Dale of Merchants

Dale of Merchants arrived in a trade and sat in the pile for a while, looking like one more small deck-builder claiming to be different. One play was enough to remind me why I had picked it up: it has a mind of its own, and a quiet cleverness that does not need to make a fuss.

At heart it is a deck-builder, so your deck changes as the game moves on and each turn asks you to make something of the cards you have gathered. It does not need a grand run-up before it starts working on the table; it can be explained in almost no time, which feels like a modest luxury on a Tuesday after work.

Its character comes from the characters and sets, which give it room to move beyond the familiar shape of the genre. There is a little grumbling here too: some are more fiddly than you would expect from such a brisk introduction, though not unreasonably so; they simply ask for a little attention while you play.

For anyone fond of light Dominion-style deck-builders, there is enough substance and enough personality here to keep it from becoming another small box in the pile. It does not displace Trains for me — its theme and map carry a different weight — but Dale of Merchants is quietly excellent. Pangolin power.