# Keyflower: The Merchants

## General Info
- **Year Published**: 2014
- **BGG Rating**: 8.0
- **BGG Rank**: —
- **Players**: 2-6 (Best with: 2)
- **Duration**: 90 min
- **Weight**: 3.18 / 5
- **Designers**: Richard Breese, Sebastian Bleasdale
- **Artists**: J Breese, Juliet Breese, Konstantin Vohwinkel
- **Publishers**: R&D Games, Czacha Games, Ediciones MasQueOca, Game Harbor, Game Salute, Hutter Trade GmbH + Co KG, Quined Games
- **Categories**: City Building, Economic, Expansion for Base-game, Renaissance
- **Mechanics**: Auction / Bidding, Modular Board, Network and Route Building, Pick-up and Deliver, Set Collection, Tile Placement, Worker Placement

## Verdict
Perfect for those seeking more complexity and strategic depth over the base game. Boosts replayability with new scoring methods.Versatile and strategic contractsGreatly improves the 2-player experienceExtensions that boost scoring potentialFresh item combinations on boatsIncreases overall game complexityRequires the base game to playRECOMMENDED

## Description
If you already enjoy the village-building dynamics of Keyflower, get ready, because 'The Merchants' arrives to provide a much-needed upgrade. While the Farmers expansion focused on adding breadth, the Merchants expansion is all about depth. It introduces extra layers of strategy that will make you think twice before every single bid.

The biggest highlight is the introduction of lucrative contracts. These aren't just for stacking victory points; you can actually trade them for the items they depict, such as workers (keyples), resources, or those essential skill tiles. This kind of flexibility makes the gameplay feel more organic and less predictable. Additionally, we have extensions and cabins. Extensions are fantastic because they double the fixed point scores of tiles you already own, turning ordinary buildings into gold mines. Meanwhile, cabins provide more opportunities for upgrades, allowing your village to grow more efficiently.

Another interesting point is the boats, which now bring brand new item combinations, forcing players to adapt their strategies as the tide turns. If you play mostly with two people, this expansion is almost a must-have, as it significantly enhances the two-player experience, filling gaps and making the competition much tighter.

Regarding how to implement it: you have total freedom. You can simply mix the new tiles with the base game to spice things up, or go for the 'Merchant's variant', where you use all the tiles from this expansion and fill the remaining deck by randomly drawing tiles from the base game. Either way, the result is a denser game where resource management and auction timing become even more crucial for anyone wanting to dominate the region.

## How to Play
Objective of the Game
In Keyflower – The Merchants, players continue to develop their unique villages over four seasons. You aim to build the most prosperous village by constructing extensions and cabins, securing lucrative contracts, and managing the new combinations of items arriving on incoming boats. The player with the most points at the end of the game is the winner.

Setup
Follow the standard Keyflower setup rules, with the following modifications:

    Boat Tiles: Take each set of boats with the same name and choose one boat at random from each set. The number of boats used depends on the number of players. Note that these new boats may carry cabins, gold, face-down contracts, or green workers.
    Cabins: Place the cabins by the side of the playing area.
    Contracts: Turn all contract tiles face-down (plain side visible). Divide them into three approximately equal piles and place them by the side of the playing area. Turn the top tile from each pile face-up so that three contracts are visible.
    Extensions: Place the extensions by the side of the playing area.
    Village Tiles: Add the new spring, summer, and autumn village tiles to the corresponding season's tiles from the base game. Mix the three new winter village tiles with the existing winter tiles. The number of winter tiles per player increases as follows: 4 tiles each for 2-3 players, 3 tiles each for 5 players, and the standard amounts for 4 and 6 players.
    Merchant's Variant: For your first game, it is suggested to play Variant A, which ensures all new tiles are used.


