the Locals and
together into a single deck, and place it face-down on Mercenaries Townsfolk
Island
the bridge. decks, and (Step 7) use the
• Deal 4 cards face-up into the Town Square. Criminals–No. 1 Rogue card.
4. Shuffle all the Corruption cards into a deck and place it face-
down in its designated space.
5. Place 1 Warrior , 1 Bard , 1 Wizard , and 1 Noble into
their matching colored Faction Halls.
6. Place the remaining 12 Warriors (red), 12 Bards (green), 8 Wizards (blue), and
8 Nobles (yellow), into the Adventurer bag.
Grand Plaza 7. Choose a Rogue card and place it face-up in its designated space.
Pier Black Market
Pier a. Place as many Rogues as indicated in the top-right of the
card into the Lair.
b. Place as many Rogues as indicated on the top-right of the
card into the Adventurer bag.
c. Return any remaining Rogues to the box.
8. Each player chooses a player color and takes the Timepiece, Gold tracker, and
Town Square Merchant Banner of that color.
9. Set up the Clock:
a. Place the Market Phase indicator on the “12” space.
b. Place a Mouse on each of the two Clock Hands.
c. Take each player’s Timepiece and randomly stack them together on the
3. “1” space.
d. When playing a non 4-player game, adjust the Clock according to your player count:
▶ 2 players: add Double-Adventurer tokens over the icons at “9:30” and “11:30”.
▶ 3 players: add a Double-Adventurer token over the icon at “11:30”.
▶ 5 players (expansion): add a Zero-Adventurer token over the icon at “3:30”.
10. Place each player’s Gold tracker on the
5. space of the Gold track.
11. Each player selects a Merchant and takes the Rulebook and components associated
with them. Optionally, you may randomly draw Merchant cards to assign Merchants.
12. Players now follow the setup rules in their Merchant Rulebooks.
9.
a.
c.
4.
b. 11.
8.
3.
GAME STRUCTURE
A game of Merchants Cove is played over the course of 3 rounds (days), and each round is divided into 4 phases:
• Arrival Phase — the first Adventurers set sail for Merchants Cove.
• Production Phase — players produce Goods, secure Sponsorships, and manipulate Adventurers to suit their aims.
• Market Phase — players earn Gold by selling their Goods and receiving their Sponsorships.
• Cleanup Phase — the boards are prepared for the following round.
After 3 rounds, there is Final Scoring. Then, the player who accumulated the most Gold wins.
Production Phase
During the Production Phase, players use the various action
PRODUCTION spaces on their Shop boards to produce Goods, recruit
PHASE Townsfolk, activate Staff, and secure Sponsorships. Players will
also influence the placement and arrival of Boats and Customers,
which will determine the value of Goods during the upcoming
Market Phase.
TURN SEQUENCE
The Production Phase is played in a series of player turns. The Clock
serves as a “time-track”, which dynamically determines the active
player and signals the end of the round.
Each turn begins by determining the active player; this is the player
whose Timepiece is farthest back on the Clock. If players are tied,
the player whose Timepiece is on top of the stack becomes the active
player.
The active player takes a turn, following these four steps in order:
1. Choose an action and move figure.
2. Perform the chosen action.
3. Draw a Corruption card (if indicated).
4. Resolve the Clock.
Example: In this scenario it is
Then, check the Clock to determine the active player. the blue player’s turn.
It is possible for a player to take consecutive turns.
4.
1. Choose Action & Move Merchant Figure
The active player chooses an unoccupied action space on their Shop board by moving their Merchant figure to it. The same
location may not be used twice consecutively, the Merchant figure must move to a new action space.
Each action space shows a specific action icon and a cost expressed in Hours and possibly Corruption cards. After the active
player performs the chosen action, they must pay the associated action cost when resolving the Clock, drawing a Corruption
card if indicated.
Action
Hours
Corruption
2. Perform Action
The active player performs the action of the chosen action space in full.
There are two actions common to all players: Recruit Townsfolk and Activate Staff (see page 10).
All other actions are unique to each Merchant and are described in their respective Rulebooks.
Thematically, each merchant produces unique Goods. All Goods are defined by one of four colors (red, green, blue, or yellow)
and one of two sizes (large or small). Color determines which Customers can purchase that Good; size determines which
Pier(s) the Good may be sold at. Note: There are more red Warriors and green Bards than blue Wizards and yellow
Nobles . However, red and green Goods are worth less Gold than yellow and blue Goods.
After resolving the Clock, determine the active player and proceed to the next turn.
Move all Timepieces that advanced beyond the Market Phase indicator to the top of it, preserving their order.
Though rare, there may be Boats still Sailing when the Production Phase ends. In that case, all Adventurers
on them are placed into their matching Faction Halls or the Lair, respectively. This will leave one or more
empty Pier spaces.
6.
MARKET
Market Phase
In the Market Phase, players
PHASE sell Goods from their Sale
Shelves to the Customers on
the Piers to gain Gold. Then,
players gain Gold for Market 1. 3.
Phase Sponsorships based on 2.
the quantity of Customers in the
Faction Halls.
