Will you be invited to Maharaja’s court by being the best trader in Jaipur?
My family loves to travel and always brings smaller games to play when we have some downtime. It’s also convenient to have some two player games to kill some time if another player is busy. After some research, we stumbled upon Jaipur, a quick, best-of-three, two-player game focused on collecting and trading resources.
Each player is a well-known trader in Jaipur seeking to become the best. Playing is simple: take resources, or sell them! The higher quantity of a specific resource you collect, the bigger bonus you get. Players must also manage their camel herd wisely in order to benefit from more rare resources in the land. The options are as follows: take all of the camels in the market, take a single resource, or grab several resources, but you must exchange others from your hand.
At the end of the game, whoever has sold the most goods for the most value, wins! There are six varieties of goods, each with different rarity and higher value. Racing to be the first to sell a rare good can earn you more fortune.
Mechanics & Categories: Card, Economic, Hand Management, Open Drafting, Set Collection
COMPACT
Everything fits into a tiny box: small deck of cards and 60 (almost poker-sized) cardboard chips. The game box itself is rather small, but it’s probably easier to get a smaller box or even a bag to store everything so it’s easier to throw in a bag. Super easy to bring along on your travels.
Ideally you will need a table to play as there needs to be a place to lay out the center row of market cards as well as splaying the chips out so you can see the remaining values of the resources. If you don’t want to splay the chips, you can save some room by just keeping them in individual stacks.
QUICK & EASY
Jaipur is played in the best-of-three format. As described earlier, you only take cards or sell cards, that’s it! If you like quick games that don’t make you think too much, this game is perfect. If you have some time to spare, it doesn’t take any time to set up and get playing.
Jaipur would even be great for younger kids and introducing them to basic economics. The “tricky” part feels more like pressing your luck. When do you use your camels in order to take a bunch of goods from the market? Are you willing to sacrifice points and not have the most camels at the end? These are all minor mechanisms that give the game a bit more strategy for those needing a bit more.
VIBRANT STYLE
Though pink might not be for everyone, it was a vibrant surprise to see the box insert in bright pink. The color compliments nicely with the green box. In newer versions, the box is golden yellow with pops of pink as well. Regardless which version you purchase, you will see exciting colors.
Each of the resources in the market are also bright colors to easily differentiate between them all. The artwork is different between versions of the game, but the graphic design is fresh and fantasy-like with especially adorable camels!
Final Comments
If you are looking for two player games or small gifts for friends and family, this would be a solid purchase. No, it is not the most invigorating game out there and it plays very fast, but it suits its needs well. Jaipur is great for entry level learning of games, and a great filler. It’s also a pretty card game to play. However, if you are one who likes strategizing, then maybe you can pass on this one.
Similar To: Lost Cities, Morels, Targi
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Publisher: Game Works
Game(s) Pictured: Jaipur
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