Merchants of Rosewall is a narrative-driven shopkeeper simulator in a high-fantasy world – Destructoid

Indie developer Big Blue Sky Games has announced its debut title, Merchants of Rosewall, a shopkeeper simulator that takes place in an immersive high-fantasy world. In MoR, players are tasked with managing their own customizable shop while uncovering the secrets of a majestic city in which the game takes place.

Rosewall runs on horsepower, steam power, and a little magic

The high-fantasy world is home to Giants, Orcs, Elves, Corkgnomes, and more, all with their own distinct backgrounds, personalities, and ambitions. But despite the fantasy setting, the Big Blue Sky Games team is using their own real-life experiences to craft the many characters of the world. Players will build, craft, and trade their way through Rosewall while keeping up with sales trades, discovering new recipes, and forging relationships with artisans and specialists around the world to grow their empire.

In a recent early look at Merchants of Rosewall, Big Blue Sky Games Game Director Kevin Hovdestad told us a bit about the unique systems and features the shopkeeper simulator has to offer. For example, one of the developers on MoR is a meteorologist. Utilizing his expertise, Big Blue Sky Games has built an intricate and realistic weather model in-game that actually impacts resources, product supply, and customer behavior.

Another impressive system of MoR is its asynchronous multiplayer which creates a fully shared online economy. This allows players to cooperate or compete in a free trade market that influences other players’ games. This sort of functionality seems very intriguing for a shopkeeper simulator like Merchants of Rosewall, so I’m excited to see how it works in the end.

““At Big Blue Sky Games, we want to create games that feel easy to pick-up-and-play, with narratives that players haven’t seen considered in other games. With Merchants of Rosewall, we’re challenging stereotypes and conventions in the fantasy genre; we’re inviting players into an imaginative universe that breaks away from cliches and lets players experience real world issues through nuanced storytelling and complex conversations. We are excited for players to get their hands on the game later this year.”

– Kevin Hovdestad, Game Director at Big Blue Sky Games

Merchants of Rosewall will be released on PC via Steam in the second half of 2024 and can be wishlisted today.