Tips targi

It is hard for me to believe that no one has written anything for some basic Targi strategy to this date (4/10/2025). For that reason, I will write down a few thoughts here. There are other players on the site who are much better than I am at this game. Nevertheless, I will do my best to put a few tips here.

• Victory Points
  • Like many games, the point is to have the most Victory Points at the end of the game.
  • With this in mind, understand that each Victory Point will cost you a few Goods and or Gold.
    • You can buy VPs directly from the Silversmith:
      • 2 Goods of one Type buy 1 VP
      • 4 Goods of one Type buy 3 VPs
      • 1 Gold buys 2VP
      • 2 Gold buys 4VP
      • It also "costs" you placement of a Targi on the Silversmith.
      • You can make 1 Purchase at the Silversmith when you activate your Targi on this spot.
    • You can generate VPs by choosing, purchasing and playing cards in your display.
    • Some Tribe cards will give you bonus VP at the end of the game.
    • You gain extra VPs from cards In your display during End Game Scoring.
• Raids
  • It is important to prepare for the raids that are upcoming.
  • The Raids happen at the end of the 3rd, 6th, 9th and 12th turns.
  • For each Raid, you need to give something up to the Robber. The Four Raids.
    • First Raid: 1 Good or 1 Victory Point
    • Second Raid: 2 Goods or 1 Victory Point
    • Third Raid: 3 Goods or 2 Victory Points
    • Fourth Raid: 1 Gold or 3 Victory Points
  • You should prepare for these raids by collecting the items needed to bribe the Robber so that the Robber does not take your valuable Victory Points.
  • The final Raid happens at the end of the game if the other game end condition is not met.
• Tribe cards
  • A Tribe Card has several important details on it.
    

    Tribe card
  • The Type (Targia, Well, Tent [Camp], Oasis, Camel Rider) - depicted by the picture.
  • The Cost - shown in the top right hand corner. The Cost can include Goods and/or Gold. Costs shown with a slash are either/or.
  • The Value - depicted in the bottom right corner. This is the Tribe card's Victory Point value for end game scoring.
  • In Game Effect - beyond it's value in VPs, the Tribe card might have some sort of in game effect. Examples of this include:
    • Gain 1 point for each 2 cards of a different Type in your display at game's end.
    • Gain a good of your choice when you place this card in your display.
    • You get a discount of any 1 Good when you place another card of this Type in your display.
  • When deciding on the "value" of a Tribe card, weigh all of these characteristics.
  • End game scoring:
    • Each Tribe card is worth a fixed number of VPs.
    • Some Tribe cards give bonus VPs
    • Each full row with only one Type of Tribe card is worth 4 VPs.
    • Each full row with four different Types of Tribe cards is worth 2 VPs.
  • Once you place a Tribe card in your display, you cannot move it. Though, there is one Tribe card that let's you exchange two Tribe cards in your display. Do NOT count on this.
• The Trader
  • The Trader card in the top right allows you to exchange 3 identical Goods for 1 Gold OR other Goods (2 of one Type for 1 of another).
  • You can do this as many times as you like.
  • This is a very useful space.
• Fata Morgana
  • This is another very useful space on the edge, located in the bottom right.
  • When you activate the Targi on this card, it allows you to move one of your Tribe Markers still on the board to any unoccupied card in the middle of the board.
  • Yes, it costs you a Targi, but it gives you flexibility.
• Winner's staistics
  • If you look at the winner's statistics in this game, you notice some interesting things:

Option	Winners	All Players
Gold earned with Goods cards	3.2	2.9
Gold earned with Tribe cards	0.4	0.3
Gold earned with the Trader	2.5	2.6
Goods earned with Border Cards	15.3	15.6
Goods earned with Goods Cards	20.0	19.4
Goods earned with Tribe Cards	3.2	2.6
Goods earned with the Trader	0.2	0.3
Points earned with Goods cards	10.8	10.0
Points earned by playing Tribe cards	11.2	10.8
Points earned for Tribe cards bonuses at the end of the game	2.0	1.7
Points earned for complete rows bonuses at the end of the game	7.7	6.3
Points earned with the Silversmith	2.2	1.9
Goods paid during raids	3.9	3.9
Gold paid during raids	0.1	0.1
Points paid during raids	0.7	0.9
Number of uses of 'Tribal expansion'	3.7	3.7
Number of uses of 'Caravan'	5.1	4.9
Number of uses of 'Noble'	1.5	1.6
Number of uses of 'Fata Morgana'	4.2	3.9
Number of uses of 'Trader'	2.7	2.8
Number of uses of 'Silversmith'	0.8	0.7

• Winners and the rest of the players perform similarly in all of their choices/actions, except for:
  • Winners get more gold from the center cards (the Goods cards).
  • Winners get more end game VPs from complete rows (worth 4 points).
  • Across the board, very few gold coins are paid during Raids.
  • Most Raids are paid using Goods and about 1 VP per game.
  • Winners appear to use Fata Morgana a bit more often (+8%) than other players, though the statistical significance of this is unclear.

An additional point about tempo (2026/09/25)

A game of Targi is finished the round a player plays their 12th card (or in the rare event of a 4th raid occuring). This means that when one player finishes their tableau, the other player might have 1 or more empty slots left. If you are the fastest one building your tableau, you have control of game end. Thus, you can finish the game quicker to prevent the opponent from finishing a row for end game scoring (for 4 similar or all different suits). Sometimes, this is worth doing with very small margins to sneak in a win. If you are a tempo-player, you should concider the following to stay on tempo and build quickly:

Focus on cards that provide additional resources and cheap end game point scoring (like "gain 1 point if you have more cards than your opponent" which you are aiming to have anyway).

Avoid an early use of Silversmith. Resources should be spent on cards to build as quickly as possible. Silversmith can be a good way to min-max yourself into an extra point in the last round though.

In the second raid, you should probably pay the point instead of the 2 resources. 2 resources for a point is a fairly standard conversion in Targi. A point does not help you with the card-tempo though. Furthermore, you are going for cheaper ways to score and hopefully sneak in a better point conversion where you can. Consider even paying the two points in the third raid as well, if that's what you need to do to end the game ahead of your opponent. This choice is not as clear cut, though, so you will have to check both your and your opponent's tableau, as well as the available tribe cards before you decide. In the first raid, you should probably almost allways pay the good. One good for a point is half-price, after all.

Be on the look-out for which cards you have the resourses for and play tactically in the late game. It might be worth sacrificing that beautiful row of end game scoring-potential if it helps you finish the game with a point or two ahead of your opponent.

Blocking is very effective! This is true for every game of Targi, but if you are building cheap cards and your opponent is going for a more expensive big points tableau, a block in the right moment might be key. If they are going for two rows of all of the same suit, make them pay. A skilled opponent is unlikely to do this though and neither should you. A good aim is to have one row of all of the same suit (4p) and two rows with all different (2p each). Again though, if you are on tempo, you might want to sacrifice one row to finish the game quicker.