Game: Merek’s Market
Genre: Arcade, Party, Simulation, Strategy
System: Nintendo Switch (Also on Steam (Windows), Xbox & PS4)
Developer|Publisher: Big Village Games
Age Rating: EU 3+ | US E
Price: US $19.99 | UK £14.99 | EU € 19,99
Release Date: January 21st, 2022
Review code provided with many thanks to Big Village Games.
Off to Market
Merek’s Market is an arcade-like party game about running a medieval shop by crafting various items for customers. It’s another contender that takes some tricks from the hugely popular Overcooked series. Games like this are often much more entertaining to play with up to four players locally. However, Merek’s Market does a decent job offering a massive campaign that may appeal to solo players that want to get into this genre.
An Everyday Hero
Merek is not your typical video game hero. He doesn’t slay monsters, save the princess or prevent some cataclysmic Earth destroying event. He’s just a normal dude running his shop and helping the world move forward in his own way. He’s kind and pleasant to the customers. But despite these features, Merket has to contend with a troublesome merchant who decided to move in next door to him.
To compete Merek must expand his operation crafting different items like swords, armour, furniture and even potions. As well as move into bigger venues to keep his head above water. Despite being set in a shop the game does have some funny retail adventures including dealing with a variety of customers both nice and difficult. For the right price, Merek will even give your dragon a nose piercing. It’s quite a pleasant grounded story that will likely draw the odd laugh with its sense of humour.
Craft, Haggle, Sell
The game is presented in multiple levels with the goal being to serve customers by crafting and selling items within a time limit. A customer walks up to the counter and a speech bubble will appear with their order, for example, a sword or belt. You then gather the ingredients like coal and iron and use the correct crafting table to construct the customers’ requests.
If you need to you can then use your handy book to figure out how to create the item. But it won’t take too long before you commit things to memory, provided you don’t jump to different games too often. When complete you hand the item to the customer, they head to the till and you push in a button input to complete the sale. Enter the right buttons with no mistakes and increase your score multiplier.
When the day concludes all your profits are tallied up and you are rewarded with the usual bronze, silver and gold medal depending on your performance. You need to obtain at least the bronze to progress to the next level but the barrier to reach this is set quite low which will appeal to more casual players. However, to get the gold you really need to have reflexes like a cat and incredible multitasking skills. There is something here for players of all skill levels.
Going Solo
The single-player doesn’t just feature crafting. Sometimes customers will just walk up to the till and request a pre-made item. You then play a mini-game where you haggle the cost. If you offer too high a price it’s not too bad as you can re-haggle again. But be wary as some customers will just waste your time and you’ll need to dismiss them rather than sell them anything. It makes for a nice compliment to the crafting.
As you progress through the levels you will enter larger venues with more space. You also unlock new abilities like a sprint and the ability to foresee customer orders. It’s a nice drip-fed feel of content to prevent the formula from becoming too stale. You need to make sure you have a good memory though as the customer’s orders are only displayed in the front of the house.
Every so often you also have a boss style level where you usually construct a large custom item like a big statue or a dance studio (didn’t know they were around in Medieval times). Controls are pretty easy to pick up and use and the game has a handy short tutorial to introduce players to the mechanics which is very handy if you play this with friends on a game night
Better Together
To me, the game is much more enjoyable playing with other players. Up to four-player local co-op is available. The co-op levels are also separate and different from the single-player. You get to choose your character this time rather than sticking with Merek. While the levels use the same venues as in single player, things are altered to suit co-op gameplay. Some levels have players separated by barrels with a floating table being the only method of transporting items between you. Much like Overcooked, the joy of this game is communicating with fellow players even if it ends in disaster.
Medieval Times
The graphics for the character models present a comical design. Their expressions are often over-exaggerated making it pretty clear when a customer is satisfied or frustrated with your haggling offer. It’s a presentation that is suitable for all ages but some players may find the characters’ eyeballs suspiciously staring into your soul. The game also features full voice acting with a humorously exaggerated British tone. This mixed with the Medieval setting makes for a game that will likely score a few frowns when you play through the campaign.
Niggles
I honestly loved the concept of this game and everything it was trying to achieve but there were some significant niggles that did hamper the experience for me. If you’re a player that found the hectic and stressful multitasking of Overcooked a bit much this game probably won’t appeal to you. Merek’s Market at times requires you to juggle a little too many things at once. It’s a real shame the game doesn’t feature any accessibility features for players that struggle.
For me, the feature I despised was when vermin are introduced to levels. This is when rats will invade areas of your shop and, if left alone, will gradually decrease your profits. To remove them you have to grab a cat and place him near the rats to scare them away. The trouble with this is it’s very temperamental. When you drop the cat it gradually moves back to sit on a shelf somewhere so you have to repeat the tedious endeavour over and over. When you’re trying to craft and serve customers this feature was just a nuisance and I would have honestly preferred the game more if it wasn’t featured or at least toned down. While I admire the single-player I often played it thinking ‘why could this not be co-op.’ For me the single-player was fine but it just lacked the enjoyment of communicating with a fellow player.
Conclusion – Closing Time
I really liked the formula for Merek’s Market. However, the more I played the game the more the niggles with the gameplay started to wear away at me and I didn’t enjoy the single-player as much as I envisioned I would going in. Still, this game probably has the best single player I have played in this genre to date. Co-op of course is where the experience truly shines. Merek’s Market will likely be an experience where you’ll laugh with joy and shout with frustration but the memories of doing that together will make for a great gaming experience. With that said I still recommend this game.
Final Verdict: I Like it
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