ASANTE

Hey there! As an African merchant, I’m on a mission to dominate the fierce marketplace and become the wealthiest trader around. Throughout the day, I’ll have encounters with interesting folks who can offer me exclusive deals that I won’t find anywhere else. From dealing in salt, fruits, teas, silks, furs, and jewelry, I must not only protect my own stand but also try to sabotage my competitors!

GAME SETUP

First things first, let’s get everything set up for an exciting game! Take out all the game pieces from their packaging. Each player will receive their very own market stand, which goes right in front of them. Now, let’s shuffle the Holy Place cards and place them facedown next to the play area. This creates the Holy Place draw pile.

In this game, we start by drawing three cards from the pile and putting them in the middle. The rest of the cards, including Animal, Person, Artifact, and Ware cards, are shuffled and placed face down next to the pile called Holy Place.

Once all the cards are in place, each player receives three gold tokens worth five gold each and five gold tokens worth one gold each. Any extra tokens are placed within everyone’s reach to form the gold supply. The player with the most loose change becomes the one to collect the five action markers, which marks the start of the game.

HOW TO PLAY

When it’s my turn, I get to draw and play cards. I can do up to five actions, and I keep track of them using my action markers. After each action, I move a marker to the middle of the table. Once I run out of markers, I can’t do any more actions.

First, I draw a card from the draw pile. I can look at it and decide if I want to keep it or discard it. Drawing and discarding a card counts as one action. If I choose to discard it, I can either move on to the next phase of my turn or draw another card, which will take another action. I keep doing this until I find a card I want and move on to the next phase.

In the play phase, you can’t draw or discard any cards anymore. This is when you get to use the different types of cards: ware cards, holy places, animals, persons, and artifacts. Each type of card has its own way of being used, but playing any card except Holy Place cards will require spending an action.

Once you’ve used all your actions, your turn is over and it’s time for the next player to take their turn. This cycle continues until the game ends.

The End of the Game

If, at any point during the game, you finish your turn with sixty gold or more, the game comes to an end. The other player gets one final turn before scoring begins. Both players count their gold, and the player with the most gold wins!