Kuldhara

STORY: The once-magnificent Kuldhara used to be a prosperous village in northern India. However, once it's Grand Vizier began making cruel and unrealistic demands of its people, threatening the village's destruction ... its inhabitants decided to raze Kuldhara themselves. The buildings burned, its riches scattered to the sands, and its people disappeared into the desert without a trace. Now Kuldhara is said to be a ghost town, where its former inhabitants roam the nights as specters … however, many of its treasures are still lost in the surrounding desert. As an intrepid treasure hunter, your goal is to find Kuldhara's lost gemstones, load them up on your trusty camel, and head back to base camp to forge them into valuable jewellery. The days stretch long in the desert, but watch the sun's position carefully - because once night falls, the spirits of Kuldhara will rise again! GAMEPLAY: A full game of Kuldhara lasts 4 rounds, corresponding to one full 'day'. Every round, players replenish their water which is used to perform different actions; such as traveling with their camel through the desert, digging up gems in the ruins, and taking their gemstones back to basecamp. Each turn is fast and simple, with only 1 or 2 actions taken per player before they begin organizing collected stones on their personal workbench to craft jewellery. When the active player has created the pattern displayed on the jewellery card, they can craft it, trading in the gemstones in exchange for taking the card and earning points. Not only that, but certain cards can grant 'protection tiles' which allow gemstones to be reused multiple times - meaning that through smart planning and a bit of luck, a player could even make 2 or 3 pieces of jewellery at once! As the rounds progress, the position of the sun also changes - meaning that the traveling routes will change in cost over the course of a game. So you'll need to plan out your water usage carefully, in order to make the strongest amulets through well places combos on your own personal workbench. Ultimately, the player with the most points will win. Kuldhara also comes with a dedicated Solo mode; a custom board and deck of cards for Kadhan, a spectre in Kuldhara. His turns are easy to run and have multiple difficulty levels, and almost always ends in close games where the final round really matters!

Players: 1–4 best 3
Playing time: 30–120 min
Age: 8+
Complexity: 2.7 / 5