SELLING GOODS
Players may sell as many Goods as they wish during
each Market Phase at the three Piers. Sales are
resolved in the following order:
1. Resolve the Bazaar Pier (left). Large
Goods may be sold at this Pier.
2. Resolve the Grand Plaza Pier (center).
4.
Small Goods may be sold at this Pier.
3. Resolve the Black Market Pier (right).
Both large Goods and small Goods
may be sold here.
4. Each player who sold at the Black Simultaneous Play: You r group
Market Phase
Market Pier must draw exactly 1 may choose to complete the
sales
Corruption card. actions simultaneously, as players’
ers’ opt ions.
do not directly affect each oth
luti on order
At each Pier, sales are made in turn order—based on the stack of Timepieces, from top to bottom. When However, following proper reso
adj ustm ents
selling, the active player makes all desired sales at the current Pier before play passes to the next player. allows players to make tactical
based on their opponents’ cho ices .
Customers represent the demand for particular Goods. For each Good sold, gain Gold equal to the price
printed on it, multiplied by the number of matching colored Customers at the current Pier. Advance your
Gold tracker on the Gold track by this amount. Remove all sold Goods from your Sale Shelf and return them
to your supply.
Tip: The base price for red and
green Goods is 3 (small) or 6
Do not move any Customers from the Piers until the end of Market Phase; all Customers remain for other players to sell to.
(large); and the base price for blue
and yellow Goods is 4 (small) or
Goods may not be sold at a Pier containing no matching colored Customers.
8 (large)—but remember that
there are fewer blue and yellow
Each player may sell any or all Goods on their Sale Shelf during the Market Phase. Unsold Goods are kept on the Customers in the bag.
players’ Sale Shelves.
e Good), 2 red
t ha s prod uced a blue Elixir (larg
d, the Alchemis
Example: ThyeisllorowunPotions (small Goods).
Potions, and 2 the
ar Pi er (le ft) fo r 8×2=16 Gold and
lue) at the Baza tal of 24 Gold.
e se lls th e El ix ir to the 2 Wizards (b ter) for 3×4=12 Gold each, for a to for 4×1=4 Gold
Sh (cen ter)
e Grand Plaza Pier tions at the Grand Plaza Pier (cen keep them until
red Potions at th e ye llow Po ea ch , or to
n to sell th 2=8 Gold
She has the optio the Black Market Pier (right) for 4×
at
each, to sell them a more profitable
round.
ing a
ke the risk of draw the Black
She chooses to ta d sells them at
Corruption card an ld Goods are returned to
Market Pier. All so e earns a total of
her supply, and sh 6 Gold, plus
16+12+12+8+8=5
n card.
draws 1 Corruptio 7.
SPONSORSHIPS
After selling Goods, players gain Gold for all active Market Phase Sponsorship icons on their Shop
boards. For each active icon, players advance their Gold tracker a number of spaces equal to the
number of Adventurers in the matching Faction Hall.
A player with this icon active will gain 4 Gold during Market Phase
Sponsorship.
Cleanup Phase
Skip this phase in round 3 and proceed directly to Final Scoring.
8.
Final Scoring
After round 3, all players reveal their Corruption cards and receive
Final Scoring Sponsorships.
• For each Faction icon on a Townsfolk or Corruption card, gain Gold
equal to the number of Adventurers in the matching Faction Hall.
• For each Corruption icon on a Townsfolk or Corruption card,
lose Gold equal to the number of Adventurers in the Lair.
ed,
hi re d an d Co rr uption cards gain ard
Example: Frha om all Staff ion icons, 1 Wiz
s ac cu m ul at ed 4 Warrior Fact 5 Warriors (red)
the Blacksmith ons. There are
ct io n icon , an d 3 Noble Faction ic icons score a total of 4×5=20
Fa r
Hall, so the Warrio there are 2
in the red Faction d (blue) and 1 icon for 1x4=4; and ons score a
izar ic
Gold; there is 4 W e yellow Faction Hall, so the Noble rruption
) in th ed 6 Co
Nobles (yellow Th e Bl ac ks
at
mith has accumul ld. So, the total
Go ld .
total of 3×2=6 ses 6×3=18 Go
on s; w ith 3 Ro gu es in the Lair, he lo hip is 20+4+6–18=12 Gold.
ic sors
or e ad ju st m en t for the final Spon
sc
9.
Recruit
COMMON ACTIONS
There are two actions common to all Merchants: Recruit Townsfolk and Activate Staff. Players can
Townsfolk Recruit Townsfolk from the Town Square into their Staff boards. When recruited, Townsfolk give
immediate use of their Townsfolk ability. Then, they are assigned to a Staff ability on a player’s
Activate Staff Staff board. By using Activate Staff a player can use each of their Staff abilities with a Townsfolk
assigned to it.
Townsfolk cards may have Faction and/or Corruption icons shown in their top-left corner.
These icons are scored during Final Scoring; they do not score during the Market Phase (see
page 9).
