I've been designing games since grade school, and Medieval Merchant is my first attempt to bring one of my games to a larger audience. Eventually I'll be bringing out more prototypes and ideas, but for now, I'm starting with the game that I've gotten the best feedback on, and quite honestly, was my first 'real' game design attempt.  Medieval Merchant was a game I designed as a midterm project for an art class. It's based on my interest in the Middle Ages, as well as math and demand and supply. 

In the game, you play a traveling vendor trying to sell their wares to villages throughout a medieval realm. The goal is to accumulate gold in a race against your fellow vendors. And Medieval Merchant's unique market-based selling puts YOU in charge.

 Here's the original version of the game, construction paper, rubber cement, and all.

Here's a present-day deluxe copy, with custom miniatures and metal replica gold pieces. The basic version will have punch-out board gold coins and classic-color wood pawns. You'll see it's come a long way!

When the game starts, players have a little bit of gold, and some merchandise (food, clothes, luxury items). Game play starts with players using a six-card movement system (instead of dice), shuffling cards, drawing 3, then choosing 2 as their next 2 turns of movement. Players will encounter one of three types of spaces, a buying space, a selling space, or a special space. When buying, players typically get up to 3 chances to roll a die and attempt to buy merchandise. Other spaces have pre-set merchandise and prices. When they land on a village, players get  the option of selling based on the merchandise they have, and the village's demand for that merchandise. They may also change the price of the merchandise in an attempt to earn more gold, or to raise the demand by lowering the price. The special spaces are places where players may teleport to another space, move into the inner realm, or receive a prize for passing START. The game ends after a player has accumulated enough gold to surpass the agreed-upon goal.

Hi, everyone- here’s the rules!
Since things the print version, you’ll need to read it as follows:
Upper right, lower left, lower right, upper left. Please ask if you have questions. Optional rules are below the main rules. 

Funds for this project will be used to pay for the production of the printed components of the game, procurement of non-printed components, packaging, and freight. If there are any funds remaining after that, they will be used to defray graphic design costs. 

Estimated milestones (these could change based on delays, additional proofs required, shipping delays, etc.):

Proofing is expected to start within 2 months after the campaign, and is expected to take 2-3 weeks. 
Once proofs are approved, production is expected to start within 5-6 weeks.
Shipping is expected to take 6-7 weeks (if coming from China). 
So, if all goes according to plan, the games should be shipped from southcentral PA within 5-6 months, which would be late Q2 or early Q3 2026
I will be sending regular updates with milestones (and delays) along the way. 

It is a good possibility that due to the volume and the cost of components, the game will be printed in China, so the shipping will be lengthy, and there could be additional delays due to proofing and printing. Some of the process will occur over Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's holidays, so that could also cause delays. Lastly, anything that needs to be shipped outside of the local area (southcentral PA) could run into delays. Shipping will be worked out after the launch period when fulfillment begins. 

Shipping fees are collected after the campaign in Pledge Manager and are in addition to the pledge levels. For those local to southcentral PA (or within driving distance), there will be a pick-up party/period available for those who want to save on shipping. 

Shipping costs of course vary by state, but it's estimated to be somewhere between $10 and $15, and should take somewhere between 3 to 7 days.