Playing the stalk market in “Animal Crossing” is an adventure in itself. Players buy turnips and keep an eye on the price each day hoping the price jumps up so they can make a profit. It’s one of several ways that the classic Nintendo franchise exposes players to simple economic concepts.
But what if a game goes deeper than that? What if they had to deal with a bigger economy? Big Blue Sky Games tries to answer this question with its upcoming title “Merchants of Rosewall.” The project is a shopkeeper simulator set in a high-fantasy world. A player starts as an entrepreneur who must choose from one of six professions to kick off the small business. A cook, tailor and woodworker are confirmed and the jobs require different levels of micromanagement. A cook can pump out items quickly while a woodworker making statues takes more time to craft their product.
As a business owner, players have to unlock a shop’s potential by hiring other artisans, sourcing raw materials, completing work orders, selling items and also customizing their shops. On the surface, that makes “Merchants of Rosewall” comparable to other shopkeeper simulators. Players make money and reinvest those funds to create bigger and fancier shops, becoming a vital part of the community. The issue with these games is that they take place under fixed conditions where nothing changes.
“Merchants of Rosewall” is different. It has an online component where other players influence a shared economy. Kevin Hovdestad, director at Big Blue Sky Games, said there’s a dynamic price and climate system. If players build too many of wooden tables, it could impact the price of lumber, making it a more expensive commodity. With the weather system, natural disasters could send the price of ingredients for pies soaring.
“Merchants of Rosewall” features a slew of characters with different backgrounds. (Big Blue Sky Games)
Hovdestad said the team built a functional climate model that takes such phenomenon to account while the system has safeguards to avoid financial havoc taking place. Another piece of the puzzle that players must take into account are events within the world. Within “Merchants of Rosewall,” players have to account for festivals and celebrations and plan, accordingly.
Interestingly enough, “Merchants of Rosewall” is a world without major conflicts. The developers didn’t want to build another hack-and-slash game or dungeon crawler. One of the reasons that the world is peaceful is that magic allows other citizens to experience another being’s memories. They appear as marbles in the world. It facilitates storytelling elements while also explaining the tranquil state of the world.
Hovdestad said the team wanted to create a title that reflects the experiences of the team and the backstories of the customers and artisans will reflect that. In addition, he said “Merchants of Rosewall” is focused on casual, low-friction gameplay. It’s something that players can just pick and up play and later put down.
“Merchants of Rosewall” is scheduled to launch on PC in the second half of 2024.
