The best board games set on the Arabian Peninsula 2025

In the bustling city of Jaipur, the capital of Rajasthan, you find yourself in a fierce competition as one of the two most powerful traders. However, being a prominent trader isn't enough; the ultimate goal is to earn two coveted "seals of excellence" to secure an invitation to the Maharaja's prestigious court. To outshine your direct competitor, you'll need to demonstrate superior trading skills by buying, exchanging, and selling goods at advantageous prices, all while carefully managing your valuable camel herds.

Camel Up is an exciting and unpredictable racing and betting game where players wager on camels competing in a zany race around a pyramid. With its unique mechanics and charming theme, it's a game that promises fun and laughter for up to eight players.

Targi is a strategic board game set against the backdrop of the Tuareg culture in the desert. Players assume the roles of leaders of Tuareg tribes, engaging in trade and seeking to expand their families and influence.

Five Tribes: The Djinns of Naqala is a strategy board game set in the mystical land of Naqala. Designed by Bruno Cathala, it puts a unique spin on the traditional German-style worker placement games.

Marrakech is a strategic board game where players take on the roles of competing rug salespeople in the vibrant and bustling market of Marrakech. The aim is to outsmart your competitors through careful placement of carpets and savvy financial decisions.

Through the Desert is a strategic board game where players guide caravans through the desert to claim oases and territory. Often compared to the classic game Go, it combines strategic planning with a visually appealing setup featuring colorful plastic camels.

Alhambra: Big Box is the ultimate collection for fans of the Alhambra board game, combining the base game with all five of its expansions. This comprehensive set offers a wide range of gameplay variations and strategic depth. The packaging is thoughtfully designed to store each expansion separately, ensuring easy organization and setup. The expansions included are The Vizier's Favor, The City Gates, The Thief's Turn, The Treasure Chamber, and Power of the Sultan, each adding unique elements and challenges to the game.

Tales of the Arabian Nights is a storytelling board game that immerses players in the adventurous world of Arabian folklore, similar to the stories narrated by Scheherazade. This game is less about winning and more about experiencing and sharing a compelling narrative.

Stroh is a light-hearted family card game set in the world of "One Thousand and One Nights." Players attempt to load as many items onto a camel as possible without breaking its back. If a player fails, they lose the round, but others must be careful not to overload the camel, as breaking it with the Stroh card means winning instead of losing.

A wizard has sent you, a street boy like Aladdin, into a cave to search for a magic lamp that grants you the favor of a genie. The cave also holds fabulous treasures sorted into three chests. If you can curb your greed, this might be your chance to get rich!

In Akaba, 2-4 players try to blow their flying carpets across the board and be the first to collect all the gifts. It is a "stormy" skill game suitable for children aged 5 and up.

The year is 1822, and it is time to rebuild Medina at the foot of the Atlas Mountains after years of decline. Architects and engineers are working to construct grand palaces and renovate the damaged city walls. Players place two game pieces on the board each turn, expanding existing buildings or features like the market or city walls, aiming to claim buildings of each color for points. Bonuses are awarded for owning the largest building of a specific color and for connecting a building to the growing city walls. This exciting edition features a double-sided board for two players, nearly 200 detailed wooden pieces, and updated gameplay elements.

Take a magic carpet ride to discover Eastern treasures in a lively bazaar. Players gather and sell valuable matching items to maximize their profits, focusing on collecting as many items of the same color as possible. Golden trophies serve as wild cards, and players can also use the bazaar to trade or sell their collections. The game starts with each player having three gold coins, and the first to reach 15 coins wins.

A Pasha (also known as "padisha") is a powerful governor. Players roll five dice to achieve the best combination, aiming to become a Pasha and acquire the most valuable card. By cleverly using action dice and playing cards to determine points, players can win bonus tokens for special actions.

The famous Sultan is searching for a suitable husband for his only daughter. Each candidate is given an equal amount of gold to visit the city bazaars and acquire the most beautiful and expensive jewels. The one who presents the most valuable collection will prove their skill in managing the Sultan's wealth and win the hand of the princess.

Tuareg takes players on a journey between Timbuktu and Gao, where they load camels with water, gold, salt, and millet for a trek to the next oasis. Throughout the game, players aim to collect the most valuable resources while dealing with rival nomads who might steal or hide their goods. The game involves strategic use of special cards and resource management to earn points, with two phases of play and opportunities to earn bonuses along the way.

Players reenact the story of "Ali Baba & the Forty Thieves" in a memory game format. One player takes on the role of Ali, while the others act as thieves, tasked with correctly repeating an ever-growing list of treasures that Ali Baba desires. The challenge lies in whether Ali should continue or stop before his greed leads to his downfall.

