You have to decide which ones to take, and what to put back, which then may give your opponent a collection of matching goods! There are five cards face-up between the players that are available for the players to take or trade.

Most games finish with the players on roughly equal points, and in most games, my wife and I shared between one hundred and forty and one hundred and seventy points. Since when do you and I work as merchants in India, perched atop teetering camels, our saddlebags overflowing with rubies and saffron? Switching gears to bet on collecting a new set of cards, especially those cards that are much rarer, is a risk that can be thwarted by the actions of your opponent or by the luck of the draw.

With its very fast playtime, quick turns, simple rules and very attractive pieces, as well as its small size, Jaipur is a must have for any fan of two player games. It all depends on what your opponent is selling and collecting and it pays to watch them like a hawk. You can hurriedly skim the most points-scoring tokens off the top of the market, or save up for one huge turn that’ll bag you a valuable bonus. Since every round of Jaipur is independent of others, there’s no need for a scorepad or pen and paper either – you’ll never have to remember scores or do much in the way of complicated maths. Of course, herein lies the rub as what you take and sell is where the risk and reward of the game lies.

Time flies by in Jaipur, and as soon as the deck runs out or three commodities are depleted, the round is over. It’s very easy to explain and super quick to play, but there’s much deeper strategy here than you might first assume – though with a crucial element of luck which means a less serious player still has a chance to triumph.Exchanges are really useful because you control what goes back into the market for your opponent to choose from. The game of Jaipur centres around a “market” deck, with cards depicting leather, silk, spices, silver, gold, rubies and camels. If a player chooses to sell cards, they will discard the cards they wish to sell and take the corresponding number of tokens of that good from the pile.

The luck aspect is purely down to the way in which cards are drawn, for example after one player takes all the camels and a large number of gold or gems might be revealed to fill the market. Here is a wonderful, two-player only, light card game, that is really easy to teach and learn, as well as very quick to play.No review of Jaipur would be complete without a look at one of the game’s most fundamental (and loveable) concepts – the camel! You may trade goods cards from your hand or camels from your herd for goods cards from the card row. Jaipur has quickly become an all-time favourite in my household, and since my household is completely full of board games, I see this as it proving its worth!

In Jaipur, you are hoping to become the Maharaja’s personal trader by amassing more riches than your opponent at the end of each week. Because Jaipur is strictly a two player card game, and you’re always working with the same resources, you’re always reacting to what your opponent is doing.I think that it is brilliant that you have a "camel herd" that doesn't count towards your hand limit. Place three camel cards face-up between the two players and shuffle all the remaining cards together.