- We're gaining wealth and encountering efreets!
That's right it's Tales of Arabia Nights by Z-Man games.
(happy music)
This story spinning exploration game pits two
to six players alongside each other
as they journey across the known world,
seeking adventure, treasure, and fame.
Setup the games with the gameboard placed center.
The board shows the known world,
and two tracks to score destiny points and story points,
the main victory mechanic of the game.
There's also a wealth track alongside the top.
Each player takes a player reference board, a character,
matching player markers and quest markers,
and a player identity token.
They place their score markers on the zero space
of each scoring track, and their wealth marker
on the poor space of the wealth track.
Too real, I know.
Next, shuffle the quest cards
and deal one face-up to each player.
Set the deck near the board.
Shuffle the encounter cards
and place them nearby along with the morning marker.
Throughout the game as the encounter deck is depleted
and it's discard pile reshuffled,
the morning marker will progress to the noon marker
and eventually a night marker,
tracking the passage of time in the game.
Shuffle and place the treasure cards nearby as well.
Place the status cards within reach of each player.
Each player puts their character on Baghdad to start.
Everyone now decides on their victory formula, consisting
of the sum of story and destiny points they're aiming
to obtain in the game.
This number must equal exactly 20 points total,
but they may be divided between story and destiny,
in whichever way the player secretly chooses.
They take a number of victory tokens equal to their formula,
and conceal them beneath their player reference board.
Roll the dice to determine who goes first,
with play proceeding clockwise.
Before the first turn, sort the skill markers by type,
and beginning with the first player,
choose one skill marker each.
Repeat this process two times
so everyone has three skills to start.
Skills start on their talent side,
but can be upgraded to master during the game.
Gameplay occurs in turns,
during which a player progresses their story.
At the start of their turn,
the active player gives the Book of Tales
to the player on their left, and the Reaction Matrix
to the player on their right.
These players help determine the outcome
of the encounter for the turn.
After checking if any status cards
or treasure cards affect their turn,
the player now moves their character up to a number
of spaces that their current wealth level allows.
I told you, it was too real.
The wealth track contains movement values
for both land and sea movement.
The active player may move a combined number
of points equal to the higher move rating,
but may not exceed the value
of a single movement type when moving in that terrain.
After moving, the player then resolves their encounter
by drawing the top card of the encounter deck.
More on that process in a sec.
After their encounter, the active player may check to see
if they've completed any quests
or play any city cards if they are in that city.
After they're done, play passes to the next player.
As everyone gains points and progresses their story,
they can attempt to return to Baghdad
with at least their personal goal's worth
of destiny and story points.
If they do, at the end of their turn,
they declare they can win the game,
after which each player gets one more turn
and the game is over.
Let's talk about the encounters.
Once a player reaches a destination,
they draw the top card of the encounter deck,
which can be one of three types of cards.
Character encounter, which provides a paragraph entry
for the reader to consult in the Book of Tales depending
on the time tracker currently on display in the game.
Terrain encounter, which provides a paragraph entry
for the reader to consult based
on the terrain type the active character is on.
And city encounter,
which provides a specific paragraph entry on the bottom,
and a list of rewards in the middle.
After that encounter is resolved,
the character may keep the card.
Later, when they travel to and in their turn in that city,
they may play the card and roll the die
to gain the reward listed.
Once the card is drawn, resolve the encounter
by having the reader read the paragraph
with the corresponding number.
Most paragraph entries are encounter charts,
which contain twelve numbered entries.
The active player now rolls a single die
and adds the rolled value plus the number
on the current space of the character plus one
if they have three to four destiny points
or two if they have five or more destiny points.
The reader then reads the rolled entry
and the letter of the Reaction Matrix is revealed.
Stay with me.
The Matrix reader then reads the adjective
from the entry and corresponds the choices
for the player with the reactions listed.
Now the active player chooses one
of those reactions then roles the reaction die.
This die has three possible rolls.
Minus, plus, or blank.
If the roll is blank, the reader goes
to the entry listed under their reaction and reads the text.
If the role is a minus, they subtract one
from the entry number and then read that entry.
Same goes for the plus symbol, but the one is added instead.
The reader now reads the result paragraph aloud.
Below the paragraph are usually a list
of skills or no skill entries.
If the character has that skill, they may access that entry,
otherwise, the reader reads the no skill entry.
Finally, after a dramatic reading,
the active player gains the rewards or curses listed.
These usually include story or destiny points
and potentially quests, treasures, statuses, and more.
Once the endgame is triggered by a player returning
to Baghdad with their requisite points,
the other players each get one more turn
and the game is over.
The players who reached their goal
and made it back to the city are declared the winners.
And that's Tales of Arabian Nights!
Some special rules exist for treasures,
skills, and places of power,
and all those details can be found in the handy rule book.
I'm Becca Scott, and I love you.
I didn't know how to say it,
but I guess just have to say it sometimes.
You can watch me and my friends play this game
and other awesome games on Game the Game,
right here on Geek and Sundry.
We'll see you there.
I do love you.
I can't talk right now.
(happy music)