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El Grande: Decennial Edition
- 2–5 players
- 90 min
- Complexity 3.0/5
- 2006
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- BGG #3,532
- BGG rating
- 6.7
Merchants of the Middle Ages
1999
Rules assistance for Merchants of the Middle Ages
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–4 players
- 120 min
- 10+
- Complexity 3.0/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Merchants of the Middle Ages
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Merchants of the Middle Ages is a board game released in 1999 for 2–4 players, 120 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich and its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Track Movement, and Commodity Speculation.
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About the game
A Medieval game of trade and commerce, Die Händler is set in Europe, where trade wagons carry wares between six cities on the board. Essentially, players buy goods, load them onto wagons and send them for maximum profit in other cities. The whole game looks very inviting. The medieval cities depicted on the board, together with the player crests, cardboard coins, money pouches, sticker decorated wagons and wooden commodity pieces, immediately creates the right atmosphere for the players. There are six cities - Paris, Cologne, Brugge, Gent, Vienna and Genoa - which are interconnected by roads. Three wagons carry goods from one city to another. No-one owns the wagons or controls any of them single-handedly, and in principle a player can put commodities on any transport. There are six different commodities - salt, iron, wine, silk, cloth and food - all of limited supply. The goal of the game is to make money by delivering goods to the towns, and use the money to buy increases in status. The game ends after a certain number of deliveries have been made and the winner is the player with the highest level of status.
Designers
Publishers
- Queen Games
- Filosofia Éditions
- Z-Man Games
- eggertspiele
Questions and answers
Merchants of the Middle Ages supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Merchants of the Middle Ages is 120 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Merchants of the Middle Ages for ages 10 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Merchants of the Middle Ages has a complexity rating of 3.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-weight game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Merchants of the Middle Ages belongs to these categories: Economic, Medieval, and Negotiation. Its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Track Movement, and Commodity Speculation. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Merchants of the Middle Ages are: Wolfgang Kramer and Richard Ulrich. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Merchants of the Middle Ages as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.