In 1300 AD, West Africa, the demand for goods like ivory in Europe drives the development of trade routes, with caravans of camels delivering goods through the desert landscape. Players use their camels to transport goods to desired locations while managing actions like placing or moving camels, picking up goods, or stealing from opponents. The game ends once the last goods are drawn, with players scoring points based on the rarity and demand for the goods they have collected.

"Sesame, open up!" The sealed cave entrance magically opens before the amazed eyes of Ali Baba. Inside, treasures abound: golden statues, chests of coins, shining swords, and necklaces with precious marbles.

Adventurers glide in on their flying carpets, searching for valuable treasures in palaces and bazaars as the sun sets on the horizon. Players guide their carpets to the most attractive targets, but directing these flying carpets is more challenging than it sounds, with strong winds potentially altering their course. Points are scored based on claimed treasures, and magical lamps can help change the fate of the players in this strategic game.

Alhambra: The Card Game is inspired by the popular and award-winning game franchise, Alhambra. This version maintains the same core rules but features different themes and minor changes from its predecessor, Stimmt So!. Players acquire shares in various aspects of a large company using a mechanism similar to Union Pacific, with different currencies and stock types rewarding majority and minority shareholders throughout the game.

Aladdin's Dragons (also known as Morgenland), developed from Richard Breese's Keydom, evolves the bidding and resource management mechanics into a vibrant, strategic board game that transports players to a realm of magical intrigue. Through clever placement of numbered bidding chips on a tripartite board, players engage in a tense contest of wits and bluffing. The objective is to amass wealth and magical artifacts, with treasure tokens serving as the pivotal currency for advancement.

Amul, originally announced as the Silk Road, is a card game featuring bustling bazaars for up to eight aspiring merchants. Players compete for wealth and success by drawing cards from the market to collect goods, hire guards, assemble caravans, and make deals with traders. Effective hand management is crucial, as only certain cards can be played for points, while others need to be held for optimal scoring at the end of the game.

Treasures sparkle enticingly, prompting players to collect as many as possible from the treasure cave. Players must first find their way to the treasure by winning tricks in the card game, where each captured trick reveals a path, but a Djinn can unexpectedly intervene. After several rounds of play, the first player to complete a Five-Card challenge wins, with ties broken by the number of cards captured.

Players manage their own caravan of four camels that can transport different types of goods, including carpets, vases, dates, and fruits. They bid to select goods from various markets, utilizing market powers and strategically placing the goods onto their camels, adhering to specific transport limits. Players can sell goods for points, with different items offering varying rewards, and the game concludes when the supply of goods runs out, determining the winner by who has the most money.

Players lead a group of thieves in a quest to secure the best loot in well-guarded palaces of Baghdad. They must navigate the watchmen and use their cards strategically to outsmart their opponents. The first player to collect four treasures wins the game.

Players embody incarnations of Sindbad, embarking on a series of sea voyages to amass a fortune of one million Miskhals through trade, treasures, and adventures, ultimately returning safely to Basra. The journeys take them along three distinct routes, varying in length, opportunities, and risks, encountering unknown islands, familiar countries, and trade ports. Adventure cards drawn during the game can assist in overcoming monsters, opponents, or events.

Players receive a Basar card each round, featuring a variety of gemstones, victory points, and workers. They simultaneously choose an action from three options: draw an extra card for more workers, score victory points on the card drawn, or take the gemstones from that card. Unique actions are executed, while shared actions lead to negotiations for valuable gems; if multiple players choose the same action, it is cancelled. The game concludes after three rounds, with the player holding the most victory points declared the winner.

Players assume the roles of characters living in the world of 1001 Nights, exploring the board and embarking on various adventures. These adventures are structured like a paragraph system, where a player to your left reads what happens to you and reveals your choices, leading to different outcomes. Characters evolve by gaining skills and statuses that affect gameplay, aiming to become wealthy and return to Baghdad. Other variations include a quest mode focused on task fulfillment and a trading game that simulates caravan progress using tokens. The German edition was released in 2000 with an updated storybook and additional adventures.

The Sultan has issued a decree: the one who can build the most impressive palace in the city of Sultaniya will be made the Grand Vizier. Players become characters from the tales of 1001 Nights, creating graceful minarets, vibrant gates, and soaring domes to capture the Sultan's attention and etch their name in history. Players carefully choose the best building tiles to construct remarkable structures while earning points for following patterns and fulfilling secret objectives.