Antique Dealer

Countless treasures from ages past lie scattered across the world: ritual bronzes, jade and silk, porcelain, paintings and calligraphy.

In the markets and backstreets, those who make a living from these relics of bygone dynasties are known as antique dealers.

You will become one of them.

The Book of Changes says: "When it is time to stop, stop; when it is time to act, act. When movement and stillness each come at the proper time, the way is bright."

In the antiques trade, timing is everything. The largest collection does not make you the winner, nor does one profitable deal. When the dust settles, the dealer holding the most silver wins.

Real or Fake? Information Has a Price.

Every antique has a dynasty, a quality rating, and a hidden truth: genuine or fake.

An authentic piece can bring handsome profits. A forgery is not necessarily a lost cause.

You can swallow the loss, or take your chances on a buyer who does not know better. You can expose a fake to drive down its dynasty’s market—or bluff a rival into taking it off your hands.

The choice is yours.

The Market

Each dynasty has its own independent market level.

An antique’s market value depends on its quality and its dynasty’s current market level. Sales, showcases and exposed forgeries, in turn, can push that level up or down.

When a dynasty’s market level hits the ceiling, the authorities seal its market and confiscate all antiques from that dynasty. Once three dynasties have been sealed, the game ends immediately.

Rounds

Each game lasts up to 15 rounds.

Every round has five distinct phases.

The Five Phases

Hidden Market

Beneath a lone moon, a weathered traveler crosses cold hills;
One fading lamp brings the past to light.

The Hidden Market is home to 30 merchants, each with a temperament—and trading rules—of their own.

Some sell everything at half price; others offer that deal only on the second item. Some move stock fast, selling only in bulk; others let you take a close look before you buy. Some find all manner of excuses to charge you extra; others specialize in buying back antiques from a particular dynasty.

Each game brings a different mix of merchants. Cheap does not always mean a bargain, and expensive does not always mean a trap. Study the wares, the merchants and your rivals’ choices before deciding where to spend your silver.

Auction

Swallows once at home in grand mansions
now nest beneath the roofs of common folk.

Objects gathered from across the realm by the authorities are up for auction today. With the right connections, your own wares can find their way into the catalog—and you can get an early look at what is waiting in the storeroom.

Before bidding begins, you can pay to inspect lots in private, or slip an antique of your own into the sale.

Once the auction opens, dealers take turns bidding or dropping out. The last one standing pays and takes the antique.

When you enter your own antique, only you know whether you are selling a treasure or setting a trap. (Though, let’s be honest: everyone knows it’s a trap.)

Showcase

Blossoms fill the hall, enchanting three thousand guests;
one sword gleams like frost across fourteen provinces.

Put an antique you have confirmed as genuine on display for everyone to see: your shop’s showpiece.

A high-quality showpiece can move you up the turn order, giving you a chance to act before your rivals in the trading to come.

A showcase also raises the market level for its dynasty. When a treasure takes pride of place, the market for antiques of the same dynasty rises with it.

Your showpiece cannot be sold until you take it off display. It is not there to tempt a buyer, but to make those who know the trade think twice before underestimating you.

Open Market

This flower-lined path was never swept for guests;
today, I open my humble gate for you.

Choose antiques to put on your stall, pay the stall fee, and wait for customers to come calling.

Better stall positions cost more, but customers see—and buy from—them first.

Foot Traffic represents your customers’ spending power and determines which antiques can sell. If business is slow, spend silver on a sales pitch to attract buyers with deeper pockets.

Knowledgeable customers can tell real from fake. Genuine antiques can sell at market value, while forgeries are exposed—earning you nothing and driving down their dynasty’s market level. But if the buyer does not know better, a fake can sell at market value too.

You can also reveal a forgery in your own stock, giving up a potential sale to drive down that dynasty’s market.

Bargain Hunt

You search far and wide, but all in vain;
then find it by chance, with no effort at all.

Antiques that fail to sell during the Open Market remain on their stalls.

You can make a take-it-or-leave-it offer for another dealer’s antique, or wait until later to pick up unsold stock for half its market value.

Every Game Is Unpredictable

With 30 Hidden Market merchants, over 600 antique cards, genuine pieces and fakes, shifting foot traffic and market prices, and rival dealers scheming at every turn, each game is full of surprises—and the outcome is never certain.

Other dealers will fight you for auction lots, bid up prices, hide information and manipulate the market. When you are most desperate for silver, they may even take an antique off your hands at a price you find hard to refuse.

You might lead from the very first round, then fall behind after buying one fake after another. Or sit on unsold stock for round after round, then make one decisive sale before the market hits its ceiling and turn the entire game around.

Three Ways to Play

First Steps: Follow a detailed tutorial and learn the rules of the antiques trade as you buy and sell.

Classic Game: Choose your difficulty and test your wits against three other dealers.

Dealer League: Compete in a tournament of a hundred shops, advancing through four-player matches in pursuit of the one and only champion’s crown.

Codex and Collection

Winning is not the only thing to work toward. You can also steadily fill out your Antique Codex and Merchant Codex.

Every antique you buy and every merchant you meet adds to your collection and your knowledge of the trade.

Browse the antiques that have passed through your hands, and revisit the treasures that made your fortune—or taught you an expensive lesson.

Computer Opponents

You and 99 AI-run shops make up this world of antique dealers. Every dealer has a history and a reputation, along with distinct trading preferences and abilities. If you’re not having fun, you can replace your opponents at any time.

Your opponents use a mix of programmed strategies and trained AI models, weighing potential profits, risks and timing based on the information they have. You will meet shrewd veterans who calculate every move, and rivals whose decisions leave you guessing.

I have one non-negotiable rule for the computer opponents: no cheating.

They do not get to see an antique’s authenticity before the rules allow it. They do not secretly change the odds or conjure extra silver out of thin air. Their calculations and decisions draw only on public information and their own inspection results, under the same rules you play by.

They may guess right or wrong. They may set a trap—or fall into yours.

I want the outcome to come down to information, judgment, nerve, calculation and a little luck—not a system quietly taking sides.

Computer opponents can still make poor decisions, and their unconventional moves may leave you scratching your head. That, too, is part of the game.

A Word from the Developer

I love games, and I’m the solo developer of Antique Dealer.

Throughout development, I have worked to make every mechanic as intuitive as possible, keeping obscure exceptions and hard-to-remember rules to a minimum.

The numbers have been tuned repeatedly to make quick estimates easy, while keeping values from spiraling out of control within a single game.

I want a hard-earned lead to count, while leaving dealers who fall behind a genuine chance to turn things around.

This is one player’s love letter to the worlds of gaming and antiques.

Disclaimer

The trading scenarios and rules in this game are designed for gameplay and entertainment only. They do not constitute real-world advice on antiquities appraisal, trading or investment. Please comply with the laws and regulations applicable to collecting and trading in your jurisdiction.