Space Cowboys | Jaipur 2nd Edition | Board Game | Ages 10+ | 2 Players | 30 Minute Playing time

Product Information

Then we’ve got the other side to Jaipur, which is actually even MORE rewarding, more frustrating, and more exciting. It’s a really clever, fleshed-out hand management game with clever mechanics that would work really well completely separate from each other, let alone all tied into one! However, if you trade 3-5 matching goods at a time, then you get a bonus scoring chip (worth a lot of points). Exchanges are really useful because you control what goes back into the market for your opponent to choose from. Jaipur is strictly a two player game, and so because I haven’t ever owned a copy and it’s unlikely to be produced at a games night (where the focus for warm up games tends to be on high player counts) I’ve simply never crossed paths with it.

Mercifully, camel cards don’t count against your hand limit, so you can build them up separately and keep them for useful shenanigans in the future, which we’ll explain in a moment. Selling the first one or two can win you the highest value goods and slow down your opponent, but you miss out on the bonuses.At the end of a round, one player receives the Maharajah's seal of excellence, and the first player to earn two seals of excellence wins the privilege of being invited to the Maharajah’s court! I am for keeping track of what has been picked up, but 99% of the time the opponent will play against your starting hand rather than picking up an obvious card.

At the same time, the game really isn't too taxing on your brain, and given it usually takes less than half an hour to play, it is the perfect filler game or game on the go. Splendor is our pick of the two, and not just because the trading is done with lovely custom poker chips (but it doesn't hurt). You are limited to having 7 goods cards in your hand, so you may not take a goods card if you already have 7 goods cards in your hand. Overall, the board game has received favorable reviews, many acknowledging its simplicity, yet sufficient depth.Again, if I don't see myself getting together just to play a game, then I don't like to give it a 9 or higher, but that is really the only criteria that keeps this score so low. It's nice to get a little intimate, and playing a two-player board game is the perfect way to initiate this setup. How do I manage with a paltry 7 cards in my hand – how many different sets am I really trying to collect? On the other hand, you receive increasingly high rewards for selling three, four, or five cards of the same good at a time, so you'd better wait! Of course, herein lies the rub; the risks and rewards of the game lie in what you take and what you sell.

A general lack of luck (or at least the fact that it affects both players equally) and the tight gameplay ensures that Jaipur is usually a close affair. It’d be nice just to get the game out and get playing without any preparation, though, let alone re-preparing it for each round.

You never take an action to directly screw over another player – as you can’t interact directly with them. So, because of it's length, you probably wouldn't get together just to play Jaipur, and you also probably wouldn't play it 5 times in a row. The efficient use of camels is one of the keys to victory in Jaipur, and knowing when to take camels rather than goods can be crucial.

The box it comes in is relatively small, but it's really just a deck of cards and a couple of stacks of tokens, which can easily fit into an even smaller box, if you want to make it even more portable. There are also two main modes of play, either the classic version where you have to remember what cards your opponent drew or the open version where new cards are put face-up in front of players, allowing you to reduce the demands on your memory completely, if you don't like the memory element in a game. Regardless of the type of good, each card you sell lets you take one token of the corresponding colour from the bank, starting from the most valuable token. You are not the only trader vying for the many people wandering around the square, most of whom are tourists looking for a bargain.

But the alternative is to sell, and it’s best to sell sets, but how can you collect a set without taking cards? Bought after years of reading recommendations as a two player game that was fast, fun, and more skill than luck. Like an episode of open all hours, I’ve got everything from 100% unofficial designer t shirts to 300k gold Michael Kors earrings. There’s limited options each turn, so you’ll never spend much time umming and ahhing over a move and you can easily get in a best-of-three game within half an hour.