Through the Desert: Bazaar

I recently rediscovered Through the Desert and loved it! As expected, that was helped by this expansion which has 4 modules, something for everyone. At a minimum, I love the goal cards as they make the gameplay different each time and prevent one from playing the same pet strategies every time. That in itself would be awesome to recommend, but the Bazaars and other modules make this a no-brainer.

More, on my ⟣⧗First Pass⧗⟢ Blog: https://boardgamegeek.com/blogpost/163448/anim8rs-new-to-me-in-july-2024

This is a bit hard to rate. The special watering holes and the bazaars are good (7). Very simple and mostly in line with the core gameplay. They give you some extra variety if you want some extra variety, but without transforming the game too much or pulling focus. I’ll happily use these two modules. The goal cards are fine (6). Neatly illustrated, but also mechanically uninspired and distracting. I don’t mind these, but I definitely prefer to play without this module. Finally, the djinn deck is one of the worst expansions I ever played (3). This is chaos and randomness for an otherwise elegant design. It was a last minute addition to replace a module they weren’t ready to deliver and, unfortunately, it shows.

Overall, this is probably closer to a 6 in my book, but I’m willing to ignore the djinn deck’s existence and bump it to a 7. I’ll say, though, that 20€ + shipping is a bit high for a few tiles, a baggie, and two largely forgettable card-based modules. Over time I can see this going down to a 6.5 for this reason.

Pte.