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Counter Magazine
Stuart Dagger
August 1998
United Kingdom
Reinhard Staupe would seem to be the new kid
on the block, current holder of the 'most promising newcomer'
title. He made it on to the nominations list for the 1997
Spiel des Jahres with a self-published game called Comeback,
one of several card games that he produced last year. This
year he has two on the list: another card game, this one called
David and
Goliath, and Basari. What is more, the enthusiasm of the Spiel
des Jahres Jury seems to be shared by the German reviewers,
with Fairplay using the word 'Meisterstück' of David
and Goliath and Spielerei going one better with 'Meisterwerk'
for Basari. My German is limited, but my understanding is
that 'Meisterstück' is the word used for the piece of
work that a would-be master craftsman produces to demonstrate
that he now deserves the title and that 'Meisterwerk' is what
modern English means by the word 'masterpiece'. Either word
is high praise and it means that, although I haven't seen
the card game as yet, it is an omission I intend to remedy,
because I agree with their opinion of Basari.
The game is an ingenious
combination of race game, collecting game and trading game.
The board shows a loop of thirty arches and the game consists
of three circuits of the loop. At the end of each circuit,
the game is scored and the starting positions of the runners
reset. The winner is the player with the most points at the
end of the three laps. In addition to a spot for the runners
to occupy, each arch also contains a number in the range 4-7
and a picture of 2-4 jewels in a mixture of blue, green, yellow
and red. The numbers can be converted into points and the
jewels are the things you collect and trade.
Each player begins with three jewels of each
colour, a die, three wooden pieces and three cards. Each then
chooses a starting position on the loop and marks this with
the smallest of their bits of wood; the other two are your
runner and your scoring marker. The cards show actions you
can take in the second part of each turn.
The first part of each turn is simple: everyone
rolls their die and moves their runner. Then each player simultaneously
selects one of their three action cards. The options are:
- collect from the bank jewels corresponding to the picture
in your arch;
- take the 4-7 points shown on your arch;
- roll the die again, moving your runner by the number rolled
and taking 6 minus this in points.
The lap ends at the end of the turn in which
someone gets back to their starting position and points are
then scored for having completed the full circuit and for
having the largest number of jewels in each colour. It is
these scoring considerations that will influence your choice
of cards.
It is still pretty simple and there is still
nothing in what I have said so far to justify the talk of
"Meisterwerk" in the first paragraph, but now comes the crunch.
You don't necessarily get to do the action you have chosen.
If you are the only player to have chosen a particular action,
you do it; if three or more of you have chosen the same action,
none of you gets to do it; and if exactly two of you have
chosen the same action, the haggling starts. I make you an
offer in jewels and you either accept it or make a higher
counter-offer. And so it continues until one of us accepts,
at which point the other gets to perform the action.
Now we have a real game on our hands. Everyone
can see exactly how close to completing the lap each player
is, what each player's jewel holdings are, how many points
they have already accumulated and what they stand to gain
from each action. All the information you need to be able
to decide what each of your opponents would like to do. Then
you look at the likely consequences and try to figure if they'll
go for it or not. Some times you'll want to avoid a clash;
other times you'll want to provoke one. That also goes into
the mind game.
The Spielerei reviewer declared "Basari is an
absolutely first class game and already belongs to my personal
top ten". I don't have a personal top ten, but I do agree
with the "absolutely first class" part and for a game of its
type would put it up alongside Medici.
The only drawback is the restriction on the number of players:
'three or four players only' is quite restricting and my guess
is that it won't play as well with three as it does with four,
because you will lose a significant number of the clashes
and it is the clashes and their effects that make the game
so interesting. So really, you are looking at a 4-player game
which can be played with three at a pinch. However, if four
is a common number for your games sessions and if you like
games such as Medici, this is definitely one that you should
look at.
The only caveat I would put on that recommendation
comes if you are one of those who demands that a game should
have a strong theme. This game doesn't, but then neither for
that matter does Medici. Both are abstract games. I am a mathematician.
Abstraction doesn't worry me, but I am aware that some of
you feel differently. Be warned therefore, if you are one
of those who needs a strong hook to engage your imagination,
you could well not like this one. Your loss. The rest of you
should check it out.
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