This review is for the IGMC 2014 version.

The Vendor is an interesting take on the classic RPG, instead of playing the stalwart champion or band of heroes, you're the shop-keeper, the wandering merchant who supplies the intrepid world-saving, monster-slaying, damsel-rescuing party of four as they travel the world ridding it of evil and looting as they go.

Your character whom you get to name and choose a gender for from boy, girl or neither, neither being an orc in a Shirley Temple wig and dress, (which is very tempting just for laughs) has just qualified as an official Vendor. Having passed your entrance exams you are following in your father's footsteps in the family business and taking on the daunting task of being the quartermaster to a group of quest driven warriors who by and large take your existence for granted. But you know yours is a noble profession, for without you, those heroes wouldn't stand a chance against the vile monsters they encounter.


Yay torturous puns, I like this already.

The graphics and music are all the default but it's used well with no huge empty spaces, but no distressing one path only maps either. There are a couple of small glitches, passage and layer errors, but nothing that detracts from the game in any significant way. The game play is aided by those cute little 'look-at-me' sparkles which highlight books you should read, (and not just for the information in them,) raw materials to forage for later crafting and other important interactions. People don't sparkle (this isn't Twilight after all) but it's a good idea to interact with them none-the-less, as they will supply you with vital information, useful trades or exclusive once-in-a-lifetime bargains, or so they say.

Since you're a vendor and not a hero or plot device you're safe from attack, capture and pretty much every type of peril other than bankruptcy, so for you there are no battles within the game. Monsters have a very strict dietary regime it appears, and vendor is not on the menu. This enables you to fulfil one of the main roles of your vocation, to conduct research into the foes the courageous adventurers are seeking to vanquish to better enable you to supply their monster-slaying needs.

To aid you in that there is a really cute little addition, the Ad-ventor-ture Almanac of Monsters which gives you a list of the most effective weapon, armour and items for dealing with any specific monster, the only problem being you don't actually have the Almanac in your inventory. The only time this mystical tome appears is when you are face to face with the fiend for research purposes, which means you'd better make notes. I would suggest that as the developer is intending to expand this game post the contest that a bestiary script be modified to replicate this cute and very useful but elusive book.


Why oh why don't I have this?

The game is peppered with a plethora of NPC's, who unbeknownst to the heroes of the land, go about their daily lives quietly and with purpose. In the small world of the game there are four towns, covering all the basics, a leafy hamlet for our protagonist to call home, a seaside village complete with sunbathers and worse for weather party goers, a desert settlement that is unfortunately not open for business in this version and appears to be engaged in some form of combat and a snow covered northern town complete with colourful and mostly unintelligible characters.



Err, what was that about the carpet?

In addition there are a couple of dungeons for the heroes to traverse in their quests and for our intrepid vendor to scout, research, forage and eventually set up shop to provide logistical support. The success or failure of these guardians of justice is directly proportional to the amount of research you have done and therefore the type and number of items and supplies you can provide, for a tidy profit that is. Just as when you are playing the hero in traditional RPG's, there is almost no negotiation in regard to the price charged for basic supplies, and the only time you need to haggle is when the party is running low on funds and they can see you've still got items to sell. The best idea is to try and balance what you have with how much gold they are carrying so you're not left with items you've specifically found or had crafted for the monster they are about to face, but that they don't buy everything you have and not spend all the money they are carrying. It's a fine line to tread and takes a bit of time to learn how far you can push but that's a lot of the fun of the game.

If you have successfully supplied the heroes with the items they need to vanquish their foes they will return to your temporary storefront once combat is done to regale you with tales of bravery and to sell off the spoils of battle. This is where the majority of the negotiation takes place. Unlike the supplies you have provided, none of the monster spoils have base prices to work from so your best strategy is to start low and work your way up incrementally until you can settle on a reasonable price, though too many offers will result in no trade. Be prepared to be insulted by the party members when you start for your low initial offer.



That's because you are the thief, read your character description.

Once you have these rare items in your handy little cart you can then sell them off for a tidy profit and use the funds to feather your own nest and purchase the next upgrade the heroes will need in their ever more dangerous quests.

Due to the time constraints inherent in the contest, you only get to aid the heroes with four quests, two at each of the dungeons available, but that is more than enough to become well versed in the mercantile arts and to be on the lookout for more. This game was a lot of fun, and I'm looking forward to the post contest additions and extras that the developer has mooted.

Go spend an hour (or more) on the other side of the counter and revel your capitalist fantasies with this nicely designed, humorously implemented and interesting game; you'll be happy you did.