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Pond Bazaar

Trade goods, sell in sets

You against the computer

Take goods from the market and sell them in sets for tokens. The earlier you sell a good, the more it’s worth; the bigger the set, the bigger the bonus.

Not in the same room? Play online while you talk on a call, each on your own phone.

More info

How to play

Six goods are traded at the pond: pearls, amber, shells, feathers, berries and reeds. There are also rafts. Five cards lie in the market, and you start with five (rafts go to your herd).

On your turn, do one of these:

  • Take one good from the market. You can hold seven cards at most.
  • Take the rafts: every raft in the market goes to your herd.
  • Swap: take two or more goods and give back the same number of cards from your hand or rafts from your herd. You can’t give back the same kind you take.
  • Sell any number of one good. You get that good’s tokens from the top, highest first. Pearls, amber and shells sell two or more at a time. Selling three earns a bonus token worth 1 to 3, four earns 4 to 6, five or more earns 8 to 10.

The market refills from the deck after each take. The game ends when three goods are sold out, or when the market can’t be refilled. The bigger herd of rafts scores 5 more. Most points wins; a tie goes to whoever has more bonus tokens.

Tips

Selling early gets the best tokens, but bigger sets earn bonuses: that’s the whole game. Rafts look useless, but they let you swap for several goods at once. Taking rafts refills the market too, so watch what you leave for your rival.