Merchant of the Skies Review: A cozy trading sim that grows on you

Merchant of the Skies? “Interesting name”, as I thought when I clicked install on my Xiaomi 15 Ultra. Ships and islands flying in the sky already sounded like a fun concept, and I was curious to see if my little ship actually had enough wings to survive all this business talk.

I actually hadn’t heard about the game before AstralRide announced its mobile release. Originally released on PC back in 2020, the cozy trading sim has now landed on Android and iOS, and after spending a good 10 to 12 hours with it, I can see why people enjoyed it when it first landed.

The gameplay’s beginning is confusing, in a good way

The best thing about Merchant of the Skies is the presentation at the beginning. You’re not some rich businessman running giant trade routes immediately. You start as a tiny airship captain doing small deliveries and basic trades between floating islands in the sky, and the short dialogue exchanges add to the fun.

When I first started, though, I’ll admit it felt a bit overwhelming. There are menus, trading posts, resources, upgrades, energy, quests, workshops, and all these little systems thrown at you almost immediately; there are too many things, including the story, but you will slowly get all of that.

At first, I was mostly carrying wood around because that was the only thing I properly understood. Buy low here, sell high there. Simple enough. But once I discovered how profitable wood trading was for Southburgh, I basically decided to make a fortune there.

Core gameplay with the learning curve is a major plus alongside exploration

The core gameplay loop revolves around buying goods from one place and selling them elsewhere for profit. As you travel more, you start discovering which islands value certain items more, and slowly, your routes become more efficient.

Another good part is that the game doesn’t really rush you. You can take your time exploring the map, finding islands you haven’t unlocked yet, and experimenting with different trade routes. That sandbox feeling works really well here.

The exploration is super delightful, the feeling of finding a new sky island when you click on a path as it opens up, that’s what gave me thrills. So is this excitement about wondering what resources are waiting there for me, because you know, I want those more shiny coins.

The map itself is also pretty interesting to navigate. On the left side, below the menu where your coins are displayed, there’s this circular timer system that also works as a sort of time indicator for trading conditions. I’ll be honest, I still don’t fully understand how all of it works. I’m definitely still a noob there.

The management systems with progression add to their charm

There’s also fuel and energy management involved, and this is where things got “ah, why is this happening now” for me sometimes. Running out of energy is painful because your ship gets towed, and those towing charges are absolutely brutal.

The flow of progression is pretty excellent, I should say. You begin the game helping different characters, completing quests, and then unlocking workshops, improving ships, and eventually setting up your own production systems, all of which are easy to track too, since the quests list everything you need to know.

As I mentioned earlier, just like how the start felt too much, it also helps you grasp the depth of the game. I will stick to the fact that it is definitely not the easiest game to get started with, but I genuinely appreciated how much room there is to grow.

And the nice thing is, the game lets you approach it however you want. If you want to focus mostly on exploration, you can, of course, you need those coins to refill energy, which I wish would disappear. If you want to maximize profits and optimize trade routes, that’s possible too.

Visuals and music settle in neatly to the experience

Visually, I really liked the style of the game. It mixes pixel-art visuals with these soft peach and pastel-like colours that make everything feel calm and cozy. Floating islands, little buildings, clouds, and the airships themselves all look charming.

The UI is decent overall, although I’ll be honest, parts of it did feel a bit boring to me visually. I would just say it gets the job done. Some menus take a little time to fully understand, and I would have appreciated it if the buttons were a little larger in size, because my fat thumb had a hard time clicking a few of them.

The music itself deserves praise, too. It’s very peaceful and gives you that proper travelling merchant feeling while flying between islands. One little detail I absolutely loved was the sound design while travelling/navigating the map.

Whenever your ship enters a storm zone, you hear thunder rumbling softly in the background. Combined with the birds chirping and the calm music running underneath everything, it creates a really soothing vibe.

Final Verdict

Merchant of the Skies sticks to a premium model. You pay $7.99 once and get the complete experience. Nothing to complain about here. So, I would say this is a solid experience for its price offering.

I might have struggled at first, which won’t be the case for you lot, because once its systems begin making sense, it hits the right spots to give a strong simulation experience.

The mix of exploration, trading, ship management, and economy systems comes together well. Definitely not the flashiest game out there, and parts of the UI could have been more exciting, but the atmosphere, music, and freedom to play at your own pace make up for it.

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