Kairo

About this board game

Kairo is a 45-minute strategy game for 2–4 players, set in a bustling market where traders build stalls, attract customers, and compete for the most points.

Each player begins by placing three colored stalls, taking stall cards, and receiving one coin in each of six colors. Customers are positioned around the board, ready to visit stalls offering goods in their matching color. The market’s layout and the location of each stall shape every opportunity.

On a turn, a player can draw two cards, move a customer, or play a stall card to develop the market. Stall cards highlight sections of the board and allow players to build new stalls, expand existing ones, or move a blocked-off stall. New stalls must follow placement regulations, including separate regions for stalls of the same color.

• Guide customers: Move any customer toward the closest stall of the matching color along orthogonal paths.
• Use market barkers: Play these cards to call a customer past one or more stalls and toward a preferred destination.
• Earn income: Owners gain coins when their stalls are visited, while other players can receive a commission when a customer visits an opponent’s stall.
• Expand strategically: Pay matching-color coins to enlarge stalls, increase future payouts, reserve space, and score victory points.

Expansion also affects the medal system. Players with the largest stall, or a tied largest stall, in a color can earn medals that provide bonus victory points.

As supplies for one or two colors run low, the game narrows toward building and expanding. Once all players have finished developing their stalls, medals and remaining money add to final scores. In Kairo, thoughtful positioning, customer movement, and well-timed growth determine which trader leads the market.