Credits
Created by: Carl Van Ostrand Special Thanks to: Aleksandra Aleksovska, Larry Bogucki,
Designed by: Carl Van Ostrand, Jonathan “Jonny Pac” Cantin, & Drake Villareal William J. Brown III, Marco Cervone, Graham Charlton, Andrej
Developed by: Jonny Pac & Drake Villareal Cheshnovar, Martina Salova Cheshnovar, Lor Collin, Glenn Cotter,
Solo Mode by: Drake Villareal & Jonny Pac Tim D’Ambrosio, Mark Dennis, Chris Ford, Don Gilstrap, Bojana
Artwork by: Mihajlo Dimitrievski—The Mico Gjurovska, Richard Ham, Doug Hettrick, Darko Ilievski, Daniel
Additional Artwork by: Bojan Drango Kiprijanovski, Jeff LaFlam, Flavio Oivalf De Leonardis, Monique
Graphic Design by: Bojan Drango Lussier, Megan Marie, Ivana Miloskovska, Matej Miovski, Boris
Figure Sculpting by: Silviu Avram Momic, David Najdoski, Marko Papuckoski, Andrej Pavlov, Ivo
3D Cardboard Component Design by: John Shulters Pavlovski, Sofija Petrushevska, Martyn Poole, Andrej Hadzi Ristikj,
Rules by: Tarrant Falcke & Stella Jahja—Meeple University John Shulters, Hanibal Sonderegger, Ben Taylor, Vladimir Scarface
Rulebook Editing and Design by: Melissa Delp & Will Meadows—Tantrum House Trajcevski, Aleksandra Trajkova, David Turczi, Skyler Villareal,
Additional Rules and Rulebook Editing by: Drake Villareal & Jonny Pac Leanne Weaver, Jason Webster, Nick Welford, Timothy S Wright,
Produced by: Ivana & Vojkan Krstevski, Toni Toshevski, & Maja Denkov Dead Alive Games, Tabletop Gaming Center, The Boardroom, The
Published by: Final Frontier Games Portal, The Bay Area Game Design Community and every single one
Initial Development by: John Brieger of our 6,500+ Kickstarter backers!
10.
APPENDIX
TOWNSFOLK ABILITIES
LOCALS
These actions are resolved before you pay the cost of the Recruit Townsfolk action,
meaning you cannot use these actions to discard Corruption cards gained as part of the
current action’s cost.
MERCENARIES
Move 1 Good of the matching size and color from your supply
to your Sale Shelf, if possible.
SAILORS
2. Cultists — During the Market Phase, players may draw 1 Corruption card for
each Rogue at any given Pier to treat that Rogue as a Customer of each color.
3. Thieves — After you place a Rogue, but before Docking any Boats, you may
draw 1 Corruption card to remove 1 Customer from the same Boat as the newly-
placed Rogue and place it into a different Sailing Boat.
11.
GAME OVERVIEW
Merchant’s Cove plays over 3 rounds — the player who accumulates the most Gold wins.
2. Production Phase — Players produce Goods, Recruit Townsfolk, Activate Staff, and secure
Sponsorships. Players also influence the placement and Arrival of Adventurers and Boats.
• Turn Sequence — Determine the active player according to the position of players’
Timepieces on the Clock.
The active player:
▶ Chooses an action space on their Shop board, and moves their Merchant figure to it.
▶ Performs the chosen action and pays its cost by drawing a Corruption card (if indicated)
and resolving the Clock.
• Load the Boats — Players place Adventurers in the empty slots of Sailing Boats each time their
Timepiece passes the Adventurer indicator on the Clock. The player who fills the final empty
slot on a Boat immediately Docks that Boat into an empty Pier space on the same side of Dragon
Island as it was Sailing. When all Pier spaces are filled, the end of the round is signaled. Place the
Market Phase indicator on the Hour space that is directly after the farthest forward Timepiece(s)
on the Clock.
3. Market Phase — Players sell Goods from their Sale Shelves and gain Gold from Market Phase
Sponsorships. Selling a Good will give a player Gold equal to the base price multiplied by the number
of matching Customers on the Pier.
Selling Goods — Players sell their Goods to the matching color Customers on the 3 Piers.
• Bazaar Pier (left): Large Goods may be sold at this Pier.
• Grand Plaza Pier (center): Small Goods may be sold at this Pier.
• Black Market Pier (right): Both large Goods and small Goods may be sold at this Pier. Draw 1
Corruption card when selling at this Pier.
Sponsorships — Players gain Gold for all of their active Market Phase Sponsorship icons on their
Shop boards.
4. Cleanup Phase — Empty the Boats, discard the rightmost Townsfolk card and refill the Town Square,
then prepare the Clock.
• After round 1, move the Mouse from the first Clock Hand to the “1” space.
• After round 2, move the Mouse from the second Clock Hand to the “2” space.
FINAL SCORING
Players receive Gold for each Faction icon on a Townsfolk or Corruption card equal to the number of
Adventurers in the matching Faction Hall. Players lose Gold for each Corruption icon on a Townsfolk
or Corruption card equal to the number of Adventurers in the Lair.