Game Preview: Bania, or Returing Anew to the Desert Bazaar

When you think of Mattel, the first thing that comes to mind is probably Barbie. And if you think of games that Mattel has published, the first thing to come to mind might still be Barbie. Barbie Queen of the Prom Game, Barbie of Swan Lake, Barbie the Princess and the Pauper Game — yes, this toy manufacturer has published a few non-pink games over the years, including the classic party game Compatibility, but few of its games are entertaining for grown-ups.

In 2003, though, Mattel decided to give the world of strategy games a go and turned to designer Brian Yu, who had designed several children's games for the company, including the aforementioned Barbie the Princess and the Pauper Game. "Brian is a huge fan of the European-style games", says Jeannie Hardie, senior design manager for Mattel's games group. "We do an exhaustive retrospective review of competitors worldwide every year, and in the retrospective three years ago, we felt that Germany was being underserved by the product we make. We decided to launch a small line of games, and this project fell under Brian's purview."

Desert Bazaar is one of two games that mark Mattel's entry into the world of strategy games, and for a first product it's decent, although not without problems.... [One] problem with the game involves the components: The board is too small and doesn't lie flat; the tent tiles are too small, and the flags way, way too small; the player pieces look like Jujubes, and the scoring markers like pencil erasers; the resource colors aren't distinct, and the colors on the cards don't match the tents, so color-blind players are constantly asking "What color is that flag? Is this card red? Which tents do I own?" Component issues seem to be a common flaw of new publishers, so perhaps with Mattel stepping out of its comfort zone, these issues fell through the cracks.

Despite its flaws, Desert Bazaar would still be a good game for families and casual players since they tend to play more quickly and not analyze the board to death every turn. But can those players even find the game? "Retailers think of Ticket to Ride and Caracassonne as anomalies as opposed to indicators that there's a growing trend towards this type of game experience", says Hardie. "To be honest, [mass-market retailers] aren't interested right now."

So does Mattel have a future in the world of strategy games? "We are cautiously optimistic", says Hardie. "These games are our trial balloons. If they go well, we'd love to have additions to the line, but it all depends on how these do." Time will tell, like sand through the hourglass...

In Bania, players use resource cards to buy and build tents, then strategically place these tents on the board to earn points. When no legal moves remain on the board, the game ends and the player with the most points wins. On a turn, a player performs these actions in order, if possible:

• Collect your bonus: If your elephant marker sits on a tent tile on the board, collect one resource card of each type in the settlement where the marker is located.
• Buy and place tent tiles OR roll for resources: As explained below.
• Place your elephant marker: If your elephant marker isn't on the board and you placed tent tiles that turn, place the marker on one tile you placed this turn.

Each player starts the game with four tent tiles and eight resource cards: two of each type (oil, spice, silk and incense); one side of the tent tiles shows one of these four resources, while the other side shows three resource symbols (e.g., two spice and one silk). If you want more resources, you can roll the four dice up to three times, locking any dice that you wish while doing so. When you stop rolling, you receive one resource card for each resource symbol showing; in addition, if you have both a front and back half of an elephant showing on the dice, then you receive an elephant marker bonus as at the start of your turn.

If you have the right cards in hand, you might instead choose to buy and place tents; if you have twelve or more cards, then you must do so. A tent costs three resource cards matching the three resource symbols on the back and you pay this cost after placing a tent on the game board, but if you place a tent adjacent to other tents, then the cost is discounted based on the colors of adjacent tents, possibly allowing you to place a tent for no cost at all! When you place a tent on its own to start a settlement, you receive 3 points; for all other tents placed, you receive 1 point each. You refill your hand to four tent tiles at the end of your turn — but if you've placed all four, you can immediately draw four new tiles and keep building!

A settlement can have at most seven tents in it; when someone places the seventh tent, any elephant markers in the settlement are removed and returned to their owners. The game ends when no more tents can be placed. Whoever placed the final tile scores 3 points, and whoever has the most of each type of resource card scores 2 points. The player with the most points wins.