All in the Kingdom were scared of the King, but Shahrazad had a plan. "I'll tell him stories", she said with a smile, and so our tale began…
In Shahrazad, you will work alone or with another player to weave the best story possible and live another day in the service of the king. The King is a discerning patron, however, and only the best of stories will appease him. The stories must be told in the proper order, and the King wants to hear certain stories grouped together. Please the King to maximize your score, but only the best stories will truly impress him! Hopefully your story-telling is up to snuff. This is Shahrazad!
The Story Tiles
Shahrazad is a seemingly simple game of tile placement in which players must attempt to form consecutive rows of tiles with higher numbers than the rows of tiles that precede them. Players will take turns drawing and placing tiles, communicating with each other to minimize risks and set themselves up to score as many points as possible.
The tiles feature the exquisite artwork of Kotori Neiko. Each tile is beautiful, made from high-quality materials and emblazoned with twenty-two different folktales from around the world; and, it is with these tiles that players will attempt to weave the ultimate story for the King!
Impress the King
The goal of Shahrazad is to get as a high a score as possible by the end of the game. Play takes place over two rounds in which players take turns laying tiles. The goal is to place tiles in such a way that players can follow a path of tiles from the beginning to the end in which each tile has a larger value than the one that precedes it.
When the round goes to scoring, if a tile has a larger value than the tile that comes after it, or a tile cannot follow a path to the last row, then those tiles are turned face down and are not eligible for scoring. Then, players score points for the largest group of connected tiles in each color and subtract points for each face down tile and each gap in the story. This is your score for the round. Players will agree on a column to keep for the next round and remove the face down tiles from the game, shuffling up the remaining tiles and playing a second round. The scores from both rounds are added together for your final score!
Play it Solo Shahrazad can also be played solo, providing for a meditative, solitaire-like experience. Rather than focusing on communicating with another player, the burden of making decisions falls on a single person. It is easier to find the optimal placements when playing solo, so the scores that need to be reached are higher. Are you up to the challenge?
Critical Praise for Shahrazad!
Received a Dice Tower Seal of Approval!
'I would recommend this one. It's nice and relaxing… the kind of game you're going to be able to play after work to disengage a little bit.'
-Zee Garcia, The Dice Tower
'Featuring gorgeous artwork by Kotori Neiko, Shahrazad takes some very simple mechanics around tile placement and creates a tricky puzzle where finishing the game isn't difficult but scoring well is.'
-Keith Law, Paste Magazine
'Shahrazad's redeeming personality consists of this revealing of layers over time. You will grow in skill and new depths of play will emerge. You will hit new high scores and your grasp of strategic concepts will blossom like a spring rose.'
-Charlie Theel, Geek & Sundry
Shahrazad is an interesting challenge as a solitaire game, with enough randomness to stymie a perfect solution yet enough control that skill will win out more often than not. The urge to "beat your last score" is strong, particularly as getting a perfect store would require an unlikely combination of skill and luck together. It's even better as a two-player cooperative, requiring the smarts of the solo version plus strong communication skills.'
-William Niebling, ICv2
'Highly recommended for abstract game enthusiasts and strategists of all ages.'
-Timothy Connolly, Multiverse
'I really like Shahrazad. It's simple, easy to understand and quick to play, particularly the solo game. It's going to be a keeper for us…'
-Dave Taylor, Go Fatherhood
The Story Goes On
Test out your story-telling ability and appease the king if you want to see another day in his service! Get your copy of Shahrazad today!
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