It's 1958 in booming Yspahan - the centre of trade in the Middle East and word has spread that the Shah is sending his Supervisor to investigate the markets to buy up the best goods available. As local traders you can smell an extra camel for Christmas, quick it's time to dust off your market stalls and impress the Geezer!

Yspahan is another fantastic game from Ystari that was short listed for this year's 'Game of the Year' Award. It will appeal to families as the central mechanic of the game involves rolling 9+ dice each turn. These dice are then assigned to the tower and must be selected in turn by the players. The location of the dice on the tower allow for a range of choices and it is the combination of the options available and the luck element present in the dice rolls themselves that make Yspahan so enticing to new players of board games and the more experienced.

The main board features a myriad of buildings called Souks and these represent the market district of Yspahan. Taking ownership of a set of coloured Souks will earn points at the end of each week. But beware as the Supervisor may come calling on your market stands and buy up your goods. This will result in your goods leaving the board and heading to the Camel Caravan. This can earn you points also, but it may earn you fewer points than you would have received by controlling a group of Souks. In this way the game allows for offensive and defensive strategies to form.

Yspahan is impossible to review fully in this column but rest assured there are a myriad of other options available. Just take my word for it that this game is wonderful and if nothing else it features camels. We should all own one camel game!