Safranito Game Rules

Welcome to the world of Safranito, a unique and exciting game that will challenge your strategy and luck! In this game, you’ll test your skills as a trader, trying to outwit your opponents and become the ultimate saffron merchant.

Here’s how it works:

1. Setting up the Game: To start the game, each player places their shop board in front of them. Then, the market board is set up according to the number of players. The saffron, salt, and dice are placed near the market board, and the meeples are placed in the general supply.

2. Understanding the Game Board: The market board consists of different spaces for saffron and salt. Each space has a price tag which determines the cost of buying or selling saffron or salt. Some spaces also have a bonus which allows you to take additional actions.

3. Buying and Selling: On your turn, you have two actions: buy and sell. To buy saffron or salt, you pay the indicated price and place the corresponding cubes on your shop board. To sell saffron or salt, you place the cubes back on the market board and receive the indicated price.

4. Using the Dice: The dice in Safranito serve as a way to add an element of luck to the game. When you buy or sell, you roll the dice. The result of the roll determines the price modifier for that transaction. A higher roll means a better price when selling and a worse price when buying.

5. Special Actions: Certain spaces on the market board give you special actions. For example, the “saffron dance” space allows you to take extra saffron cubes from the general supply. These special actions can give you an advantage over your opponents and help you make more profitable trades.

6. Earning Coins and Points: Whenever you sell saffron or salt, you earn coins. Coins can be used to buy additional saffron or salt or to gain special abilities. At the end of the game, you also earn points based on the saffron and salt cubes in your shop.

7. Game End: The game ends when all the saffron or salt cubes have been taken from the market board. The player with the most points wins the game and becomes the ultimate saffron merchant!

So, are you ready to dive into the world of Safranito and test your trading skills? Get ready for an exciting and challenging experience that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Good luck, and may the saffron gods be with you!

Come and see Rajive’s market booth, the hottest spot in town! Chefs from all across the country gather here to experiment with Rajive’s spices, creating unique blends that set the latest gourmet trends.

The haggling at Rajive’s booth is a sight to behold. With a flick of the wrist, top chefs skillfully throw roasted bread chips into spice bowls, displaying their expertise. And in the process, they also take out chips from the bowls of their unwelcome competitors. It’s a thrilling competition that reveals the true nature of the chefs’ offers.

Who will emerge victorious and secure the highly sought-after spices? It’s a game of clever tactics, and the one who can outsmart the others will taste success.

The Contest

Getting Started

First, secure the gameboard in place using the two clamps, then place it in the center of the table. Each player should receive six chips in their chosen color and 200 rupees.

Next, organize the remaining money and create a bank adjacent to the gameboard.

After that, separately shuffle the spice blends and spice cards, placing them face-down next to the gameboard as a draw pile. Refer to the table on the right to see how many spice blends should be face up next to the gameboard and how many spice cards should be placed on the layout spaces on the edge of the gameboard.

Lastly, the person who was the last to cook becomes the head chef and receives the pepper mill.

Table – A Quick Overview of Each Game Round

Number of PlayersSpice BlendsSpice CardsChips per Round

2	2	4	4
3	2	5	4
4	3	6	3

Example: Alright y’all, picture this: we’re in a game with 3 players, right? At the beginning of each round, 2 spice blends are sitting right there for us to see.

The Name of the Game

Now listen up, folks. Our goal is to be real slick and throw our chips skillfully into those spice bowls. We want to show the other players what we’re made of and knock their chips out of the way. Once all the chips have been thrown, the money and spices start changing hands.

But hold on to your hats, because there’s more. If we gather the right spices, we can make our very own spice blends. Are you following me? Good. Now, the player who manages to collect 3 spice blends first, well, they’re the big winner.

How to Play

This is how the game goes down, folks. Each round, we take turns playing in a clockwise fashion. And in case you’re wondering, a round is made up of 4 parts:

1. We start off by throwing our chips. Gotta aim just right, ya hear?
2. After everyone’s done throwing chips, it’s time to see what action spaces we landed on.
3. Now’s when things get interesting. We can sell and buy spices. It’s all about making those deals.
4. Last but not least, we put together our spice blends.

Once the pepper mill has been passed to the left, a new round begins.

I. Tossing Chips

Starting with the head chef, each player takes a turn to toss one of their chips onto the gameboard. It’s best to place the chip facedown so that other players can’t see its value. Then, in the same order, all players toss a second chip onto the gameboard, and so on.

In games with two or three players, each player tosses four chips per round. In a game with four players, each player tosses three chips.

Note: It’s important to remember that strategically shooting off chips already on the board can be a smart move to improve your own position.

Important

When you’re throwing a chip in Safranito, you don’t have to worry about it going off the gameboard. You can safely toss it without your hand crossing over the edge.

Throwing a chip in the right way. Throwing a chip in the wrong way.

To determine if a chip is valid or not, you need to check if its center is inside a bowl or an action space. If you can still see the edge of a bowl or space through the chip’s hole, it is considered “inside” and therefore valid. If there’s any doubt, the head chef makes the final decision.

Whether a chip is face up or face down doesn’t matter when it comes to validity.

If a chip lands on or goes beyond the edge of the gameboard, it’s out of play for the current round. You can’t replace it with another chip.

