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Emira
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the cloth bag and the tile are merely added for the atmosphere and are not part of the game
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When all players have had a chance of buying an event card, the current princess card goes to the player who either has the most status (the total on his status cards), the most money, the largest plalace or the highest charisma, dependant on the preference of the princess. More than one similar charisma chit may be collected by a player, it is the total that counts. However, a player who collected a set of three different charisma chits, may add the ‘+1’ chit to his collection that instantly increases his charisma by one, this is basic maths and we do not need a calculator for this yet, thank you very much.
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If there are more qualifying players, the preference shifts to the second condition on the card. If there still is no match, the princess is undecided and shifts one position on the central board to make room ffor a new princess, so in the next round two candidates can be gained. Of course a player must have enough room in his palace; his initial palace has room for two princesses, with each enlargement offering room for an extra princess.
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Most women bring the harem to life with their personal capabilities: some outright steal from our stock, others bring their own gold so we don't need to pay her any money, another lady brings a discount when building a new wing to our palace. The sheiks have their preferences too and do not want just everyone in their harem, but they have no voice in this: if one meets the criteria, the lady joins his harem. Take Xenia, for example. When she comes to sit on the comfortable cushions of your harem, on every third round she demands pocket money, being 250 gold; and this includes the turn she enters the harem. All the other ladies only need to be supplied with 50 gold per round. Xenia's preference is money, this is clear, and obviously she will pick the richest sheik. This leads to the hilarious situation that when Xenia is out on the table, all sheiks buy whatever they can, bidding enormous amounts, just to not be the richest one to be left with this demanding lady!
After this all the ladies in the harem qualify for pocket money, 50 gold per princess. When a player is not able to pay for all, one will run away in anger, drawn blind from the player’s hand.

When at the end of a round a player has met the condition on his mission card he has won; otherwise a new round is started with laying out new cards and chits.


The graphics by Franz Vohwinkel are beautifully done; he must have been working at it with much joy, and it shows! 'Emira' basically is an auction game with some development; in this regard it does not differ much from other auction games like 'Goa', but the players interaction in 'Emira' is definitely higher!
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The event cards are a nice addition, but they offer not always value for money! On one occasion a player may have bought a card that gives him a free expansion of his palace or a permanent discount for his camels in the bidding phase, a nice present if he already  has his kraal full of camels; but on another occasion he draws a card that is positive or negative for all players, including himslef. Players who do not like this kind of luck, better stay away from this card pile.
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As with every bidding game a player must consider how far he will go with his bidding, especially in this game where he does not even know if he competes for the same item. On the other hand, players who think they can let all the action pass by and go last for the free item behave like garbage can vagabonds: they will not make much progress if they make themselves so dependant on what the other players leave behind by putting their fate heavily in the hands of the other players; one could say that this is a form of foul play!
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'Emira' is a very joyful game, albeit a bit on the long side. The 75+ minutes according to the box are a large 'plus': a session lasts more than two hours. Even with experienced players this game takes more than 90 minutes. This makes it less suitable for players who do not like longer (auction) games with the luck that goes with it.
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For those who think the subject is not done: Politically Correct People like to powder themselves with progressiveness, but breath the odour of conservatism - they lack humour and will not enjoy any game because they are unable to tone down. The aficionados and optimists among us experience a pleasant diversion with the ladies in this game, who despite the emancipationary twist that the game has been given are commonly qualified as concubines. E basta così!
© 2006 Richard van Vugt

Emira, Liesbeth Vanzeir & Paul Van Hove, Phalanx Games, 2006 - 3 to 5 players, 12 year and up, 75+ minutes

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