Market
The Market trades resources and researches economic upgrades. It lets players adjust resource balance and improve gathering, but each improvement costs resources that could otherwise fund units or age advancement.
Recorded values
- Cost
- 100 Wood
- Available
- Exploration Age; Fortress Age (Ethiopians)
- Builder
- Settler, Native Villager, Hindu Villager, Market Rickshaw, Indian Market Rickshaw
- Function
- Buy/sell resources; Researches economic technologies
- Construction
- 15 sec · up to 8 builders
- Structure
- 2,000 hit points · 12 line of sight · 5x5 footprint
Function
Markets are built by eligible workers and offer civilization-dependent technologies such as gathering upgrades and hunting improvements. A trade exchange converts one resource into another at a rate that can be less efficient than gathering; the technology menu changes across civilizations and releases.
Placement & timing
Use the Market to cover an immediate resource shortage or research an upgrade that will benefit enough workers for long enough to repay its cost. Avoid buying upgrades for resources your current plan barely gathers.
Technology and economic upgrades
The Market is an early economic building where civilizations research improvements to gathering and worker combat. European civilizations generally have one resource technology for each resource at each Age and two Villager combat upgrades. Native civilizations use fewer Market technologies, while Farm and Estate research can affect all sources of the relevant resource. Asian civilizations divide gathering improvements between resource-specific and all-resource technologies; together their effect is designed to provide the corresponding total increase. Availability and exact names depend on civilization and release, so a technology appearing in one Market does not mean every civilization can research it. Prioritize upgrades for the resource workers are actively collecting and that the next army needs. A gathering bonus compounds over time, while an upgrade to an unused resource may take too long to repay.
Buying and selling commodities
The Market can exchange Food and Wood for Coin at prices affected by a shared exchange rate and each player’s trading fee. Trades happen in lots of 100 units. At the starting exchange rates, buying 100 Food or Wood costs 125 Coin and selling 100 returns 75 Coin under the default fee. Each transaction changes the shared rate by 1.25, modeling supply and demand, so repeated sales lower the sale price while repeated purchases raise the cost. The rate has lower and upper bounds, preventing prices from moving without limit. Because all players share the commodity rate, one player’s trading can affect what the opponent pays. Use the exchange to bridge a short-term shortage or complete an Age-up, not as an unlimited way to turn one resource into another at a favorable rate.
Trading fees and Home City cards
Home City support can improve commodity trading fees. Advanced Market changes the buy and sell factors, making the initial sale return more Coin and the purchase cost lower than the default. The benefit applies to future transactions, so it is most useful when the player expects substantial trade volume. Compare the card slot and shipment timing with the quantity of Food and Wood that will actually be exchanged. A favorable fee does not remove the shared supply-and-demand movement, and a player can still push a resource rate toward its floor or ceiling by trading repeatedly. Plan the largest exchange before a critical queue begins, since prices can change after each 100-unit lot.
When to exchange resources
Buying Coin with excess Food or Wood can help finish an upgrade, field a military shipment or reach the next Age. Buying Food or Wood with Coin can solve a construction or worker-production shortage. The decision is strongest when it unlocks a specific action immediately. If the trade only changes the shape of the stockpile without enabling anything, the fee loses value. Watch the exchange rate before each lot and stop when the required cost is covered. Avoid selling a resource that is needed for the next Settler batch, building or Home City card. A Market exchange is a tool for smoothing a temporarily uneven economy, not a substitute for safe gathering.
Building placement and opportunity cost
The Market is commonly available early, but building and researching still compete with military production and Age advancement. Place it where Villagers can reach the next resource area safely and leave room for nearby economic structures. The structure’s value comes from the upgrades and flexible exchange choices, not from direct resource production. If the opponent is pressuring the base, prioritize defenses before filling every Market research slot. Some civilization-specific economy buildings replace or complement its role, so check the civilization entry before assuming the same upgrade tree. Market technologies can be especially valuable in longer games because their gathering bonuses operate continuously once researched.
Use with a planned economic transition
A Market can help prepare for a timing that requires one resource more than another. Before aging up, calculate whether a small exchange completes the cost faster than sending more workers to a distant mine or forest. Before producing a specialist army, make sure the trade does not undermine the resource needed to replace losses. Because each trade changes the rate, large exchanges are best split only when the player is watching the price and knows the remaining requirement. In team matches, another player’s trades can also move the shared market, so prices may differ from a solo test. Read the live rate rather than relying on a memorized opening value.
