How to Play

Merchants Cove

1-4 players 60-90 min 7.4 Board Game Geek Rating

In this asymmetrical fantasy game, players become unique merchants operating specialized shops to serve adventurers at magical markets. Each merchant uses distinct components and mechanics to craft goods and boost efficiency. Players compete for customers, manipulate demand, secure faction sponsorships, and hire staff while risking corruption for advantages. Victory goes to the richest merchant after three market days.

Published 2021

Merchants Cove

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

1
Place the Peddler Shop board
Position the Peddler's Shop board on the table in front of you
2
Choose difficulty and prepare deck
Select your difficulty level, then shuffle the 16-card Peddler deck and place it into its designated area on the Peddler's Shop board
3
Assign player color
Give the Peddler an unused player color, place their Gold tracker on the starting position and their Timepiece on top of your Timepiece on the Clock
4
Select merchant goods
Choose an unused Merchant and set their Goods in a supply near the Peddler's Shop board
5
Position Double-Customer tokens
Ensure both Double-Customer tokens are placed on the clock at "9:30" and "11:30" respectively (as in a 2-player game)

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Complete normal Arrival Phase
Resolve the standard Arrival Phase for yourself first
2
Flip initial Peddler card
Flip the top card of the Peddler deck and place it in the right (2nd) action space
3
Populate Customer Pool
Draw 1 Customer from the Adventurer bag and place it into the leftmost space of the Peddler's Customer Pool with the designated icon
4
Draw and place action card
Draw the top card of the Peddler deck and place it in the left (1st) Action space
5
Resolve action sequence
The action is formed by combining the two cards' inner halves
6
Apply action multiplier
Completely resolve the action a number of times equal to the action multiplier shown
7
Resolve Clock cost
Advance the Peddler's Timepiece on the Clock one Hour for each Hourglass icon depicted on both cards' inner halves
8
Draw Corruption cards
The Peddler draws 1 Corruption card for each Corruption icon depicted
9
Manage card positions
Discard the card from the right (2nd) action space, then shift the card in the left (1st) action space to the right (2nd) action space
10
Use Location icons
The Left/Right icons indicate which half of the main board to select; Inner/Outer icons indicate whether to choose the option nearest to the center or outside edge
11
Determine Townsfolk selection
Identify the Townsfolk card in the Town Square that corresponds to the Location icons
12
Collect Townsfolk card
Place the recruited Townsfolk card face-up near the Peddler's Shop board; their Faction icons will score during Final Scoring
13
Ignore abilities
Do not apply the Townsfolk ability of any Townsfolk recruited by the Peddler
14
Draw Adventurers
The Peddler draws 2 Adventurers from the Adventurer bag and places them into the Customer Pool
15
Handle overflow
If there is no space for one or more Adventurer, do not draw it; for each Adventurer that cannot be drawn, the Peddler discards 1 random Corruption card (if possible)
16
Pay action cost
The Peddler pays the action cost showing on both cards' inner halves, ignoring the cost printed in the Town Square
17
Handle 2× multiplier
If this action has a 2× action multiplier, refill the Town Square after each action and use the same Location icons both times
18
Gain depicted Goods
The Peddler immediately gains Goods matching the depicted size and color
19
Add to Sale Shelf
Goods are added to the leftmost empty space on the Peddler's Sale Shelf
20
Order multiple Goods
If a card creates two different types of Goods, create the Good shown on the left first
21
Single space per Good
Each Good takes up one space on the Peddler's Sale Shelf, regardless of size
22
Handle overflow
If there is no space for one or more Good, do not gain it; for each Good that cannot be gained, the Peddler draws 1 Adventurer and places it into the Customer Pool
23
Calculate Gold earned
The Peddler immediately gains 2 Gold for each Customer in the depicted Faction Hall
24
Pay cost once
The Peddler's action cost is paid exactly once, regardless of the action multiplier
25
Few Goods strategy
If the Peddler's Sale Shelf contains 3 or fewer Goods, the Peddler will use Clock Hand spaces when given the opportunity, drawing Corruption cards as usual and not taking the Load the Boats action
26
Many Goods strategy
If the Peddler's Sale Shelf contains 4 or more Goods, the Peddler will not use the Clock Hand spaces, taking the Load the Boats action as usual
27
Match Customer to Goods
Check the color of the rightmost Good on the Peddler's Sale Shelf for a matching colored Customer in the Customer Pool
28
Select matching Customer
Choose one of these matching Customers for the Peddler to place
29
Check next Good if needed
If the rightmost Good does not have a matching Customer, check the next rightmost Good; continue for each Good on the Sale Shelf if needed
30
Use Rogues as fallback
If the Customer Pool contains no matching Customers but contains one or more Rogues, select a Rogue for the Peddler to place
31
Random draw as last resort
If the Customer Pool contains no matching Customers or Rogues, randomly draw 1 Adventurer from the Adventurer bag for the Peddler to place
32
Determine Boat placement
Use Location icons to determine which Boat to place the chosen Adventurer into
33
Handle missing Boats
If there are no Boats remaining which match the active Left/Right Location icon, ignore that icon and place the Customer on the other half of the board, still observing the Inner/Outer icon
34
Dock filled Boats
If placement causes a Boat to become filled, Dock it in the Pier indicated by the Inner/Outer location icon; if that Pier is full, Dock in the other Pier on the same side
35
Handle Double-Customer
If the Peddler's Timepiece crosses the Double-Customer icon, resolve the first Adventurer completely before drawing and resolving the next
36
Slide Adventurers left
After loading, slide all Adventurers in the Peddler's Customer Pool to the left if possible
37
Maintain Boat positions
Do not rearrange the Boats after the Arrival Phase; they must maintain their relative positioning since they affect the Peddler's Location icons
38
Sell available Goods
The Peddler will sell any Goods on their Sale Shelf they are able to
39
Resolve left-to-right
Resolve sales at each Pier from left-to-right
40
Always sell immediately
The Peddler always makes a sale at the first opportunity, even if the Black Market Pier offers a better price
41
Draw Corruption for Black Market
The Peddler draws exactly 1 Corruption card after selling any number of Goods at the Black Market Pier
42
Gain Market Phase Sponsorship
The Peddler gains Gold from the matching colored Faction Hall for each Customer remaining in the Customer Pool
43
No Rogue Gold
The Peddler neither gains nor loses Gold for Rogues in the Customer Pool
44
Reshuffle Peddler deck
Shuffle all cards on the Peddler's Shop board (deck, active, discard) into a deck and place it face-down into its designated area
45
Criminal
No effect on the Peddler
46
Cultists
The Peddler will always sell to Cultists when able, drawing Corruption like normal
47
Robbers
The Peddler will not activate the placement effect

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Goal
Have more Gold than the Peddler after 3 rounds
2
Final Scoring calculation
The Peddler gains and loses Gold for the Faction and Corruption icons on their Corruption and Townsfolk cards, just as a player would
3
Townsfolk scoring
Faction icons on recruited Townsfolk cards score for the Peddler during Final Scoring

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