"The caravan moves on, the sultan would have Doosch ..." - The mood song could be the background music to the game, if that is native to the round comes to the table. Silk Road has appeared in the publishers with the most curious names of all the game publishers: at "Dausend Dode Droll, among experts also simply called DDD. This in turn is actually a specialist in adventure - Volumes dare with silk road now available in the terrain of the classic board game.

Silk Road under the Middle East, namely where Karl May had his hero Hadji Omar Halef sent through the rugged Kurdistan: In the trade routes between Europe and Western Asia in ancient Persia

Three caravans of varying sizes are moving by one or more cards are played. The caravans drift along so along the route marked on the board from place to place, until they reach their destination city. There the goods carried on the "big market day are sold. This allows players to earn jewels in various colors, which are later redeemed depending on color combination in victory points.

The sale of ivory, silk, spices, porcelain and green tea only works if the players have previously placed cards of the same product type in their personal delivery. The player with the majority of a product receives this, it must give half of his cards but the buffer stock. This "cash value" means that a further product of the same species is probably bought by another player.

Not only at the destination of a caravan can be traded, the move happened so all sorts: It cavort robbers and other camels, sand storms and provide custom-house problems in the black market and bazaar can be traded with some of the goods and distribute the baksheesh charity.

It may be worthwhile to use these different effects selectively and strategically, because not always the caravan reached the target at the right moment, so if even just located the majority of products on sale in their own display.

At the end of the day many caravans have moved in such famous cities as Yspahan, Samarkand or Byzantium, the players trade goods exchanged for gems and made fresh camels in the caravan. The more different gemstone colors have been collected, the more points the player gets victory

A caravan as a means of transportation we imagine rather slow. Silk Road is one game at a moderate pace without much action. It's pleasant and fits the Oriental - atmosphere of the game. Move alternatives are still plentiful and not always immediately recognizable as possible. This makes the game entertaining. The game is the way, especially to play well as a couple. With more players suffer a little predictability.

We were just like Silk Road for its blend of serenity and total well-calculus. The presentation of the game reinforces the desert theme, and we would have liked a little more contrast and / or a larger representation in the still very often used merchandise.

There are fixtures at a front and a back. One of the sides has firmly imprinted trading symbols in the cities, to facilitate the entry into the game. The other side sees only a placeholder of the symbols and provides diverse and different games. Really missing is the Sultan thirsty, but maybe yes DDD has some ideas and plans for expansion ....

Year: 2009
Author: Hanno Kuhn, Wilfried Kuhn
Graphic: Sabine Weiss
Publisher: Dausend Dode Droll Verlag GmbH
Number of players: 2-5
Age Group: 12 years
Playing time: approx 60th

Tags: DDD