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Key Market
Author: David Brain
Publisher: R&D Games
Year: 2010


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In Keydom self-sufficiency is highly valued. Therefore we attempt to construct a thriving economy with only our own family. Resources are produced on the fields and can be sold on the market, and the profit can be invested in the expansion of our enterprise.

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The smart cousins can be sent to the city to be educated, to earn respect, and come back home with their heads full of useful knowledge. If you do really well, you can afford to retire everybody over the age of 55 and support them in a very luxurious manor house. Only in the families with financial difficulties, grandpa is still weeding on the fields!

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'Key Market' plays in two years, each divided into four seasons. There is a board showing the current market prices of the five resources (fruit, vegetables, meat, fish and wheat) and the luxury goods, and a season board, and several country boards showing the fieldsof Keydom. Depending on the number of players, five to seven guild houses are employed. Each season consists of the same three phases. In the farming phase, players can move or place their workers on the fields. Workers on a round field produce one marker of the indicated resource, workers on the square fields produce two.
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But seasons influence the harvest: in the winter none of the fields produce crops, and every other season there is one field type that produces extra, and one type that produces nothing. On the village tiles luxury goods are produced; they are not dependent on the season and can be used as a wild card to replace two other resources during the game, but a worker that wants to settle in the village has to pay 5 gold pieces! If there are workers present in the guild houses, they can be promoted from apprentice to craftsman, or from craftsman to guild master at the price of three or four resources.
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Once per game a player can upgrade his farmhouse to a manor house at the cost of two resources and a luxury good. Only when the manor house has been constructed a player can retire his workers; this costs four different resources. When all players have performed the farming phase, the market phase commences.
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Everybody selects one or more of their resources to sell on the market, and all players reveal their selection simultaneously. In payer order the selected resources are sold in sets of maximum two identical goods. The seller receives the current market price, but after the sale one of the resources is placed on the market, thus decreasing the market price. The next player selling the exact same resource will get a lower price for it! Additionally, all players may perform one guild action. They can choose from some of the options introduced in the farming phase, and some new possibilities: send a worker to the apprentice-level of a guild house, buy goods on the market, or take cash.
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The third phase consists of paying the workers on the fields (2 gold per worker), and determining the new player order. The player with the fewest workers on the fields plays first in the next season. It is allowed to remove workers from the field before paying them, in order to save money, or with the intention to obtain a more favourable position in the player order. Then, the next season starts, and after eight seasons the game ends. Money is rewarded for family members in the guild houses (5-15 gold depending on their level), for each retired worker (15 gold), and for the possession of a manor house (15 gold), and for special features of some of the guild houses.

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Although 'Key Market' has a different author, the game fits nicely in the Key-series by Richard Breese. The game is designed with care and attention: the rulebook consists of 16 pages, three of which are used solely for the description of the game components. But after reading the rules, everything is very clear! 'Key Market' is illustrated by Juliet Breese in the pleasant spirit of the Key-series. However, although it is not a big issue, the high degree of detail and the extensive use of colours clash with the transparency of the board; the workers can be hard to distinguish on the colourful field tiles. The player reference cards are just right: small, clear and extremely complete, a perfect guide through the game, from the first season to the final scoring.

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The most important part of the game seems the harvesting, followed by selling, and then reinvesting the proceeds. That is not stunningly original, and is also not enough to yield an interesting game. The market price drops upon selling, and rises upon buying, which should result in a dynamic market. In practice, all goods have approximately the same price, making the market-part of the game a bit lame. If another player sells before you do, you receive one gold piece less for your goods; there are worse things in life...

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The guild houses bring more life into the game. Each level has a special feature that can be used during the game, or for the final scoring. Sometimes specific fields produce extra, or workers don't have to be paid, or they can be promoted, sponsored or sent to the fields at a reduced cost. There are twelve guild houses, and only 5 to 7 of them are included in the game. The special features can be really strong, and there are also some nice combinations possible (pay less to place a worker, and don't pay your workers).

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This has both advantage and a disadvantage: it is nice that every game has unique possibilities to explore, but because they all look very similar it is very difficult to tell them apart and remember what they do unless you keep reading the text.

And because the game already comprises many components and boards, there will always be players that are not in the position (literally!) to easily read the text on the guild houses. It would have been better if there were a bit fewer guild houses, all with a very clearly distinguishable design and function, so everybody can see at a glance what their options are. Nonetheless, the guild houses are an indispensable element of the game: partly due to the not-so-dynamic market the game would otherwise be too shallow. It is a pity that the market - from which the game derives its name! - does not work so well, but altogether 'Key Market' is a nice addition to the series.
© 2011 Barbara van Vugt

Key Market, David Brain, R&D Games, 2010 - 2 to 4 players, 12 years and up, 90 minutes


The illustrations this time really hamper the understandability; furthermore the market mechanism does not really captivate
For a game called 'Key Market' the market part is rather dull
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