1994 · Several Dudes Holistic Gaming · Business simulation · Simulation

Merchant Prince

Merchant Prince is a DOS strategy game.

Released: 31 December 1994
Platforms: MS-DOS
Genres: Business simulation Simulation Strategy
Developers: Several Dudes Holistic Gaming
Publishers: Quantum Quality Productions
Modes: Multiplayer Single-player
Perspective: Bird view / Isometric
Themes: Business

About

Merchant Prince is a turn-based 4X strategy video game franchise set in the Republic of Venice during the Renaissance. The first Merchant Prince was published in Europe in 1993, and North America in 1994; Machiavelli the Prince in 1995; and Merchant Prince II in 2001. All three were developed by Holistic Design (HDI) but had separate publishers. The first two use MS-DOS; the third Windows. All three support up to four players and differ chiefly in their graphics and user interface.

In general, the games are trade simulators where items are bought low, transported, and sold high. They achieved notability, however, for their representation of Venetian and papal politics, with players able to bribe senators and cardinals for political, military, and religious power. Overt attacks against other players can destroy one's popularity and influence, but the game offers a thieves' den where covert options include arson, rumor-mongering, and assassination. The games are won after a predetermined number of turns (years) by the player with the highest net worth, including the value of bribed senators and cardinals.

Keywords

randomly generated maps

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Gameplay

Players choose a family crest and surname rather than an individual name. Play begins in AD 1300 and can last (in the first two titles) as late as 1492, the year of Columbus's rediscovery of the Americas. The default map covers all of Afro-Eurasia and permits the rounding of the Cape of Good Hope but not the North Cape. This can be replaced by randomized maps with variable amounts of ocean, forest, desert, etc. The game is won by the first player to acquire a million florins or by the player with the highest net worth at game's end.

The player competes with three other families—either other humans or AIs of variable difficulty—to be the most successful clan in Venice. Opponents may be negotiated or allied with, aided, or threatened. The Council of Ten may all be bribed into service, allowing the player to be appointed as Venice's council head, general, admiral, or minister of construction. A family may only hold one office at a time, but any family with a senator must receive a post.

Story

The games begin with a letter from the player's wealthy uncle Niccolo announcing that he has died and left the majority of his estate to his daughters. He has left the player a yearly stipend of 100 florins (i.e., ducats), a map of the known world, at least one trading vessel, and some advice reminiscent of Machiavelli: "you must stick to the good so long as you can but if compelled by necessity you must be ready to use other means" and the "Golden Rule" that "he who has the gold makes the rules". The player's goal—over one lifetime or several—is to improve his family's standing.

Reception

While warning that the game emphasized trade and popularity over conquest or destroying enemies, Computer Gaming World stated in April 1994 that "Merchant Prince is a finely balanced, well presented, and intensely enjoyable game" with random maps and online play giving it "considerable replay value". In June 1994 it was a finalist for the magazine's Strategy Game of the Year award, losing to Master of Orion. The editors wrote that the game "captures the greed and treachery of medieval Italy even more than the classic Machiavelli boardgame". Computer Game Review gave it a platinum triad award (high marks from three reviewers) before naming it the magazine's 1994 strategy game of the year.