Merchant's Solitaire Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Setup: Opening for Business
• How to Play: Handling Customers
  • 1: Customer's Offer
  • 2: Your Offer
  • 3: Verify Trade
  • 4: Restock Shop
• End of Game: Council Verdict
• Game Variants
  • Loyal Patrons (Easy)
  • Let Me Check in the Back (Easy)
  • Super Exclusive Offer (Hard)
  • Vandals! (Hard)

Setup: Opening for Business

1. Grab a standard deck of 52 playing cards.
2. Shuffle the 40 cards numbered Ace (A) to 10 together as Items. Every Item is characterized by its Type (suits ♠♥♣♦) and Value (ranks A - 10).
3. Place the Items face up in a pile to establish the Inventory.
4. Take 8 Items from the Inventory and arrange them into two rows of four Items to stock the shelves of the Shop.
5. Shuffle the 12 face cards of Jacks (J), Queens (Q), and Kings (K) together as Customers. Every Customer is characterized by their Preferred Type (suits ♠♥♣♦) and Influence (ranks J, Q, K).
6. Place the Customers face up in a pile above the Shop to form the Line.
7. Take 12 Items from the Inventory and place them face down in a pile next to the Customers as the Used Items they'll be trading you.
8. Take 3 Items from the Inventory and place them in a pile near your play area as your starting Guild Standing (3).

How to Play: Handling Customers

The game is played over a series of 12 Customer interactions. Each interaction consists of four steps: 1: Customer's Offer, 2: Your Offer, 3: Verify Trade, 4: Restock Shop.

1: Customer's Offer

The Customer at the front of the Line wants to make a trade. Every Customer arrives with a certain amount of money and Used Item in hand. Jacks (J) have $11, Queens (Q) have $12. Kings (K) have $13. Flip the top Used Item face up. Combine the Customer's money and Used Item's value to calculate their offer's value.

For example, a Q♠ with a 7♦ has a $19 offer ($12 + $7). Note: Aces from a Customer are always worth $11.

2: Your Offer

In response to the Customer's offer, offer them Items from the Shop that add up to the same value as their offer, including any special offers listed below:

• Exclusive Offer — Items in the Shop that match the Type of the Used Item are free ($0) as part of your offer.
• Limited-time Offers — Aces (A) are normally worth $11. However, they can be offered for $1 at your discretion.

3: Verify Trade

Once offers from both sides have been made, it's time to ensure the trade's legitimacy:

• Trade — If your offer matches the Customer's offer, a trade is made.
  • Put the Used Item you received from the Customer on the bottom of the Inventory.
  • Positive Feedback: Any Items the Customer received from your offer that match their Preferred Type are added to your Guild Standing.
  • All other Items the Customer received from your offer are discarded.
  • For example, you offer 10♠ and 6♥ from the Shop to a J♥ Customer with a 5♣. The 6♥ would be added to your Guild Standing while the 10♠ would be discarded.
  • Discard the Customer. If that was the last Customer in Line, proceed to Council Verdict.
• No Trade — If you're unable or unwilling to match the Customer's offer based on the current selection of Items in the Shop, no trade is made.
  • Negative Feedback: Lose Guild Standing based on the Influence of the Customer:
    • Jack (J): Discard 1 Guild Standing.
    • Queen (Q): Discard 2 Guild Standing.
    • King (K): Discard 3 Guild Standing.
  • Guild Removal: If your Guild Standing drops below 0, you're instantly removed from the guild (game loss).
  • Discard the Customer and their Used Item. If that was the final Customer in Line, proceed to Council Verdict.

4: Restock Shop

Fill the empty shelves of the Shop with Items from the Inventory. Once the Inventory is empty, skip this step.

End of Game: Council Verdict

The game concludes after the final Customer interaction, unless you were removed from the guild earlier.

Your final score is equal to the number of cards in your Guild Standing. Consult the scoring chart below to determine your verdict:

• <10 Guild Standing: Removed from Guild (game loss)
• 10 Guild Standing: Promoted to Novice
• 12 Guild Standing: Promoted to Journeyman
• 14 Guild Standing: Promoted to Master
• 16 Guild Standing: Promoted to Elder
• 18+ Guild Standing: Promoted to Guildmaster

Game Variants

Loyal Patrons (Easy)

For any offer of more than three Items, add the Customer to your Guild Standing instead of discarding it.

Let Me Check in the Back (Easy)

The Item at the top of the Inventory can be used as part of your offer.

Super Exclusive Offer (Hard)

Items in the Shop that match the Type or Value of the Used Item are free ($0) as part of your offer.

Vandals! (Hard)

During Setup, shuffle in one (or both) Jokers with the Customers.

As soon as a Joker appears at the front of the Line, flip the first faceup Item in the Shop face down. You cannot place an Item on that shelf for the rest of the game! Discard the Joker and proceed to the next step of the turn as normal.