Samarkand Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Contents
• Preparation
• Winning the Game
• Playing the Game
• The Game Board
  • Nomad Camps
  • Oasis
  • City
• Movement
  • 1 Space Free of Charge
  • Nomad Camp Extra Move
  • Dice for 5 Piasters
• No More Commodities
• Game End
• Credits

Contents

• 1 game board
• 5 price table cards
• 102 commodity cards
  • 22 x grain
  • 20 x fruit
  • 18 x copper goods
  • 16 x carpets
  • 14 x camels
  • 12 x jewels
• 2 transparent market chips
• 5 game figures
• Money (18 x 100, 12 each of 50, 20, 10 and 5 Piaster)
• 1 special die
• 1 game rules

Preparation

Place the game board in the center of the table. Sort the play money by value and place beside the board. Place the special die and the transparent market chips near the board. Shuffle the commodity cards and place 2 cards face up in each of trading fields (4, 5 and 6) on the board.

When playing with fewer than 5 players, reduce the number of commodity cards to:

• With 4 players, remove 1 of each commodity.
• With 3 players, remove 3 of each commodity.
• With 2 players, remove 5 of each commodity.

Place any cards removed back into the game box.

Each player takes a game figure, 200 Piaster and a price table. Choose one player to be dealer; that player deals 7 commodity cards to each player face down. These cards are the players' starting hands. The oldest player begins by placing his game figure on any one of the 20 fields on the board. In clockwise order, the other players follow suit and place their game figures on the game board. More than one player may start in the same space. The oldest player then takes the die and begins play; the others will follow in clockwise order.

Winning the Game

The first player to have 500 Piaster wins the game.

Playing the Game

The players' merchants travel the routes shown by the red arrows. With the Nomads they can trade the goods they have for those they want, in the oases they can buy new goods, and in the bazaars of the large cities they can sell them for great profits. The more goods of one kind a player sells, the more money he can earn. With some luck when buying and skill when trading, a player will do well. A player who visits a Nomad camp with a full trading field will have a great opportunity.

The Game Board

The board has 3 types of spaces:

• The small NOMAD camps (10), where goods are traded.
• The OASES (6) where goods can be purchased.
• The CITIES (4) where goods can be sold.

Nomad Camps

Each Nomad camp has a value of 4, 5 or 6 and has a trading field for the same number of cards at the edge of the board. When a player enters a Nomad camp which does not have the maximum number of cards on its trading field, the player must place a card from his hand (as a greeting gift) on the field for that camp. If a player has no card to give as a greeting gift, he must draw the top commodity card, place it in the trading field for that Nomad camp, and pay 20 Piaster to the bank. After giving (or buying) the greeting gift, the player may trade cards from his hand for those available at the Nomad camp. To do so, the player simply takes a card from the trading field for that Nomad camp and places one from his hand in its place. The player may make as many trades as he wishes.

If a Nomad camp already contains the maximum number of cards (4, 5, or 6), the player must pay 10 Piaster and takes all the commodity cards, which he adds to his hand. As at the beginning of the game, he then draws two cards and places them face up in the trading field for that oasis.

Example: Ali enters a Nomad camp with three goods cards (2x jewels, 1x grain). As greeting gift she offers 1 fruit. Then she trades 1 copper goods for a jewel and 1 carpet for the second jewel. The trading field for this Nomad camp is now full with four cards. The next player who enters this space must buy all four cards for 10 Piaster, but does not give a greeting gift.

Oasis

When a player enters an oasis, he must buy 1 or 4 cards at the price indicated. He pays the money to the bank and draws 1 or 4 cards.

If a player enters an Oasis and does not have sufficient money to buy even a single card, he must give up three of his cards. The player on his right chooses the three randomly from his hand. The cards are immediately shuffled into the commodity deck.

City

When a player enters a city, he must sell at least two cards of one of the two commodities they will buy, if he can. The player decides which of the two markets in the city he will sell to. The price table shows the prices the city (the bank) will pay for different numbers of goods. For example, if a player sells 5 grain, the grain market will pay 40 Piaster.

Cards sold are shuffled immediately into the commodity deck.

Two of the market tokens show a gate elbow symbol. Such a market will only buy an assortment of the goods. In fact, they will buy just one of each good. For example, they would pay 15 Piaster for 1 grain, 1 fruit and 1 jewel.

After the sale, the player covers the corresponding symbol with one of the two transparent chips. If there is a chip available off the board, he must use this one. If both chips are already on the board, the player chooses which one to move. When a commodity with its symbol covered is sold, the bank pays one price level less. A player may not sell more than the maximum number of goods shown on the price table card to get a higher price (for example, a player could not sell 7 jewels to earn 200 Piaster).

If a player enters a city and cannot sell the items the city's markets will buy, he must immediately show all his cards to the other players to prove that he cannot sell. If they determine he can sell, he must. If he cannot sell, he must pay 20 Piaster to the bank.

Movement

On a player's turn he must decide from one of 3 possible moves:

1 Space Free of Charge

The player may move his figure exactly one space in the direction of the arrows for no cost. He then takes whatever action(s) allowed or required in the space he has reached.

Nomad Camp Extra Move

When a player gives a greeting gift at a Nomad camp having moved 1 space free of charge, he may, instead of trading, move one additional space in the direction of an arrow. If he enters another Nomad camp, he may do the same thing, again after giving a greeting gift. When he finally ends his movement, he then takes whatever action(s) allowed or required in the space he has reached.

Dice for 5 Piasters

The player pays 5 Piaster to the bank and rolls the special die. The player then moves exactly the number of spaces indicated on the die. He may only move in the direction indicated by the arrows.

When the backwards arrow is rolled, the player must move backwards (against the arrows) one space. When the arrows offer more than one choice, the player chooses which space to move to.

He then takes whatever action(s) allowed or required in the space he has reached.

No More Commodities

When the last commodity card is drawn, each player must immediately reduce the number of cards in their hand to 12 by discarding any over that number. Shuffle the discarded cards to form a new commodity deck. After shuffling the commodity deck, the interrupted move is completed if it was incomplete when the deck ran out.

Game End

The game ends as soon as a player reaches 500 Piaster. Only cash counts; commodities in a player's hand have no value when counting a player's cash for purposes of winning the game.

Experienced players wanting a longer or shorter game may want to change the goal from 500 Piasters.

Credits

• Author: Sid Sackson
• Graphics: Doris Matthäus
• Box cover: James Gürney, Five Mercies, Agentur Schlück
• Comic: Sascha Krämer
• Development and production: Gruenspan-Spiele
• English translation & editing: Jay Tummelson
• Copyright: 1998 Abacusspiele
• Published in English by Rio Grande Games.