Caracas

THEME: In 1799 Alexander von Humboldt undertook his first major expeditions to document the South American landscape. In this game each player tries to make the best expedition map. SETUP: Place the MARKET board in the middle. The MARKET has 4 spots, in a row, each with one symbol.) Give each player a SEA tile. The SEAs have one side where 4 land tiles can connect, each marked by a symbol, the same 4 symbols as at the MARKET board and matching in the same order. (The SEAs have 2 sides, use the side which matches the MARKET symbols order.) Mix all land tiles (squares) and place a tile at each of the 4 spots at the MARKET board. TURNS: In your turns you place a land tile, adjacent to your SEA or adjacent to an already placed land tile, below 1 of the 4 symbols at your SEA tile (so in 1 of the 4 “columns” below your SEA). Then you take, from the MARKET, the tile from the same symbol (column), and you store that tile above your SEA. (!) In your next turn you connect that stored tile to your placed tiles, and again take the tile at the corresponding column (symbol) from the MARKET board which you store above your SEA again. And so on. WHAT'S SPECIAL: So after each turn you already know which tile you will place next turn, while other players have their turn first. Which makes the game go fast! Even though the puzzle to reach the best endscore is very deep! During other players' turns you will think about your own options with your tile. It avoids the feeling of waiting for your turn. Though you will look at other players' “puzzle problems” too. Alike in the *Factory Funner* game. :) ENDSCORE: COMMON ANIMALS are at many of the land tiles, they score 1 victory point if their specific score rule is met. RARE ANIMALS each are at only 1 land tile, they score 2 victory points if their unique score rule is met. (So you don't specialize on certain animals and don't ignore other animals. Each victory point is important, and during the game the puzzle to score all points gets harder and harder!) For the landscape (Jungle / Savannah / Swamp / River Basin), you compare the player's expedition maps for the most victory points. For example, the player with the most separate Savannah areas gets the most Savannah points, while the player with the fewest separate Swamp areas gets the most Swamp points. Dead end rivers (so rivers connected to land at another tile) in your expedition map bring 1 minus point each. —description from the publisher

Players: 1–5 best 2
Playing time: 20–40 min
Age: 9+
Complexity: 2 / 5