The map the player receives from uncle Niccolo resembles those of the period: it is highly accurate close to Venice but grows much less so the further one goes.

The mechanic has been praised by reviewers: "Though its gameplay was nowhere near as sophisticated as that of its near contemporary Civilization, Merchant Prince/Machiavelli did a better job of capturing what exploring is really like.

[7] On the other hand, PC Player gave it a rating of 56, finding it essentially similar to The Patrician and Hanse,[8] and Game Bytes considered it "almost great", given that the AIs—while otherwise competent—were unable to negotiate and interact at the level of Master of Orion, released the same year.

"[13] It has subsequently earned praise compared to other turn-based strategy games,[14][15] including by professors of history.

Exploring is less about moving hesitantly to what you think is there and more about walking boldly into the darkness because you know that the next civilization can't be too close or that no one ever starts more than a few seconds from a gold mine.