Hello, dear reader, I hope you’re having a good day. I’m not being paid to write this blog, and it contains information based on my opinions from playing Merchant RPG on iOS. Merchant is rated 4+ on the App Store. Nothing to be scared of really, unless you hate looting spider legs. Yuck.
Review:
Merchant RPG is a free-to-play business management RPG (role-playing game) for iOS and Android. The game does have in-app purchases, but it’s mostly cosmetic changes for your merchant or unlocking some features early, like the jeweler. It costs 10,000 gold to unlock the jeweler otherwise. Merchant is a game for killing time and planning out the most efficient moves for gaining gold. You’ll manage your inventory and your heroes. Can your Warrior survive against the Goblin Chief? Is the payoff worth the risk of failure?
Time: Merchant takes as much time as you want it to take. You can constantly thumb through your inventory and send heroes questing. Alternatively, you can pick Merchant up whenever you feel like it and let things stew in the background. Merchant becomes a bit of an idle game once you reach the second screen. Some quests take 4 minutes to complete. You can pile up resources and then create a large queue for the crafters to pile up XP.
Pros and Cons: The music is relaxing and helps you settle into a good rhythm for playing the game efficiently. There are few sound effects. The graphics are done in a pixel art style. The controls are simple, yet there could be a better tutorial. It took time for me to realize the point of the numbers underneath the items I crafted. They represent level limits for equipping. I don’t remember ever being told this fact. There aren’t any updates notifying you if a hero can equip a new skill. You have to check. In-app payments appear fair in price. The game only takes 56.3 MB and provides hours of entertainment.
Overall Impression: If you love idle games, management games, or enjoy the idea of being the one to send RPG heroes on quests, you’ll enjoy Merchant RPG. If you want to be part of the action, take tactical control, and hear the lamentations of your foes, then Merchant isn’t for you.
Tips:
Links: The wiki is at http://merchantrpg.wikia.com/wiki/Merchant_Wiki
and another review is at http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?s=ddd50d3d23e28531eedac6db6ccbd285&p=3863362.
Disclaimer: I’m not being paid by Retora Game Studios or anyone else to write these tips. The only money I could make would be through advertising on this site or on YouTube at this point in time. I don't take responsibility for the content on sites linked to from this article.
by Brian Petrilli AKA Jalinon
Review:
Merchant RPG is a free-to-play business management RPG (role-playing game) for iOS and Android. The game does have in-app purchases, but it’s mostly cosmetic changes for your merchant or unlocking some features early, like the jeweler. It costs 10,000 gold to unlock the jeweler otherwise. Merchant is a game for killing time and planning out the most efficient moves for gaining gold. You’ll manage your inventory and your heroes. Can your Warrior survive against the Goblin Chief? Is the payoff worth the risk of failure?
Time: Merchant takes as much time as you want it to take. You can constantly thumb through your inventory and send heroes questing. Alternatively, you can pick Merchant up whenever you feel like it and let things stew in the background. Merchant becomes a bit of an idle game once you reach the second screen. Some quests take 4 minutes to complete. You can pile up resources and then create a large queue for the crafters to pile up XP.
Pros and Cons: The music is relaxing and helps you settle into a good rhythm for playing the game efficiently. There are few sound effects. The graphics are done in a pixel art style. The controls are simple, yet there could be a better tutorial. It took time for me to realize the point of the numbers underneath the items I crafted. They represent level limits for equipping. I don’t remember ever being told this fact. There aren’t any updates notifying you if a hero can equip a new skill. You have to check. In-app payments appear fair in price. The game only takes 56.3 MB and provides hours of entertainment.
Overall Impression: If you love idle games, management games, or enjoy the idea of being the one to send RPG heroes on quests, you’ll enjoy Merchant RPG. If you want to be part of the action, take tactical control, and hear the lamentations of your foes, then Merchant isn’t for you.
Tips:
- To progress quickly, constantly be doing something - Money is time, and time is money. Get more heroes as soon as you safely can in order to keep making money. Constantly push your heroes’ limits in order to gain XP quickly and provide new materials for your crafters to shape into XP and stacks of gold coins. The only problem is you will have to eventually grind materials so your crafters have enough XP for new recipes. Crafters must make items in order to level up to create better items. It makes sense, and it is the main bottleneck in the game. Once you have three heroes, you will want to expand your inventory and shop slots so you can constantly sell items and have room for better materials.
- Try to keep some emergency funds- As previously mentioned, hire heroes as soon as you can! Still, heroes need funds to go questing. I’d keep at least 100 gold beyond the hiring price of your next hero in order to continue the game’s flow. Only the first gathering mission is free! All progress will halt until you’ve sold enough materials to start extra quests.
- Don’t forget to check Heroes’ skills– When heroes hit level 10 the blank tab underneath their portrait will say “Skills”. Each hero has different strengths and weaknesses. The Rogue’s skill Kidney Shot deals damage based on the Rogue’s Accuracy stat, the Warrior’s Slash deals 1.6 x Attack stat, and so on. You’ll want to equip heroes based on.
- No need to keep hand-me-downs- You won’t want to hold onto old items since your crafters can make better ones when they level up. Just let your newest heroes fend for themselves and collect loot for their own equipment. For example, my level 8 Assassin now has some blue enchanted accurate boar’s greaves while my level 22 Warrior is stuck with mundane high-level gear because I keep sending him to the frontlines of the frontier.
- If stuck, get your daily login money and make potions- Keep in mind when you’re out of money, you waste time. It may be better to wait for your daily login money or to watch ads by clicking the button below the top leftmost button in the Merchant home screen if you ran out of money.
Links: The wiki is at http://merchantrpg.wikia.com/wiki/Merchant_Wiki
and another review is at http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?s=ddd50d3d23e28531eedac6db6ccbd285&p=3863362.
Disclaimer: I’m not being paid by Retora Game Studios or anyone else to write these tips. The only money I could make would be through advertising on this site or on YouTube at this point in time. I don't take responsibility for the content on sites linked to from this article.
by Brian Petrilli AKA Jalinon