# Boonlake

Boonlake is a board game for 1–4 players. It plays in 80–160 minutes and is meant for ages 14 and up. Ludoya players call it best with 3. It is rated 6.4 out of 10 by 55 Ludoya reviewers. The cheapest copy in stock is $46.89 (United States).

- **Players:** 1–4 (best with 3)
- **Playing time:** 80–160 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 14+
- **Complexity:** 3.8 out of 5
- **Year published:** 2021
- **Categories:** Industry / Manufacturing, Economic, Territory Building, American West, Civilization, Exploration, Farming
- **Mechanics:** Solo / Solitaire Game, Map Addition, Income, Track Movement, Point to Point Movement, Multi-Use Cards, End Game Bonuses, Tile Placement, Hexagon Grid, Variable Set-up, Follow
- **Ludoya rating:** 6.4 out of 10, from 55 reviews
- **Owned by:** 136 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 319
- **Unique players:** 302

**Designers:** Alexander Pfister

**Artists:** Klemens Franz

**Publishers:** dlp games

## Where to buy in United States

| Shop | Price | Link |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Cardhaus Games | 46.89 $ | https://www.cardhaus.com/boonlake/ |
| Gamers Guild AZ | 55.96 $ | https://gamersguildaz.com/products/boonlake |
| Miniature Market | 55.99 $ | https://www.miniaturemarket.com/csgboon101.html |
| Board Game Bliss | 49.95 $ | https://www.boardgamebliss.com/products/boonlake |
| 401 Games | 60.95 $ | https://store.401games.ca/products/boonlake |
| Svet deskovych her | 750 Kč | https://www.svet-deskovych-her.cz/produkty/9684/boonlake |
| Zatu Games | 28.39 £ | https://zatu.com/products/boonlake |
| Curiosity Shop | 35.95 € | https://www.thecuriosityshop.es/products/boonlake |
| Gamers@Hart | 39 £ | https://gamersathart.co.uk/product/boonlake/ |
| Spilforsyningen | 375.96 kr | https://spilforsyningen.dk/products/boonlake-eng |
| Good Games | 83.58 $ | https://www.goodgames.com.au/products/boonlake |
| Spelexperten | 599 kr | https://www.spelexperten.com/sallskapsspel/strategispel/boonlake.html |
| The Mastermind | 54 € | https://www.the-mastermind.be/bordspellen/boonlake/ |
| Va de jocs | 54 € | https://vadejocs.es/producto/boonlake |
| Games Empire | 87.99 $ | https://gamesempire.com.au/products/boonlake |
| TLAMA games | 1399 Kč | https://www.tlamagames.com/deskove-hry/boonlake/ |
| Pelipeikko | 57.95 € | https://pelipeikko.fi/fi/lautapelit/1696-boonlake |
| Mono de Juegos | 60 € | https://www.monodejuegos.shop/juego-de-mesa/boonlake/ |
| Spielezar | 59.9 Fr. | https://www.spielezar.ch/brettspiele/boonlake-en |
| Game Ninja | 799 kr | https://www.gameninja.no/produkt/boonlake/ |

## Expansions

- [Boonlake: Artifacts](https://www.ludoya.com/games/boonlake-artifacts)

## Similar games

- [Recall](https://www.ludoya.com/games/recall-3)
- [Galactic Cruise](https://www.ludoya.com/games/galactic-cruise)
- [Civolution](https://www.ludoya.com/games/civolution)
- [Age of Innovation](https://www.ludoya.com/games/age-of-innovation)
- [Terraforming Mars](https://www.ludoya.com/games/terraforming-mars)
- [Men-Nefer](https://www.ludoya.com/games/men-nefer)
- [Revive](https://www.ludoya.com/games/revive)
- [Keyside](https://www.ludoya.com/games/keyside)
- [Ark Nova](https://www.ludoya.com/games/ark-nova)
- [Maracaibo](https://www.ludoya.com/games/maracaibo)
- [Nippon: Zaibatsu](https://www.ludoya.com/games/nippon-zaibatsu)
- [Great Western Trail: Second Edition](https://www.ludoya.com/games/great-western-trail-second-edition)

## Rules questions

### Do I have to play or discard the card shown on an action strip when I take it, or can I skip it?

You may either play 1 card of the kind shown (paying its cost), discard a card of that kind for 2 coins, or forgo both options if you don't have or don't want to play/discard—exceptions like the Builder action give different coin amounts (see rulebook). (pp. 4, 6)

### How far can I move my ship and when does crossing a lock trigger an interim scoring?

The action-strip space you took indicates the maximum steps you may move (you must move at least 1 and may waste steps), and if you're the first in the round to cross a lock you immediately trigger an interim scoring for all players; crossing a lock that was already passed that round does not trigger scoring. (pp. 5, 13)

### When I Explore and place a building tile, do I get its reward right away and where may I place the tile?

You reveal a gray building tile and place it on any unoccupied board space adjacent to an existing building tile (bridges and fords count), and you immediately receive the reward printed for that space (coins, cards, an inhabitant, or a production-site placement); some tiles also have other immediate effects listed on the tiles. (pp. 8, 24)

### What are the requirements and costs to upgrade a house to a settlement?

To upgrade a house to a settlement it must be adjacent to at least 3 presences (inhabitants, houses, settlements or cattle), you give up 2 inhabitants from your ranch, and additional costs apply for your 3rd/4th settlements (extra inhabitants or 4 VP substitutions); also building another settlement in the same region costs 5 VP. (pp. 9–10)

### How does the Cattle‑breeding action work — placing pastures, adding cattle, and the income effect?

The action lets you place a cattle pasture on an unoccupied space (taking that space's reward like Explore), then players in turn may place cattle or play/discard a card; placing cattle requires giving up inhabitants according to how many cattle are already there and may incur extra costs for your 4th/5th cattle, and you receive 2 coins per adjacent house when placing cattle while removed cattle increase your interim-scoring income. (p. 11)

### When can I use lever effects and are there restrictions on some levers?

You may use lever effects at any suitable moment (including during other actions and interim scorings) by moving the lever down and then back up at the next interim scoring, but the top-row modernization levers can only be used if you forgo the shared/right-side part of an action and, if you have multiple of those three levers, you may use only one when you forgo that part. (pp. 21–22)

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/boonlake)
- [Boonlake in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/boonlake)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/343905)

_Data from Ludoya, updated 2026-09-19. Ratings, ownership and play counts are Ludoya's own._