The board game "Vasco da Gama" by Italian author Paolo Mori has appeared in the Italian publishing house "What's your Game" and takes us into the world of sailors and explorers.

Already build some interesting details are visible: The game is entirely without playing cards. All materials are made of wood or hardboard produced stable and made more graphically complex and lovingly. Really cute are the mini-Pömpel, presented as captains of the vessels.

What we are already in the game itself: as henchmen of the famous explorer Vasco da Gama to the players to send ships on the journey to discover the shortest route to India. Depending on the ships, the more fame and glory in the form of victory points they receive.

Before the ships, however, can put to sea, are some preparations needed, and therein lies the core of the game: A crew will be hired must be a suitable ship to be built and the favor and support of the sponsor and Vasco da Gama and other influential people such as the leader "Bartolomeu Dias", the owner makes his starting player must be obtained.

These four actions to buy in the translated rule "projects", "recruitment", "Expedition" and "Characters referred to, some are offering combinations. Thus, a ship sail out to sea only if a suitable crew is found, which are assembled from single sailors and missionaries of the priest Francisco Alvares' needs. That in turn must be enough money available to build a suitable vessel. The navigation of the ship is to limit the process of how far this sailing. Reach powerful ships require a correspondingly larger crew.

Since all resources are only limited available, must be found before the action phase, the player order. This is done in a separate phase of play, combined in an action of the players - a marker of your color with a number of stone from the general supply and shifting to the desired field of action in one of the four areas of action described above.

The number of stone it is the position of the sequence in which the players perform their actions in the second phase. Who wants to be here early, this benefit must pay with the corresponding "real". An additional action the player can perform, which is in the favor of King Manuel I, "because this allows it to perform an additional action in the second phase.

In the third stage of the game is about the evaluation of actions previously made. It is true that the players in phase two, collect already ad-hoc victory points, but sustainable is it, who has planned the ship routes clever and controls with the help of the dealer "Girolamo Sernigi" which has its own merchant shipping fleet, the right port.

After five rounds are busy with three phases (order, perform actions and evaluation) ends the game with a final score. That sounds like a short game, however, every single action an individual peculiarity, the four characters have different abilities and the right combination to find, at the end of the maximum to get to victory points, all this is a rather demanding task with an hour playing time.

Vasco da Gama is a really well-balanced, multifaceted game with interesting combinatorics, which is to play fluently and has plenty of atmosphere. The rule has, as very often in games from foreign publishers, slight inconsistencies by the literal translation sometimes, making some passages are repeated in the declaration or act a little awkward. All in all, the game does, however, according to the rules and learn to understand.

The game consists of relatively many parts: the four main characters, different game pieces for 2-4 players, money, project / vessel - cards, sailors, missionaries, Vasco da Gama Trade Masters, score markers. Nevertheless, everything works according to the structure of the game cleaned up and clear. The reason for this is that on the board for every detail, even for the money, a place is provided. We are really a good solution.

Tags: What's Your Game