Welcome to ASARA!

Hey there! In ASARA, you and I will dive into the world of building and architecture. As a wealthy builder, my goal is to create the most prestigious and awe-inspiring towers in the city. But it won’t be easy – I’ll have to compete against other players to make my mark!

Setting Up the Game

First things first, let’s get the gameboard ready. The gameboard represents the bustling marketplace where all the action takes place. It’s divided into different areas for us to explore. I’ll start by arranging the five square parts in the shape of a cross. This will create a solid foundation for our towers.

Next, I’ll place the four triangles in each corner of the cross. Two of them will have the well side facing up, while the other two will have the building side facing up. This adds a touch of variety to our cityscape.

Oh, and don’t forget about the prestige bar! We’ll need to place it on the gameboard, making sure it goes from zero all the way to one hundred. This will keep track of our reputation as builders.

Alright, now that everything is set up, it’s time to start collecting and assembling tower pieces. Let the competition begin!

Let’s start by dividing the tiles into different piles based on their shape. Once we have the piles, we can shuffle each one separately and put them in their designated spots on the board. In the market areas, we’ll place one tower section in each space to represent the market wares.

Now it’s time for each of us to pick four counters in our favorite color. We’ll place these counters on the zero spot on the prestige bar. If you want, you can also put the year counter on space one. Don’t forget to grab four screens in your color. As for the coins, let’s put them in the kitty, but make sure to separate them by value.

When it’s time to start the game, the player who most recently climbed a tower will go first. They’ll earn twenty coins for their skilled climbing prowess. As for the rest of us, we’ll get one measly coin each. Those coins will be hidden behind our carefully placed screens so no one else can sneak a peek.

How to Play

The person who got to the top first gets the honor of going first in the game. Each turn, you get to take two actions. First, you can send out your buyers, and then you can make your moves. Keep in mind that we’ll be taking turns in a clockwise fashion. So sit tight and wait for your moment to shine.

When I want to dispatch buyers, all I have to do is pick one of the buyer cards in my hand and place it in an empty spot in the market. The important thing to remember is that there can’t be any buyers of a different color already in that area. But if I can’t place a buyer because of the color, no worries! I can just put down two buyer cards instead and enter the market that way.

Now comes the fun part – making moves! Once my buyer is in the market, I have a bunch of options to choose from.

First, I can buy building blocks to add to my towers. In the market, there are sections of different colors, and each section has a price. I just need to pick a section that’s face up and pay the right number of coins for it. The sections of the same color always cost the same. And of course, I need to make sure I actually pay for the sections I buy!

So, here’s the thing: imagine you and I decide to create a tower using these cool building circles. The plots we’re looking at come with a price tag of one to seven coins. Now, here’s how we make it happen: one of us picks a plot and places our buyer card on it. Then, we count how many tower sections are required for that plot, and we start assembling our tower with those sections. The catch is that all the sections of the tower must be the same color, and we can’t have more than one base and one turret. But, we can go crazy with the windows and trunk parts!

And get this: we’re not limited to just one tower. We can build multiple towers simultaneously, and we can keep adding to them as we go. The only rule is that we can’t swap parts between towers. Once we finish a tower, we proudly display it in front of us.

Now, here’s a nifty trick to earn some extra coins. We can place one of our buyers in the bank, on an empty spot. And what do we get in return? We can collect a certain number of coins from the kitty. And there’s another way to beef up our funds. We can place a buyer on one of the colored buildings, and guess what? We earn a sweet five coins for doing that. Not bad, huh?

If I want to engage in bribery as a player, I need to pay the required coins to place a buyer in the House of Spies. Once there, I get to choose a pile of tower sections and pick one to take. I then show the chosen card to everyone else and pay the necessary amount for it.

When I place a buyer on Caliph’s Patronage, I receive Caliph’s Patronage myself. This special privilege makes me the first player for the next round.

END OF GAME

The game year ends when every player has placed all their buyers on the board. Then it’s time for evaluation. The number of prestige points I earn is determined by the prestige bar.

Each tower I construct earns me one point. If any of my tower sections are decorated with gold, I earn an extra point for each one. And of course, having Caliph’s Patronage also gets me one point.

After four years of playing, it’s time for the final evaluation. If I have the tallest tower or the second tallest one, I earn four points. If I have the most towers in total, I get a whopping twelve points. And if I have the second-most towers, I earn six points. For every ten coins I have, I earn an additional point. The player with the highest number of points after all this is crowned the winner of the game!