Build, arm, and command a merchant train across a hostile wasteland. Choose your routes, trade for profit, upgrade your wagons, and survive deadly ambushes on the rails.
What players are saying
▲ Recommended3 hrs
"Choo-choo! The perfect passive gaming experience." A fantastic incremental game with a great aesthetic. It’s the perfect companion for a second monitor satisfying upgrades, smooth progression, and great train vibes!
*UPDATE* Devs responded (very quickly), so there may have been updates to adress one or more of my points.
Positive: - Shooting drones is optional Negative: - Navigation feels clonky. - Tutorial feels forced and not satisfying at all. On the plus side, the tutorial only takes 5-10 minutes.
Works on Ubuntu 24.04 without any tinker steps. Takes about a minute to launch, just be patient.
I can't enjoy the game when navigation feels as jank as it does. Some would say its a skill issue, and I slightly agree, but I also feel like there are obvious UX improvements that can be implemented.
I hope the dev sees this and takes my thoughts into consideration: - When going to the map, it becomes fullscreen which feels out of place, and requires you to click an X in the corner to exit the map. The visual experience for this is good, but the playing-experience feels "interrupted" when I have to look for the X when I misclick the Map button. - You *have* to use the buttons at the top of the screen to navigate, but for me it felt more intuitive to click the 3D visible shops, but that does not work. - Either I'm missing something, or you have to drive a route to see your energy production and usage numbers, which makes upgrades difficult to manage - I have no idea what the timer top-right means when I'm on a route, despite reading every tutorial popup - When a route ends, the summary disappears after 10 seconds... I thought this was an idle game? If I'm AFK or having it in the background, how will i know what i gained from the route i took? - When on a route and doing "Manual production", clicking the background of the popup closes the window, similar to clicking outside of it, this was weird for me in the tutorial.
It looks like a well-polished game, but plays like a text-based game with graphics. You cant really interact with the world, you only press text-buttons.
Long answer, this game feels so empty and unrefined. There is nothing that pulls the player in aside from "Train in post-apocalyptic world that is a factory". If that is enough for you then perhaps you'll enjoy this more. I was hoping for more of a goal, a reason, but the game doesn't give me anything aside from "upgrade your train". In other idle games you at least get some "big number go brrrr" but here there is no indicator, no real visual difference that your train is changing, and it's idle components are only for 12 min or so. So this is a game you need to baby but it's not entertaining enough to be the main focus. I have other games that could be a main focus and if I want an idle game I'll go for Melvor Idle or something that has an AFK/"while you were away" component.
Last point, the game is extremely buggy. There are contracts that let you infinetly complete them like "install a turret" or "hold 15k while at X", but when I make 36 iron pipes for a contract it just does see that I have enough. I can go on with the number of other bugs, but others here are also pointing them out.
If you want to put some cash in a small devs pocket so they can maybe make this game into something, then be my guest. However, I believe I see that they are making games frequently so I assume these games are AI Vibe coded. So I have a feeling this game (which feels like a game in early Alpha) will not be seeing the amount of care and attention it needs for someone like me to want and come back.
Hello, Merchants!With this update, we are making major changes to Mad Merchant’s progression and economy. Our goal is to give every journey a clearer purpose and make production, exploration, and preparation more important throughout the game.OBJECTIVE-BASED PROGRESSIONProgression is now built around specific goals. Growing your train is no longer only about earning money. You will need to:Produce the right itemsComplete contractsIncrease your levelDiscover new cities...to continue expanding your operation.LEVEL IS NOW THE FOUNDATION OF PROGRESSIONPlayer Level is no longer mainly used for module upgrades.It is now the primary source of overall progression and plays a central role in:Unlocking new citiesAdvancing through the gameExploration is therefore more important than before. Discovering new cities will unlock:New contractsNew opportunitiesNew progression goalsMODULES NOW REQUIRE ITEMSModules can no longer be purchased with money alone.Each module now requires:A monetary costSpecific crafted itemsTo expand your train, you will first need to build the necessary production chain and manufacture the required materials.This connects module progression directly to production and gives every new module a clear objective.THE SHOP IS NOW SELL-ONLYBuying items directly from the Shop made it possible to skip important parts of the production chain and had a major impact on the game's economy.Items can no longer be purchased from city Shops.Shops are now focused entirely on selling the goods you produce during your journeys.Materials required for modules and advanced production must be created through your own production network.CITY-BASED CONTRACTSContracts have been redesigned around individual cities.Each city will offer its own contracts, giving you more reasons to:Visit different settlementsAdjust your production plans according to local objectivesContracts will refresh daily, providing new goals and rewards as you continue your journey.THREE TURRET FIRING MODESTurret...
Hello, Merchants!This update focuses on making Mad Merchant easier to learn, improving the Travel experience, and eliminating several UI and save/load issues.A Brand-New TutorialWe have introduced a completely redesigned tutorial built around real gameplay actions.New players will now learn how to:Purchase wagons and build their first trainInstall Energy, Storage, and Collector modulesSelect a city and choose a routeUse the travel cameraOperate a Collector and complete manual productionDefend the train against dronesRepair damaged modulesUse the Shop and Contracts panelsThe tutorial uses the normal game interfaces instead of opening or controlling panels on the player’s behalf. Objectives, highlights, progress counters, and information cards guide the player without interfering with the regular UI flow.The entire tutorial and its related pop-ups are now localized.Travel and Production ImprovementsCollector modules now use the same production workflow as other production modules. Players can open the Production panel and use the Start Production, Stop Production, and Manual Production controls consistently.If a journey ends before the Travel tutorial objectives are completed, the remaining Travel steps are automatically skipped so the tutorial cannot become stuck.Fast Travel ChangesFast Travel now:Displays a confirmation pop-upRequires payment before activationGrants less experience than completing a journey normallyThis keeps Fast Travel convenient without making regular travel obsolete.Module and Drone ImprovementsModule durability indicators now transition from green to red as durability decreases.The locomotive can no longer be selected as a regular module from the module list.Drones can now use a randomized skeletal mesh when a wave begins, adding more visual variety to encounters.UI ImprovementsAdded fade-to-black transitions between City and Travel sequences.Corrected the placement of repair, Fast Travel, tutorial, and confirmation pop-ups.Fixed several cases ...
This hotfix addresses several issues affecting the tutorial:Fixed button locking and highlighting during tutorial steps.Fixed tutorial guidance not working correctly in some languages.Fixed tutorial progression getting stuck after travel.Players can no longer travel to cities above their level during the tutorial.Fixed New Game starting incorrectly after returning to the main menu during travel.Removed irrelevant or incorrectly timed hints.Fixed progression issues during shop and purchasing steps.Thank you for your feedback!
Posts come from Steam's official announcements feed.
