Merek’s Market is a chaotic but fun crafting game, by developer and publisher Big Village Games, set in a medieval world. You play as Merek who is a blacksmith that owns a small workshop, making and selling items to people far and wide. You will encounter many people along the way, some weirder than others, and it is your job to provide them the goods they need before time runs out. Although a simple style there are many things added along the way. This is a fun and comical game that you can either play through by yourself or with friends.
When you first start the game, you’re standing in a small hut of sorts with a furnace and a few tables, someone by the name of Tess comes up to the table and gives you some crafting blueprints, more of which you can unlock later. Then there’s a quick tutorial about how to play the game, movement, crafting, and selling items. The movement is pretty straight forward and all the controls are on the keyboard, WASD is used to move but I wish they also made use of the arrow keys for movement so that you could use both hands easier since E and T are item interaction buttons. Later on more things are added like bartering goods, which gives you nice little interactions with a variety of townsfolk. Bartering is interesting because the amount of money you make each day is how the level is rated at the end, you need to make enough money to at least reach bronze to progress and getting to gold is pretty challenging after the first few levels. There are honestly a lot of different things you do in the game so each level can have new aspects adding to the fun, it becomes about juggling many different things to do during the day and trying to make good use of the time. Some other parts of the game are worth mentioning like, the comical dialogue paired with the fun interactions, and the upbeat music that is nice making the atmosphere it generates fun and chaotic and at times.
All in all, Merek’s Market is a pretty fun game that is very fast paced and chaotic. One of the very few issues I have with this game is the rate at which new stuff is added; they pile a lot on you and there’s not much of a way to know what you’re actually going to be doing in the shop until the day actually starts. On top of that, it’s not always clear on how to craft certain items or where the materials are located. The only time crafting is taught is during the tutorial, but gets confusing when new stuff is added. Also, sprinting is given to you after a few levels and I think it should be added sooner, but that’s just personal preference because in games like this, I am always sprinting around. Those are really my only issues and I do believe it would be more fun to play with others and it might make the fast paced levels a bit easier to handle.
Merek’s Market is a fast paced and chaotic game about crafting and bartering goods. The game features comical dialogue and fun interactions along with a variety of mechanics and gameplay. Featuring a campaign like story or a co-op adventure to play with friends. Although there is a lot to keep track of very quickly in the game, as well as some confusion while crafting, Merek’s Market is still a very enjoyable game. It reminds me a lot of the game Overcooked but with crafting items instead of cooking food. I am giving this game an 8 out of 10 rating because even though it has some pacing issues, it’s still a fun game that is probably better played with friends.
Merek’s Market is available for PC via Steam. For more information, visit: https://bigvillagegames.com/mereks-market/
Steam Review
I enjoy a wide variety of games from intricate survival/adventure games to simple platformers. I am also a sucker for a good story game.
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