Le Marché de Samarkand
Le Marché de Samarkand Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Contents
50 "goods" cards (fruits, jewels, spices, textiles and clothing) valued 1 to 7 (except 4). 16 "camel" cards valued 3 to 6. 50 coins of 1, 3 and 5 dirhams. 5 screens.
Goal
Each player is a wealthy merchant coming to sell its annual production of goods to the great souk of Samarkand.
He also comes to buy gifts for his many wives: for this, he has to buy precious fabrics, jewelry and other goods to satisfy the carpet amateur ones as well as jewelry collector ones. He will also seek several goods of equal value to limit the jealousies between the wives of his seraglio.
Finally, he will need to acquire a sufficient number of camels to bring home all his purchases.
And all this, of course, at the best price.
Setup
Each player receives:
- all "goods" cards of a single given type (a player will sell carpets, another spices, etc.)… The unused cards are discarded in the box and will not be used during the game.
- 15 dirhams (25 dirhams for a 3-player game).
- one screen to hide his wealth.
The remaining money is placed near the playing area.
"Camel" cards are shuffled and placed in a deck face down on the table. The first (topmost) card is flipped face up and placed at the centre of the playing area.
The oldest player is declared Dean of the souk and will be the first player.
Game Turn
Each player chooses one card from his hand that he's willing to sell, and places it face down in front of him (without showing it to others). Once all players have chosen a card, they flip them face up. Auctions can begin.
The Dean of the souk begins a descending countdown, starting from 10 (10, 9, 8, etc, down to 0). This countdown represents the purchase value of goods. When the countdown reaches the value at which a player wishes to buy a specific "goods" card, he has to say "Stop!". The Dean interrupts his countdown and the sale proceeds:
The player who stopped the countdown points out which "goods" card he wishes to acquire and pays the sum to the seller. He then places the purchased card face up in front of him, and the Dean resumes the countdown, starting from the value just below that where it left off.
The turn ends when the countdown reaches 0. The remaining cards are then permanently discarded, except the "camel" card. The player to the left of the 1st player becomes the new Dean of the souk, and a new turn begins.
Disputes
If several players say "Stop!" at the same time, they all point out which "goods" card they want buy. If multiple players point out the same card, there is a dispute.
If the Dean is involved in the dispute, he gets the card, by its rightful mark of respect. Otherwise, the card is discarded for the rest of the game, and each player who took part in the dispute pays to the seller half the announced value, rounded to the superior figure (ex: if the count was stopped at 7, each player that took part in the dispute shall pay a sum of 4 dirhams to the seller).
Note
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A player can interrupt the countdown several times during the same turn, and buy as many goods.
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A player can not buy his own goods.
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If a player does not pay the goods he coveted, he pays 1 dirham to the bank for unduly interrupting the auction.
"Camel" Cards
"Camel" cards determine the carrying capacity of the merchant. The number on the "camel" card indicates the amount of goods (number of "goods" cards) that the camel can carry.
A player can buy the flipped-up "camel" card the same way as other goods. Once purchased, the "camel" card is placed behind the player's screen, to hide it from other players.
Once a "camel" card is sold:
- If there are remaining goods, the next card on the "camel" stack is flipped up.
- If there are no more goods, the next card on the "camel" stack is flipped up at the beginning of the next turn.
If the "camel" stack is depleted, players can't buy a camel anymore.
Attention: If multiple players dispute the same camel, it goes first to the Dean of the souk (if he's involved in the dispute). Otherwise, the "camel" card goes to nobody. It's put back on the bottom of the "camel" stack, then the stack is shuffled again the next card on the "camel" stack is flipped up. Players involved in the dispute pay half of the value of the auction to the bank (as for other goods).
End of Game and Scoring
The game ends after the 10th turn, when every merchant has sold his last "goods" card. Then, the scoring proceeds:
The player with the most money at the end of the game scores 5 points, the next 3 points, and the third 1 point. The other players score 0 point. In case of a tie, each player scores the corresponding points.
Then, each player reveals its carrying capacity ("camel" cards) and discards any "goods" cards that his camels can't carry.
Then, each player scores points for the least purchased good type (number of cards). For this, he will score the sum of the points indicated on the corresponding cards.
Attention: If a player did not buy one type of merchandise, he scores 0 point.
Then, each player scores points based on the number of cards that have equal value, all types of goods together:
- For 2 cards, he scores 1 point.
- For 3 cards, he scores 2 points.
- For 4 cards, he scores 4 points.
- For 5 cards, he scores 8 points.
- For 6 or more cards, he scores 16 points.
(The rulebook illustrates each of these groupings with example cards.)
Finally, each player whose carrying capacity is too high subtracts 2 points per "space" not occupied on his camels.
The player with the most points wins.
Note: you can use the dirhams as markers, to ease the scoring.
Three-Player Game
With 3 players, the rules are basically the same. A 4th goods type is added, that will be sold by the bank.
Shuffle these "goods" cards and place them in a deck, face down on the playing area. At each turn, the first (topmost) card is flipped face up and can be purchased like any other, except that money will go to the bank.
When scoring, only the first two players with the more money score points (3 points for first and 1 point for the second).
Players start with 25 dirhams instead of 15.
Variant
For a slightly trickier game, players can decide to hide all "goods" cards they purchase behind their screen, in addition to their money and camels.