Parkersburg News and Sentinel
Michael Erb
June 2008
USA

Basari is a game of barter, where players take on the roles of competing gem merchants. The game play is simple, but lends itself to a lot of decision-making and complex play. Players roll a six-sided die each round and move their pieces around the game board. They can choose to end their turn and score points, draw gems from the central gem pile or roll the die again to score points.

The trick is, the players simultaneously announce their actions. If only one player chooses an action, that action takes place. If more than one chooses the same action, the players must barter using gems to decide who gets to take the action. The player with the most points at the end of three rounds wins the game.

There is a lot of decision making and wheeling-and-dealing in Basari, which is the major appeal of the game. It is simple and fast, but very engaging. The components, which feature colored flat marbles as gems, wooden playing pieces and a beautiful game board representing the marketplace, are all high quality and very well done.

Basari is for 3-4 players ages 10 and up, and plays in about 20-30 minutes. The game retails for $24.99.

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