Jaipur (card game)
Jaipur is a two-player card game designed by Sébastien Pauchon and published by GameWorks Sàrl in 2009. The game is themed around trading goods at the Maharaja's court in Jaipur, India, with players competing to become the Maharaja's personal trader.
Gameplay:
Players act as traders seeking to collect and sell goods (cards) – leather, spices, cloth, jewels, and gold – for rupees (victory points). The game features a market of five cards laid out in the center of the table, consisting of goods and camels. Players have a hand limit and take turns performing one of the following actions:
- Take all camels: Players can take all camel cards from the market and add them to their herd. Camels are useful for large trades and provide an end-game bonus.
- Exchange goods cards: Players can exchange one or more goods cards from their hand with an equal number of cards from the market.
- Take one goods card: If a player wants to take a single goods card from the market, they must replace it with a camel from their herd. This is the only way to acquire individual goods cards.
- Sell goods: Players can sell one or more goods of a single type. Selling early provides a higher payout, as bonus tokens are awarded for the first few sales of each good. However, selling in bulk can yield more rupees overall, especially for more valuable goods like gold and jewels.
Winning:
The game is played over multiple rounds. A round ends when three of the six types of goods are depleted. The player with the most camels at the end of the round also receives a camel bonus token. Players count their rupees from sold goods and any bonus tokens. The player with the most rupees wins the round and receives a Seal of Excellence. The first player to win two Seals of Excellence wins the game.
Components:
The game typically includes:
- Goods cards (leather, spices, cloth, gold, jewels)
- Camel cards
- Goods tokens (representing the value of sold goods)
- Bonus tokens (awarded for early or bulk sales)
- Camel bonus token
- Seals of Excellence
- Rulebook