Take trip into a world of magic, wonder, treasure, adventure, and destiny with the story-telling board game Tales of the Arabian Nights.
Tales of the Arabian Nights is produced by Z-Man Games and takes you plus your friends on a journey of quests, stories, fables, terrible beasts, magical places, and more. Made for 2-6 players, the game is unique and loads of fun. Each turn delves into a different tale in your character’s overall story and destiny.
Arabian Nights begins by selecting one of six legendary heroes to adventure as: Sinbad, Ali Baba, Aladdin, Scheherazade, Zumurrud, and Ma’aruf. Then, you select different skills to start with, such as Storytelling, Beguiling, Stealth and Stealing, Courtly Graces and more. These aren’t the only skills you will have, you will have the opportunity to learn more skills as your story progresses. The basics of the game are easy, though: move, draw encounter, resolve encounter, reap rewards, resolve other cards, and done!
All characters start in Baghdad, receiving quests to give your journey a purpose. These quests can be anything from “find three treasures” to “journey to three different cities and successfully rob someone.” Along the way, when movement has ended, each location has an encounter with a different set of choices to make, and rolls of dice decides what kind of encounter that truly is. For instance, you draw the Sage encounter and roll the dice to find out he is an Evil Sage. Depending on these will depend on how you choose to approach him. If you decided to Rob the Evil Sage, for instance, you could find yourself turned into a donkey, or banished to unknown lands with an Insane status…or locked in the dungeon…or with the right skills, with a marvelous treasure that grants you boons upon use!
After each encounter, you can receive statuses (both good and bad), wealth points, Destiny Points, Story Points, new skills, upgraded skills, Treasure, or, in some cases, absolutely nothing. Then, once rewards have been passed out, the next person begins their path towards discovering their story. To win the game, you must gather enough Destiny and Story points to meet your secret goal, return to Baghdad, and remain for one turn and everyone who makes it back with the right amount of points wins.
This game is long, taking 2 hours or more, and is recommended for ages 13+. If you are a fan of games that are never the same twice, and choosing your own adventure, this game is worth checking out. For people who have played Tales previously, check out Z-man Games for some fun variations to the basic rules, such as Storytelling (spin this encounter in a fresh way for your friends and be granted rewards based on your storytelling prowess), Solitaire (playing solo in hard mode), and even a PVP variation where you use your known Skills against your opponents.
For more information, check out Z-man Games and Board Game Geek. You can find the game available on Amazon, as well as other online retailers.
Have you played Tales of the Arabian Nights? Interested in finding out more? Let us know in the comments below!
About the Author: Drago
