Similar Games to Caravan?

[n0cDk3y]

Caravan is fantastic. Worth every penny. Does anyone know of any similar games?

[the_rock0123]

I havent even picked up the game yet but will do. Have you tried Merchants of Kaidan on steam? I highly recommend it.

[the_rock0123]

Also see my Tavernier review, running a Tavern RPG. Very fun little game for 49p in the sale.

[qmuddy]

the_rock0123: thanks; merchants of kaidan: isn't it very hard ? spread sheets, etc. ? thanks

[the_rock0123]

Hi qmuddy. Not hard but you just need to learn what price is good to buy and sell at so some people record that offline at first. However to help, you can see the prices from the last 5 towns you visit within the interface itself. First 20% game is a challenge to build wealth but once you have more cash and new methods it becomes easier.

[qmuddy]

the_rock0123: thanks, i think i'll go for it since it's on sale: can you help me out if i get stuck ? thanks; i looked at a few walkthroughs, one had a spread sheet for every season and math calculations !

[the_rock0123]

Yes, if I can. when its on sale its a bit of a steal, in my view.

[the_rock0123]

In the end I got Caravan and I like it too. Merchants of Kaidan in my view has a bit more to it: big world to explore, businesses to run, thick and fast quests, dungeons to conquer, better roleplay and trading.

[qmuddy]

the_rock0123 : thanks; i made trader ! when does the game get easier ? am i over the hump ? thanks

[the_rock0123]

New modes of transport will open up via air and sea. You can carry more goods. Key is to learn the buy and sell price for each good and pick goods up when cheap "wherever" they are. Also look for cheap deals using the certificates you get when helping merchants out during trips. Also look to set up businesses via clearing the caves. To do that, hire many many staff and send about 40 down there with full stock of wooden planks. If you can buy a treasure map by speaking to people in the taverns it helps too. Good luck!

[Diogo]

I may as well add Sunless Sea?
It's not historical, it focuses much more on the writing, and is much more difficult. That said, the main loop of the game is very similar, I think, so you may enjoy it.

[Diogo]

I forgot to mention Caravanserail, too. This one has a very similar idea, but is more arcady. You don't actually travel to places, merely focus on trading goods as the merchants pass you by, each with their own variable price.

[Rhonda]

I recommend Bounty Train. The trade part and also the story play quite similar to MoK and it also includes a mini-game when your train gets robbed. You can invest in propperty and businesses in different towns too.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/371520/Bounty_Train/

[Marcos]

Darkest dungeon?

[Luke]

Caravaneer and Caravaneer 2 are web-games that are similar. They are in a post-apocalyptic setting and have a bit of grid-based tactical combat, but the idea of traveling between settlements and trading is core to both of the games. They also have story missions to follow, like this does.
http://caravaneer.gamesofhonor.com/

Not exactly like this, but I also enjoy EV-like games (games similar to the escape velocity series, which in short means 2D top-down space trading / shooting games).

I think the best done are Naev, and Endless Sky. Both are free on Steam, or you can get slightly more current copies if you want to complie them from the source on Github.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/598530/Naev/
https://store.steampowered.com/app/404410/Endless_Sky/

There are also a myriad of games similar to Dope Wars. It is a very old game for DOS, buy low / sell high and pay off your loan. You can find all sorts of clones, ports around the web, for your phone, whatever. There is a game on Steam called Arms Dealer that is very much like Dope Wars, but larger in scope and scale.

":/store.steampowered.com/app/325630/Arms_Dealer" (link does not work, but the page is there if you browse to it... may have been pulled from Steam?

edit: adding some links

[Luke]

I've got a couple more for you:

There is also an old Sid Meier's game called Pirates, which has spawned something of its own genre. You can get a modern remake of it, or you can get a really good game called "Age of Pirates" by the Trese Brothers:

http://www.tresebrothers.com/sail-the-seas-in-age-of-pirates/

https://store.steampowered.com/app/3920/Sid_Meiers_Pirates/

There are bunches of games "Like Sid Meier's Pirates" if you search a bit, you will find a ton of them.

And there is also this stuff that is sort of like "Smugglers" though I'm not sure if I could name the genre exactly. This is Smugglers 5 https://store.steampowered.com/app/291450/Smugglers_5/ and this is Star Traders Frontiers: https://store.steampowered.com/app/335620/Star_Traders_Frontiers/

STF is really great, sort of a mashup of Smugglers and Darkest Dungeon, in a Dune / Warhammer style universe.

The games I mentioned as "genre defining" might not actually be the first in their respective genres, there is always something older.. but they're typically good places to start key-word searches from.