za3k > games > bazaar

playtesting: none

you are one of many spacefaring merchants, meeting to trade goods in your cargo hold at the market before you warp home. you know of a number of collectors across the galaxy who have expressed interest in certain items, and what you can fetch for the rest of your cargo hold is insignificant in comparison. avoid taking aboard contraband, or you will have to pay hefty bribes.

bazaar is a game for 3-8 players. you will need:

• a deck of mission cards (use a standard deck and the table given, or print the pdf. see 'mission deck' below)
• a deck of treasures (use a standard deck, but not the same one)

each player has 7 missions: 5 public and 3 secret missions.

the goal of the game is to score as high as you can, with no regard for how other players go. feel free to help each other or form teams--there is no cost to you if other players score well.

written by zachary "za3k" vance on 2022-03-04.

Mission Setup

• Missions represent a rich collector somewhere in the galaxy. The collector will pay top dollar for certain treasures.
• A mission belongs to a team of players. This means all the players know that collector. At the end of the game, the mission is a scoring rule for that team. It doesn't affect anyone else.
• A mission is face-up (public) or face-down (secret). The team always sees their missions, but nonmembers might be in the dark.
• A mission can be a co-operative TEAM mission, representing a collector like a museum. Everyone profits when the museum gets historical artifacts.
• A mission can be a competitive INDIVIDUAL mission, representing a private collector. Only the merchant bringing them famous artwork will be paid.
• Each players plays on behalf of four teams:
  • Everyone (the whole table)
  • Themselves (a team of 1)
  • A team with themselves and the player to their left (a team of 2)
  • A team with themselves and the player to their right (a team of 2)
• Each of the teams other than the table is dealt one face-up mission and one secret mission.
• The table is dealt one face-up mission, which is always an individual mission (redraw if needed).
• In total each player has 8 missions: 5 public missions and 3 secret missions. Secret missions may NOT be flipped over and shown until the end of the game. Players are free to claim anything they like about their face-down missions.

Play

• Deal a hand of cards out to players. A player can select up to two cards to remain face-down. Players always score and make trades using face-up or face down cards, and can flip cards freely as long as at most two are face-down.
• On a player's turn, they offer trades to other players. Trading should be kept to no more than one minute per turn or so. A player can pass if they're happy with their current cards.
• After one round with no trades, the game ends.
• Finally, the game is scored. Scores are per-player. Your goal is to score as high as possible. It doesn't matter how well your team does, or if you beat anyone.

Trades

• Trades are always an offer of cards for cards. For example, "I will give you this jack for any two spades", or "I will give you two queens for a red jack".
• You can't give or take cards in exchange for nothing. Cards are always traded. The trade doesn't have to be even--trading 2 cards for 3 cards is fine.
• You can trade face-down cards. Any promises you make about them must be honest. If you offer to trade something you don't have, the trade is refunded.
• Promises about things other than cards ("I will help you later..." and so on) are allowable, but there's nothing in the rules that says it has to happen. Only card exchanges are covered by the rules.

Scoring

At the end of the game, score according to the missions:

• Individual missions are scored based on the player's hand, and points go only to the player
• Team missions are scored as though the team had one very large hand. The full set of points is awarded to each player on the team.

Winning

Unlike in most games, whether you win or lose is based only on your points, not how anyone else does. Try to win as many games as you can!

Mission Deck

the pdf version may not have the exact same missions--these were chosen to be more easily memorable