Last week, Digitalchumps was privy to a preview of Big Blue Sky Games’ upcoming 2024 title, Merchants of Rosewall. While the game was still being worked on, game director Kevin Hovdestad gave us the skinny and scoop of this upcoming fantasy shop game that gave off some wonderful Stardew Valley vibes.
The idea of the game, as it was previewed to us, was that you build, run, and grow a fantasy shop among a sea of cultures and personalities, while juggling an ever-changing economy. The game’s purpose isn’t to survive, rather it’s simply to thrive in a casual and low-friction setting that has more stories than fights.
So, sit back, relax, drum up some good recipes, open your doors to everyone, and let’s get cooking with this preview.
No fuss, no fight – just build and grow
During our 45 minutes with the devs of Big Blue Sky Games, we learned one repeating factor – no fighting. Don’t worry, they weren’t referring to the bevy of sites that attended, rather they were trying to push that Stardew Valley sentiment about constant positivity in Merchants of Rosewall without death and destruction. The point of Merchants of Rosewall isn’t to start a war or to go against different races of creatures in the game, rather it’s a game that is built on co-existence and finding a place and space to call your own.
As I grow older, I grow tired of games driven by conquering or overcoming other people. It’s a tale as old as the Greeks (and probably way before then), and sometimes you just don’t need a reason to fight. Sometimes you want to play a game to grow yourself, a shop, and to help other people. We get enough of the other stuff in the real world. We shouldn’t always have to deal with it in games and our downtime.
Another Stardew Valley is certainly appreciated on the game landscape.
Working for a living
Since the game is driven by the cultivation of a fantasy shop in the city of Rosewall, it focuses mainly on gathering resources, crafting goods, from foods to furniture, and helping to deal with an ever-fluctuating economy that is very much alive during gameplay. And honestly, that is one aspect of the game that has me intrigued. Don’t get me wrong, gathering, building, and crafting seems like a cool and relaxing gig, but dealing with a rising and falling economy just seems like strategic candy I would be okay ingesting.
The economy shifts and moves with the weather and environment in the game. As we were told during our session, an ex-weather person helped to design and build the climate engine within Merchants of Rosewall. When the weather moves in, certain items become in demand as they’re scarce during different seasons. A true element of supply and demand becomes a factor when your character crafts in the game. So, if an item isn’t readily available during the cold season, you can create the item in the off-season, stock up on it, and then sell said item for more money during the season in it is scarce. The flip side to that coin is that you may run the risk of getting jobbed by another seller if you don’t have that item when it is in demand. It sounds simple enough, but if you have ever played any economic-based game in your life, you understand fully about this one aspect of gameplay and its impact on the overall body of work. Trust me, this could be a very addictive piece of gameplay if done properly.
Story isn’t discounted, rather it’s a sideshow
When I say ‘sideshow’, I certainly don’t mean that as a dark mark on the game’s credibility or construct. The game has two very different paths it takes the gamer on. The first path is a narrative tale, where you run into different characters with different backgrounds, and each has some sort of past that leads them toward a unique future. To help push those character narratives, the game features orbs that house memories. You happen upon orbs in the game that give you some sort of girth to the overall or individual stories.
The purpose of the orb isn’t to give you some huge Skyrim-like storyline of impending doom, rather it gives you insight into a character’s culture while providing context for who they are in the world of Rosewell. This type of storytelling doesn’t feel like it’s the forefront charge of the game but instead feels like it just shapes people you encounter and gives them a bit more depth in their character and cultural development. It’s not a new technique for storytelling by any means, but it’s a good way to sprinkle context and give purpose, while also building out a larger world.
Beyond learning more about people you run into during Merchants of Rosewall, the game also features other narrative aspects about the world. One big aspect mentioned during the preview was environmental issues the game’s inhabitants deal with and how that relates to all the above gameplay aspects. In addition to that potential cornucopia of story shifts and possibilities, the game also features personal stories told by the devs. I’m sure they’re nice, maybe some tough ones, but I’m positive they all contribute to a more interesting world.
The additional storylines of climate and the character development seemed to be a big deal with Merchants of Rosewall’s overall gameplay. While the majority of the game was more about crafting, gathering recipes, and making sure P’s and Q’s were accounted for with a changing economy, it still was nice to see the story playing into it all.
One big shop
Getting back to the selling portion of the game, one neat, yet a bit skimpy on details aspect of the game was what your fantasy shop could house. While most games tend to focus on one aspect of crafting and selling, this one felt like how you would feel walking into a fancy bar that also sells food. Or what most people in Kentucky call Cracker Barrel. I had to! It’s true. I met someone this week who bought a coat at a CB ten years ago. She was still wearing it. Pancakes, candy, and coats! All in one place.
Well, Merchants of Rosewall pushed the idea of a multi-dimensional shop like CB, where you could sell goods, food, and whatnot all in one place. We previewed a place that had different areas, such as a kitchen and a place where you could put together a non-food item for customers, and all of it housed in a single fantasy shop. I’m not sure I have ever witnessed a game that touted itself as a fantasy shop and allowed players to go in different directions with their goods without starting over and replaying. The concept is interesting and being a virtual Cracker Barrel seems like a good way to separate yourself from other games of this type. I can only hope players can play checkers by a fireplace in some update. Anyway, that’s a cool concept.
Exploration and Cooperation
While we didn’t get too much into either, there were some hints about the game pushing exploration and cooperation. While one certainly outweighs the other when it comes to the longevity of a game, I can only imagine how both go for Merchants of Rosewall. Let’s imagine together.
The world of Merchants of Rosewall seemed like it could be huge. There were places shown off here and there, and plenty of items with hopes of large quantities of recipes to create them. If the game hinges its bets on a large crafting pot of various items, then there must be a big world to explore around it. We were shown a few world pictures here and there, nothing too revealing, but one could assume that this is going to be a big sandbox to explore, gather, and create within. I could also assume DLC/expansion can make it bigger somewhere down the road.
The cooperation part of the game goes with the idea of non-violence as a theme throughout. The game encourages you to work with others, which leads to discovering new recipes, and helping to grow the shops in Rosewall. The better the shops do, the better the town thrives. The only way to do well as a shopkeeper is to open the shop’s doors to everyone. There is a lot of potential here in both areas, and I can’t wait to see how it all plays out.
On that note, let’s wrap this preview up.
Conclusion
While there is still a lot to see, and a game to see in action beyond words and pictures, it seems like Big Blue Sky Games is on the right path with Merchants of Rosewall. They are thinking about more than just a typical fantasy shop game by mixing a living economy into the gameplay and sprinkling the right amount of narrative on top of it. All combined points this game towards being something special and unique.
Of course, the final release will tell the tale of this game and translate its intentions to actual gameplay. We’ll certainly keep an eye on its progress and keep you all in the loop.
