Welcome to Mercatoria
Mercatoria is a turn-based grand strategy game set in the Age of Discovery, built in the spirit of *Imperialism II: The Age of Exploration*.
If you remember Imperialism 2 — the maps divided into provinces with their own resources, the satisfaction of connecting a new copper deposit to your foundries, the slow build from raw wool to finished cloth to overseas trade, the rivalries with five other Old World powers all racing for the New World — then you already understand the heart of Mercatoria. It's a love letter to that game's design philosophy, brought into a modern engine with quality-of-life improvements, multiplayer, and a few new ideas of its own.
The pitch
You lead one of six major nations competing across Europe and the New World. You'll grow your economy by extracting resources from your provinces, connecting them with roads and shipping lanes, and turning raw materials into finished goods. You'll raise armies and fleets, found colonies overseas, and navigate alliances and rivalries with other empires.
Mercatoria is fundamentally about **trade and production**. Most of your decisions come down to what to make, where to move it, and how to protect the routes that keep your empire running. Battles matter, but they're won or lost long before the first shot — by whichever empire built the stronger economy.
What's in the game right now
- Six major nations, each with their own starting position and AI personality (some focus on military expansion, others on trade, exploration, or diplomacy)
- A full economy with resource gathering, transport networks, and production chains
- Land and naval combat with morale, terrain, and combined-arms tactics
- Diplomacy with relationships, treaties, and wars
- Multiplayer with friends over Steam, or on a local network
- Full Dutch and English language support
Why Early Access?
The foundation is solid, but a strategy game like this gets meaningfully better with real players testing it — balance, smarter AI, multiplayer edge cases, small UI improvements. A proper roadmap will follow at launch, with regular updates and honest patch notes.
If you've been waiting for someone to pick up where Imperialism 2 left off, or you just enjoy trade-focused strategy with a historical setting, you're in the right place. Wishlist, ask questions in the Discussions, or just lurk for now — glad to have you here.
See you on the map,
Dinkel Games