Basari

About this board game

Basari is a 3–4-player marketplace game of gem merchants, combining racing, collecting, trading, and prediction in approximately 25 minutes.

Each player begins with 12 gemstones: three in each of four colors. Every turn starts with a simultaneous die roll, sending the merchants’ markers around the track before everyone secretly chooses an action.

• Take a variety of gems from a market stall.
• Immediately score between 4 and 7 points.
• Roll and move again while also collecting points.

Action cards are revealed at the same time, turning every choice into a test of judgment. If only one player selects an action, that player performs it. When two players choose the same action, they barter back and forth with gemstones until one accepts an offer and the other takes the action.

If three or four players select the same action, it is cancelled. In a four-player game, there is always a conflict among the three available actions, creating especially lively negotiations and making it important to anticipate what the other merchants will do.

The game continues through repeated movement and action phases. Whenever a merchant completes a lap around the board, the round ends and bonus points are awarded for having the majority in each gem color and for completing a lap.

After three rounds, the merchant with the highest score wins. First released in 1998, Basari turns simple movement and gemstone holdings into a tense contest of timing, bargaining, and calculated prediction.