The Treasure Ship of Zheng He

Players act as commanders in a series of seven maritime voyages, each round representing one of the fleet’s expeditions. Each round begins by visiting ranked officials to exchange gifts for benefits, which determines turn order for planning. In turn players claim face-down voyage legs, reveal them, place ships on the map, and choose routes when the board forks. The chosen captain takes the lead action while other players may take smaller actions or follow the captain if they have a special directive. Actions include gaining resources, gold, and weapons; trading; sending diplomats to raise diplomatic level; collecting animals on a personal board; fighting or bribing pirates; and building monuments that grant repeat or adjacent actions. After seven voyages players make a final offering to officials or the emperor, and scoring rewards the player who contributed most to the voyages.

Players: 1–5 best 3
Playing time: 90–120 min
Age: 14+
Complexity: 3.2 / 5