Jaipur Rules

Jaipur

Introduction and goal of the game

In Jaipur, you are hoping to become the Maharaja’s personal trader by amassing more riches than your opponent at the end of each week (round). To do so, collect and exchange goods (cards) at the market, then sell them for rupees (flip the tokens over). If you manage to arrange a larger sale (3 cards or more), you’ll receive a reward (bonus token). The camels have no sale value, but they’re very useful for trading, especially when you want a lot of goods from the market. At the end of each round, the richest trader receives a Seal of Excellence / .

The first player to collect 2 Seals of Excellence wins the game.

55 goods cards

8 × spice 10 × leather 11 × camels back 6 × diamonds 6 × gold 6 × silver 8 × cloth

38 goods tokens

1 camel token 18 bonus tokens

3 Seals of Excellence

NB: The value of the goods tokens is shown in small type on the front and in large type on the back.

The value of the bonus tokens is only shown on the back.

Decoding the Braille

The first letter of the color is used for the tokens with the exception of black(since black and blue start with the same letter) so all black tokens will have the letter X. The braille for the back side of the token will immediately follow the front side on the same line.

Setup

Place 3 camel cards faceup between the players. Shuffle the remaining cards well. Deal 5 cards to each player. The remaining cards are placed facedown as a draw pile (deck). Fill the market (to 5) by drawing 2 cards from the deck and placing them faceup next to the camels. (It is fine if one or both of them are also camels.) The market is now ready. The players then remove any camels from their hands and put them faceup in a stack in front of them. This forms each player’s herd.

Sort the tokens by goods type. Make a pile for each goods type in descending order of value. Spread each pile, as depicted above, so that both players can see all the token values. Sort the bonus tokens by type. Shuffle each type separately, then form 3 piles (not spread out). Place the camel token next to the bonus tokens. Set up the tokens as shown in the above illustration. Put the 3 Seals of Excellence within easy reach of both players. Pick a starting player. You are now ready to start playing

Gameplay

On your turn, you can either:

take cards OR sell cards

But never both ! Your turn is now over and your opponent chooses one of these actions

Take Cards

If you take cards, you must choose one of the following options:

A. take 1 single good,

B. take several goods (=the EXCHANGE option),

C. take all the camels

In detail-

A: Take 1 single good

Take a single goods card from the market into your hand, then replace it with the top card of the deck

B: Take several goods

Take all the goods cards that you want into your hand (they can be of different types), then exchange the same number of cards. The returned cards can be camels, goods, or a combination of the two.

C: Take the camels

Take ALL the camels from the market and add them to your herd, then replace the cards taken by drawing from the deck.

IMPORTANT Players may never have more than 7 cards in their hands at the end of their turn.

Sell Cards

To sell cards, choose one type of goods and discard as many cards of that type as you like into the discard pile. Each sale yields goods tokens and, if the sale is big enough, a bonus. A sale is carried out in 3 steps.

1.

Choose a type of good, and sell as many of them as you wish, placing them faceup in the discard pile.

2.

Take one token for each card you sold starting with the top of the corresponding type. i.e. the highest values first. Stack the tokens in front of you.

3.

If you sell 3 or more cards, take the corresponding bonus token.

3 cards sold take the 3 bonus token

4 cards sold take the 4 bonus token

5 cards sold(or more) take the 5 bonus token

NB: The exact value of a bonus token is not known until it is drawn. For 3 cards sold, it will be 1, 2, or 3 rupees. For 4 cards sold, it will be 4, 5, or 6 rupees and for 5 cards sold, it will be 8, 9, or 10 rupees. Unlike the goods tokens, the rupee value of a bonus token is only printed on the back.

Restrictions during a sale

When selling the 3 most expensive goods (silver, diamonds, gold), the sale must include a minimum of 2 cards.

(This rule applies even if there is only one goods token of the corresponding type left.)

REMINDER You can only sell one goods type each round, never more.

END OF A ROUND

A round ends immediately if

3 types of goods tokens are depleted

There are not enough cards in the deck to refill the market to five cards

SCORING

The player with the most camels in their herd receives the camel token , which is worth 5 rupees. The players turn over their tokens and add them up to determine who is the richest. NB: We suggest that you make piles of 10 rupees as these are easier for children to count, and quicker for adults, as well as being more practical if you need to recount them.

The richest trader takes a Seal of Excellence . In the case of a tie, the player with the most bonus tokens takes the seal. If the players are still tied, the one with the most goods tokens takes the seal.

New Round

If neither player has 2 Seals of Excellence yet, set the game up again and play another round. The player who lost the previous round starts.

END OF THE GAME

The game ends when a player has 2 Seals of Excellence. That player wins the game and is appointed as the Maharaja’s personal trader.

REMINDERS AND NOTES

When you take cards from the market, you either take goods or camels, but never both.

If you decide to take camels, you must always take all the camels from the market.

When making an exchange: - the returned cards can be camels, goods, or a mixture of the two; - the same goods type cannot be both taken from and returned to the market; - you can never exchange just 1 card from your hand for 1 from the market (2 or more are required).

If both players have the same number of camels at the end of a round, neither takes the camel token (5 rupees).

Sometimes there are fewer tokens available than cards during a sale. In that case, you still receive the bonus token for the number of cards sold.

Players are not required to let their opponent know how many camels they possess. Camels do not count toward the 7 card hand limit.

ADVICE

NB: It is best to read this after your first game. The use of the camels is a balancing act. If you have none, you will struggle to fill your hand after making a sale. However, if you take a lot of camels at once, you risk leaving a very profitable market for your opponent.

The best time to take a large group of camels is when your opponent already has 7 cards in hand. Then, even if the new cards in the market are valuable, your opponent will have to exchange the cards in their hand in order to take them.

If you think that some valuable cards are due to turn up, it can be advantageous to make an exchange that fills the market with camels. If your opponent takes those camels, you will have the first opportunity to take the new cards in the market.

There are three main sources of income: the 3 expensive goods, the first tokens in each set, and the big sales bonuses. All three are important: don’t let your opponent grab the lion’s share of the diamonds, gold, and silver. Sell before your opponent if you can, and try to make one or two really big sales !

Sébastien Pauchon My, oh, my, how time flies! The last decade passed in the blink of an eye. I remember the first ideas that led to Jaipur very well: it all started with the desire of a fast barter phase (hence a “neutral” central market). I eventually kept it to a 2-player game, for it is in such a configuration that barter has the greatest impact on the opponent. This resulted in a tense trading system, but without direct confrontation, which may explain its popularity over time. For this new printing, Jaipur boards the Space Cowboys rocket... to infinity, and beyond!

Vincent Dutrait I have strived to blend modern and classic methods by adopting new artistic approaches while remaining faithful to the tools of old: paint, pencils, paper. I have been surfing on the waves of youth publications, RPGs, and board games, a world to which I henceforth devote myself exclusively. My favorite areas are Fantasy and Adventure. The Jaipur and Jodhpur diptych holds a special place in my heart, giving me the opportunity to share Maharajanian colors, textures, and atmospheres!