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Marc Shayed
GamingReport.com
October, 2003
USA
Basariis a new board game from Out Of The Box
Publishing. In this game players haggle, barter, plead, and
make deals with each other every round. This is a game of
acquiring gems. Each player is trying to collect as many gems
(and points) as possible. However, in this game, is an other
player is attempting the same thing as you are… then you have
to barter and haggle with the other player ("What! Two for
that? You must be mad!" ) to see who gets to do the action.
From the back of the box: "Step Right Up! Enter
the street bazaar… the enticing sights, sounds, and the flavor
of the marketplace are everywhere! In BASARI players act as
merchants who compete on the streets of a lucrative gem marketplace.
Each round, players can earn valuable points by haggling and
bartering for precious gemstones. The player with the most
points after 3 rounds wins BASARI."
In a nutshell that’s it… well there are a few
more details.
Game play Each player places his "merchant" piece
somewhere on the board, along with their "start disk" (to
keep track of where they started), and their "points marker"
on the start arrow. Each round all of the players roll their
D6 to see how many spaces to move around the board. The places
they stop on show different colored gems that they may want
to try to acquire.
Important note: In this game there are no "turns"
that each player takes. Each round ALL of the players move,
select actions, and try to earn points.
Once all players have moved, they all chose (secretly)
1 of 3 actions (as printed on their cards). "Gem Stones",
"Points", and "Die" are the 3 actions that a player can choose.
Once all players have selected their action, they reveal (all
at once) what action they wish to do. As long as no other
player has picked the same action everyone gets to do his
or her action . However, if another player wants to do the
same action, then players must haggle and barter with each
other to see who gets to do the action. The player that wins,
pays the other player in gems to do the action.
Actions The three actions are as follows: The
"Gemstones" action allows the player to collect the gemstones
from the space they have landed on. Each space of the board
shows2 to 4different gems, all with different values. The
"Points" action allows the player to collect the points from
space that their "merchant" is standing on. The points range
from 4 to 7 per space. The "Die" action (doesn’t kill anything)
allows players to move their merchant further along the market
place. It isn’t worth many points (0-4) but there are bonus
points awarded for players that make complete laps of the
board.
Gems Blue gems are worth 8 points Green gems
are worth 10 points Yellow gems are worth 12 points Red gems
are worth 14 points
The gems are the money of the game, and the basis
of the points to win the game. So when bartering for actions,
it is important to balance the value of what you will have
to spend, verses what you will get from the action.
So… what does Marc really think? This is a great
example of a good social game for people to enjoy. There is
no real ‘plot’, no direct conflict, no real opportunity to
gang up on someone… just good clean fun. This is VERY suitable
for "family fun".
The rules are very simple and straightforward,
and my play testers were able to open the box, set up and
begin playing in 10mins. My play testers enjoyed the game,
and said that they would play again.
I am happy to give Basari a high recommendation!
Above all I suggest you judge for yourselves.
Take a look at Out Of The Box Publishing and their new board
game Basari at their website http://www.otb-games.com …
and of course at all of your local game stores!
Reviewer: Marc Shayed
Score: 
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