From the developer of the Kaki Lima board game comes another Malaysian board game, Bansan. Bansan, which means ‘local wet market’ in the Northern Peninsular Hokkien dialect, is a board game inspired by the multi-sensory experience of a bustling Malaysian market.

In Bansan, players are market vendors who juggle multiple roles, deal with wholesalers and customers, buy and sell ingredients, as well as cook and serve authentic Malaysian food. You will have to navigate the intricate relationships of a local market as you interact with fellow vendors, customers, wholesalers, and municipal council officers. It’s like managing your own pasar.

Here’s how it plays: You obtain goods from wholesalers to stock your stalls, buy produce to cook and sell local dishes and manage the waste generated in the market from your activities. On your turn, you choose a number of actions in order to optimize how much income you make. The vendor who generates the most money at the end of the game wins.

There are 40 Malaysian-flavoured events and 54 recipes in Bansan, which provides a lot of different varieties and strategies to make each gameplay fresh.

The pre-order period for Bansan is from today (8 June 2023) to 14 July 2023, which you can do on the official website here. The pre-order price is RM128, while the retail price at launch will be RM168.