Bansan (2023)

About this game

Be a market vendor in Bansan, a lively game inspired by the multisensory experience of a bustling wet market in Penang. You'll need to "bao ka liao"—deal with fellow vendors, wholesalers, and customers; buy and sell ingredients; cook and serve hawker stall fare; keep the waste bins from overflowing; and navigate a myriad of events that changes up every game you play. Each player is a vendor renting market stalls while running a hawker food business in a bansan. On your turn, you will stock produce from the wholesale supply into market stalls, then take 2 actions from 3 options: BUY produce from other vendors or your wholesaler SELL produce to online customers EMPTY a waste bin Just like in local Asian markets, bargain at anytime to negotiate the best deals from other vendors. Then complete shopping lists of ingredients to make a variety of hawker food for your customers. The vendor who has earned the most money at game end wins! There's also the Sendiri Mode - a solo way to play Bansan, and the Kenduri Mode - when the market gets a big order to host a feast! Juggle the multiple roles of a vendor to win the title of "Bos Bansan!" Even if you get out-vended, you are guaranteed a taste of the chaos and excitement of local market culture in Malaysia! —description from the designer

Does it fit your group?

• Group size. Works with 1 to 5. It has a designed solo mode.
• Rules load. At 1.5/5 this is a light game — explain it in a few minutes, good for a table that has not played much.
• Age. The publisher suggests 10 and up. That rates the rules rather than the artwork, so judge the box yourself for younger players.