Shahrazad

Description

Shahrazad is a game for one player playing solitaire or for two players playing co-operatively. The game is published in a Japanese / English edition.

In the game, the player starts with one hand card, then draws a second. From these two, they play a card to the tableau. Cards are played touching, in columns left or right but shifted halfway up or down. In the one-player game, a column is restricted to 4 cards, in the two player, the limit is 3 cards. Alternately, you may exchange a played card with a hand card. But next turn, after drawing, you must play down two cards so your hand is back down to one before drawing.

Once all the cards are played, cards are turned face-down if any card on its right is of a lower number. Then the player tries to find paths in the tableau from the far left to the far right side. Think of this as telling the story. Any cards that are not part of a valid path are also turned down.

Now you score for colour groups, and deduct points for face-down cards and gaps in the tableau. After keeping a column, shuffle the deck over and play a second round to get your final score and the King's opinion!

For two players, it's the same--with both players working a hand of two cards each. You cannot consult about which card to play, but after choosing, you may confer about placing. The final score this time reflects a test of your friendship.