Now, let’s move on to evaluating action spaces.

II. Evaluating Action Spaces

Here’s how we carry out the actions:

First, the head chef shows all the chips on the “next” action space. Only the player with the highest total value of chips can perform this action. If there’s a tie, we use the order of players to determine who goes next. The player sitting closest to the head chef in a clockwise direction gets to carry out the action.



Action Spaces

When it comes to taking action, there are a few important things to keep in mind. First, it’s crucial to understand the order in which actions are carried out. Let me break it down for you:



1. An Extra Toss

Hey there! Did you know that now you get to throw an extra chip on the gameboard? Yup, it’s true! And here’s the cool part: if that chip happens to land on the action space, well, guess what? The action doesn’t happen anymore. How’s that for a twist?

2. Another Spice Card



When I play the game, I get to pick spice cards from the draw pile. The number of cards I get is determined by the first digit of my most valuable chip in this action space.

Once I have the cards, I choose one that I want to keep. The rest of the cards go back under the draw pile.



Why You Should Reserve Your Spice Blends

When I play this game, I start by taking the topmost spice blend from the draw pile. This blend is special because it’s just for me, but I don’t put it together yet.

I keep it hidden from everyone else and make sure it’s separate from the spice blends I’ve already put together. I can even reserve multiple blends if I want to.



4. I’m the Head Chef Now!

I grab the pepper mill, and just like that, I’m the head chef.

III. Spices for Sale and Purchase

First, I return any invalid chips to their rightful owners. Then, I decide the order in which we’ll trade spices. I pick a bowl with at least one chip and handle the sale before moving on to buying that particular spice. Once that’s done, I move on to the next spice bowl.

I repeat this process until there are no more chips left on the gameboard.

Time to Sell Spices

I reveal all the chips in the chosen spice bowl. Now, any player with the corresponding spice cards can sell that spice, regardless of whether they have any of their own chips in that bowl or not.

When you sell each spice, the bank pays you an amount equal to the value of all chips in the bowl. The spice cards you sell are placed in the discard pile.

After all the sales have been made, the players who sold their spices retrieve their chips from the bowl. But they are not allowed to buy that same spice right away!



I have four chips in the saffron bowl, and they add up to 120 rupees. When Blue sells twice the amount of saffron, he gets 240 rupees. Meanwhile, Red earns 120 rupees for one saffron card. Now, Blue decides to take his chip back from the bowl.

All About Buying Spices

If there’s at least one spice card displayed, it’s ready to be bought. However, you can only make a purchase if you have your own chip in that particular spice bowl. Keep in mind that you cannot buy a spice you’ve already sold in the current round.

The player with the highest total value for their chips in the bowl gets the first opportunity to buy. They need to pay the bank the total value in rupees and take one displayed spice card from the edge of the gameboard. After that, they’re allowed to retrieve their most valuable chip (or the only chip) from the bowl.

If there are multiple cards of this spice on display, the player whose chips have the highest total value in this bowl gets to make the next purchase. This can be the same player as before. The buyer then pays the same value in rupees to the bank and takes their most valuable chip out of the bowl.

This continues until there are no cards of this spice left on display, or there are no chips left in the bowl, or nobody wants to buy anymore.

If multiple players have chips with the same total value, the order of players determines who goes first: the player sitting closest to the head chef in clockwise order.

Even if you don’t want or can’t buy anything, you still get your chips back from the bowl. Unsold spices remain on the edge of the gameboard.



Wow, things are really heating up in the spice market! Orange seems to be leading the pack with the highest total value and a pocket full of rupees. They decide to treat themselves and snag a saffron card for 50 rupees. What a deal!

Meanwhile, Green is getting in on the action too. They notice that Orange is closer to the head chef and the saffron is running out fast. Green knows they need to act quickly, so they snatch up the second saffron card for just 20 rupees. Talk about a steal!

IV. Time to Spice Things Up

Now it’s time to show off your spice skills! Starting with the head chef, each player has a chance to create one of the amazing spice blends displayed face-up. If you have the right cards, you can proudly place them on the discard pile and reveal your masterful creation for all to see. This is your moment to shine!



Hey there! Let’s talk about spice blends. Each card I have shows three spices that we need to make the special blend. For example, this card has cardamom, chili, and cumin.

But here’s something important to remember: We don’t refill the spice blends that are already shown before we start a new round. So, there might be a chance that there won’t be any spice blends left for the next players. It could happen that none of the desired spice blends stay or maybe none at all.

If you want, you can make your own spice blends during this phase. You can make more than one and even add to the ones already shown. Just place them in front of you, face-up.

Starting a New Round

Now, when a round starts, the person who currently has the pepper mill passes it to the neighbor on their left. And guess what? That neighbor becomes the new head chef! Exciting, right?

And don’t worry, if we need more spice blends, we’ll refill the display. You can check out the table on page 1 for more details.

Once you’ve finished, you should place some fresh spice cards on the gameboard’s perimeter. The number of cards required will vary based on the number of players, so be sure to consult the table on page 1 for guidance. If the draw pile runs out of cards, simply mix up the cards from the discard pile and place them on the table as the new draw pile.

Game Conclusion

When a player completes their third spice blend, the game comes to an end right away, and that player emerges as the victor.