Game Flow
The game progresses through four seasons: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Each season consists of a bidding phase where players compete for village tiles and boats.
At the end of each season (except Winter), the following end of season procedures occur:

    Players retrieve workers from losing bids.
    Discard village tiles that were not bid for.
    Starting with the start player, players claim their won village tiles in clockwise order. Workers from winning bids are placed in the bag. Workers on successfully bid-for tiles are placed behind the player's screen.
    Players collect workers from their village and place them behind their screen.
    Deal with turn order tiles and boats. Workers, skill tiles, and contracts are placed behind the player's screen. Resources and cabins are placed on the player's home tile.
    If a player owns boat 1 or boat 6, they collect them and potentially allocate animals to a field.
    Breeding: Except in Winter, if two or more animals of the same kind (and no other kind) are in a field, they may breed, adding one more animal of that type to the field.
    Players expand their villages with won village tiles.
    Replace the three face-up contracts from the face-down piles.


Actions and How to Play
During a turn, players participate in bidding to acquire village tiles or boats. A player may add more workers to an existing bid to create or maintain a winning bid. Green workers cannot substitute for other colors.

Acquiring Extensions
Extensions allow a tile to be upgraded for a second time. To obtain an extension, you must place workers on a tile that already has an upgrade symbol (such as home tiles or transport tiles) or use a cabin. 

    An extension must be played on an already upgraded tile in your own village.
    Only one extension can be played per tile.
    You must pay the cost indicated on the extension (which may include resources, skill tiles, or workers).
    If an extension requires resources, they must be moved onto the target village tile before construction.
    Once placed, only workers of the same color as the extension can be placed on that tile.


Obtaining Contracts
Contracts can be obtained from boats (placed face-down) or from specific village tiles (assayer, bookkeeper, or merchant).

    When using a village tile, you may choose one of the three face-up contracts or a face-down contract from the piles.
    Exchange: At any time during your turn, you may perform a "free" action to exchange a contract for one of its "specific" items (not the white "any" symbols). If exchanged for a resource, it goes to the home tile; if for a worker or skill tile, it goes behind your screen.


Using Cabins
Cabins are placed on the home tile and act as an extra upgrade symbol. They do not affect transport ability but can double the upgrade ability of certain boats.

End of Game and Scoring
The game ends after the Winter season. Players score points based on the following criteria:

    Autumn Scoring Tiles: Score resources placed on the barn, blacksmith, stone yard, and timber yard.
    Sheep: Score sheep placed in the sheep shelter.
    Fields: Score fields containing animals (1 pt for sheep, 2 pts for pigs, 3 pts for cows).
    Special Boat Effects: Flipper (upgrade a tile) or Flipper II (add an extension).
    Village & Boat Tiles: Score fixed points as indicated on the tiles.
    Extensions: Score based on the fixed point value of the upgraded tile.
    Contracts: Each completed contract is worth 7 points (or 10 points if you own White Wind II).
    Winter Tiles: Score remaining winter tiles.
    Boat Tiles: Score remaining boat tiles.
    Turn Order: Score 1 point for each adjacent turn order tile.
    Gold: Score 1 point for each gold resource.

The player with the most points wins. In a tie, the player who chose their boat tile first in Winter wins.

Tips for Victory

    Utilize the Merchant's Variant: For your first game, use Variant A to ensure you interact with all the new Keyflower – The Merchants tiles.
    Strategic Contract Exchange: Remember that exchanging a contract for a specific item is a free action that does not count as a turn, allowing you to optimize your village mid-game.

## FAQ
### Do I need the base game to play?
Yes, this is an expansion. You need Keyflower to use the components and rules from The Merchants.

### Does the game become much harder?
It becomes 'deeper'. It's not necessarily harder to learn, but it offers more strategic options, which requires more planning.

### Does it work well with 2 players?
Yes! One of the biggest strengths of this expansion is the significant improvement to the two-player experience.

### How long does a game take with the expansion?
The average time remains around 90 minutes, but the density of decisions can make the match feel more intense.

### Can I mix it with the Farmers expansion?
Absolutely! You can combine all expansions to create the most complete and complex experience possible.

### Who is this for?
For players who felt the base game was too simple or who are looking for more ways to optimize their scoring.

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