Gathering upgrades are civilization-specific
Market research does not use one identical tree for every civilization. European markets typically offer separate Food, Wood and Coin gathering improvements per Age, plus Villager combat research. Asian civilizations divide some effects between a resource-specific upgrade and an all-resource upgrade, with the combined gathering increase providing the intended total. Native civilizations may instead improve resource gathering at Farms or Estates, and those effects can apply to more than one source. Check the Market technology list for the civilization you are playing before calculating a build order. Researching a gather upgrade is most useful when enough Villagers are assigned to that resource and the match will last long enough to repay the cost.
Market research and worker safety
The Market’s combat upgrades can improve Villager survival, but they do not replace military protection. Research them when workers are likely to face raids or when the upgrade also fits a broader economy plan. If the enemy is already attacking, build military units or defensive structures before finishing optional research. A safer workforce gathers longer and makes economic upgrades more valuable, so the Market contributes indirectly to map control. Keep the Market near the working economy rather than placing it on a forward edge that is difficult to protect.
Shared price changes require live decisions
Food and Wood trade rates are global. A player who repeatedly sells one commodity pushes down its sale return, while purchases raise its cost; the opponent sees the same exchange-rate movement. The Market rewards checking the current price before every large exchange. If a teammate or opponent has recently traded heavily, a memorized opening price may no longer apply. Stop trading when the needed amount is funded, and avoid pushing the rate to an unfavorable bound simply to convert an entire stockpile.
Research for the active economy
Market upgrades should match the resources that workers currently gather. A gathering improvement compounds over time, while researching an unused resource may not repay its cost before the next fight. European, Asian and Native civilizations have different research layouts, so inspect the current technology list instead of relying on another civilization build order. Villager combat research may help in a raid-heavy match, but it does not replace military protection. Place the Market within the protected economy and finish the upgrades that support the next army or Age timing.
Avoid excessive commodity trading
A large exchange can change the shared price for every player. Check the current rate before each 100-unit trade and stop once the required Food, Wood or Coin is secured. Repeatedly selling surplus can push the return down, and purchases can raise the cost. Keep enough of each resource for workers, buildings and the next production queue before exchanging the remainder.
Bridge a shortage without breaking production
A Market trade can complete one critical purchase when gathering cannot provide the resource quickly enough, but keep a reserve for the next Settler batch and military queue. A player with excess Wood can buy Coin to reach an Age-up, while excess Coin can buy Wood for a building or upgrade. Make the smallest trade that unlocks the planned action, then return workers to gathering. Remember that all players share the changing commodity rate, so another participant can alter the next purchase price.
Use each trade for a defined cost
Check the exact missing amount for an Age advance, upgrade or unit batch, then exchange only enough resources to pay it. Keep the rest gathering naturally.
Check prices again before a large purchase
A recent trade by any player can alter the shared price before the next lot is bought.
Research before the next Age
Finish the gathering upgrade before advancing when its cost can be repaid.
Trade resources and research economy upgrades
The Market is an Exploration Age economic building available to most civilizations; the Hausa are excluded from the standard Market profile. Ethiopians gain access in the Fortress Age through an Indian alliance. It costs 100 Wood, takes 15 seconds to build and has 2,000 hit points with a 5-by-5 footprint. Settlers and their counterparts, Native Villagers and Market Rickshaws can construct one. The Market lets players buy and sell resources and research economic technologies. Its short build time makes it an early investment, but buying resources exchanges value at the current rate and should be reserved for a timing where immediate access matters.
Research for the limiting resource
Economic technologies improve gathering or other parts of the economy, but their costs compete with military production and Age advancement. Identify which resource is limiting the next two or three purchases before selecting a technology. A gathering improvement has more value when enough workers can use it for a long period; a late upgrade may not repay its cost before the match ends. Market access and its technology list vary by civilization, expansion and alliance, so open the actual building panel rather than assuming every faction has the same research. The Market does not create resources on its own: assign workers to the appropriate source and use buying or selling only to bridge a specific shortfall.