Asara

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Asara
Game data
author Michael Kiesling ,
Wolfgang Kramer
graphic Franz Vohwinkel
publishing company Ravensburger
Publishing year 2010
Art Board game
Teammates 2 to 4
Duration 60 minutes
Age from 9 years

Awards

Game of the Year 2011: nominated
German Games Prize 2011: 5th place
Game of Games 2011: Main Prize
International Gamers Award 2011: nominated
Gouden Ludo 2011: nominated

Asara is a board game by Michael Kiesling and Wolfgang Kramer , which was published by Ravensburger in 2010 and was nominated for the Game of the Year award in 2011 . It also reached 5th place in the German Games Prize that same year . It received the Austrian game award Spiel der Spiele and was nominated for the International Gamers Award in the category strategy game for several players and for the Flemish Gouden Ludo 2011 game award.

Two to four players buy components and build as many high towers as possible. A game takes about 60 minutes, Asara is recommended for players aged 9 and over.

Idea and equipment

The construction of tall, narrow towers reminded the jury of the Game of the Year of a “fairytale Dubai”, to which the illustrations by Franz Vohwinkel contribute.

The large game board is composed of individual pieces, two other elements are only used in the game expansion for more experienced Asara players, known as the professional version . All moves are carried out through colored cards called buyers . The players place them on the corresponding spaces on the game board for the respective action.

The tower components, coins and the marking of the respective starting player are printed cardboard tiles.

Game flow

The game runs over four rounds called years with several (up to seven) moves per player. Before each round, tower components of the four types: base, top, middle section and middle section with window are laid out and each player receives seven buyers .

In each turn the player places one or more buyers and then takes the appropriate action. Then it is his neighbor's turn in a clockwise direction. The trains run in turn until all players have placed all buyers . If a player runs out of buyers towards the end of the year , he is skipped.

Buyers can take various actions. In each round, the first player to take an action determines which card color is required for this action in the future. If a player no longer has this color, but wants to take an action of this type, he must place two buyers of any color.

Central are the purchase of tower components and the building of towers, further options are the exchange of a buyer for money (three times per round possible with color coding as well as unlimited but with less yield without color requirement), the exchange of a buyer for tower parts (whereby the color requirement is canceled which parts are more expensive than normal purchase) and once per round the acquisition of the favor of the caliph , whereby the player becomes the starting player in the next round.

When purchasing tower components, a player selects one of the component types (base, top, middle section and middle section with window). Then he places his buyer on the appropriate storage area and selects one of the components of the type offered, pays for it and places the component behind his screen. There are towers in five colors, each color has a different price per component, with all parts of one color having the same price.

To build towers, the player places his buyer on the building circle. This contains the values ​​one to seven, the player then has to pay as many coins and build tower elements as the space in the circle indicates. If the field with the desired value is already occupied in the current round, the player may occupy a higher field in the circle, must then pay this value and build fewer pieces. When building a new tower, it must at least consist of a base and top of the same color; middle sections with or without windows can be inserted into towers that have already been built. A construction move can be carried out on several towers at the same time and combine the construction of new towers and the expansion of existing ones.

At the end of each round there is an intermediate scoring and all tower parts and buyers on the game board are cleared away. Points are awarded for every tower built by then, for all golden decorative elements and for the favor of the caliphs .

New tower components will be launched for the New Year and players will receive seven new buyers and additional money. At the end of the game, points in the final scoring prestige points are distributed on a bar that runs around the entire board. The highest tower in the game, the highest tower of each color and the number of towers per player are scored. In all evaluation groups, the first and the second get points. In the event of a tie, the points are shared.

In the professional version , additional buyer cards can be purchased and there are also luminous window components that can be placed on normal window elements and count in the final scoring in the event of a tie.

Target group and gameplay

Asara is a family game that is only suitable for ages 9 and up due to the control of all actions by the colored cards. The Spiel des Jahres jury wrote: “The special trick is the extremely elegant card mechanism on which all actions are based. The compulsory color when inserting the cards requires good management in order to keep all options open for a long time despite opposing disturbance maneuvers. ”In addition, the number of certain actions per year is limited and there are actions whose value decreases over the course of the round.

Because of the many opportunities to collect points in the course of the game and in the final scoring, which bring the players the favor of the caliph, there are also different strategies that the players can specialize in. In doing so, they should also pay attention to the visible and assumed strategies of their fellow players, otherwise they will compete for the same tower components or ratings. From the decision for the game of the year: “The largest tower receives the most counters. But building a lot of towers and being second best in different places can be more worthwhile. ”Asara is well balanced between a long-term strategy, direct tactics, with which colors are given early, and a luck factor from the color distribution of the buyers on the Hand of a player and the display of the tower components.

Extensions

In 2010, the Vienna Games Museum in collaboration with Ravensburger published the first expansion The House of the Bottle Spirit.

In 2011, the second expansion, Die Gaben des Kalifen , appeared in the Spielbox special issue Wolfgang Kramer Almanach .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Asara at Game of the Year
  2. ↑ German Games Prize at spielbox.de
  3. ↑ a b Asara extension for Kramer games