Craft items and serve customers to make your medieval shop a success!
Merek’s Market is a time management and crafting game on consoles and PC that allows players to run a medieval shop. Players will need to help Merek fulfill customers’ orders, as well as haggle with some customers to earn the most money possible for each item.
Merek’s Market features multiple gameplay modes. The campaign mode is level-based, with each timed level asking players to complete a particular task, like earning as much money as possible or serving the required number of customers before time runs out. There are also boss stages that will ask players to create items for bosses, like a dragon.
In addition to this campaign mode, the game also features a cooperative multiplayer mode for up to four people in the same room. This multiplayer mode will feel familiar to families who have played games like Overcooked, as it will challenge players to work together to complete tasks.
When a customer enters the shop, they will step up to the order counter and a thought bubble will appear above their head that shows the item they want to purchase. Players will need to collect the correct resources from around their workshop and use the right crafting station to turn them into the requested item.
For instance, if someone orders a magical staff, players will need to collect a piece of wood from the wood pile and then use the crafting bench to turn it into a staff. Each crafting task takes a few seconds to complete.
Once players deliver an item to a customer, the customer will walk over to the checkout counter. Players will need to interact with each customer at the checkout counter to take their money and complete the purchase. This checkout process will ask players to press a random series of buttons for each customer, ideally without making any mistakes.
If players serve multiple customers in a row without making a mistake during the checkout process, their profit multiplier will increase, which will allow them to earn bonus cash from future customers.
While players begin the campaign mode with access to only a handful of crafting recipes, they’ll eventually learn more, which will add more variety to the game.
In addition to standard customers, some customers will enter the store and immediately head for the checkout counter. These customers will want to purchase one of Merek’s readily available products, like potion bottles and axes, but they’ll also want to haggle about the price first.
When players interact with these customers, Merek will talk to them for a moment (the game features voice acting and subtitles), and players will need to pay attention to each conversation and the way the customer is dressed to determine the price Merek can charge.
During this haggling mini-game, players can set the price they want to charge for an item, and the customer will either pay the price or present a counter offer. It’s possible to offend customers by setting the price too high, and it’s also possible that you may lose out on potential profits by not charging enough for an item. Overall, the goal is to earn the most money possible from each customer during these haggling sequences.
After each campaign level, players will earn a bronze, silver, or gold rating based on their performance. They can also see how their performance compares to other players online. Players can replay stages if they want to attempt to increase their high score and/or earn a better medal rating.
Merek’s Market is now available to download for $19.99 on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia. The game is rated E for Everyone by the ESRB.
Check out some gameplay from the campaign mode in Merek’s Market on PC in our video below.
Disclosure: SuperParent received a code for Merek’s Market for coverage purposes.
Brandy Berthelson has been writing about video games and technology since 2006, with her work appearing on sites including AOL Games, Digital Spy, and Adweek. When she’s not gaming, Brandy enjoys crafting, baking, and traveling with her husband.
