Archipelago Board Game

Archipelago recounts the great Age of Discovery, an era of intensive exploration and colonization of the world by European explorers. The game covers the period from 1492 (discovery of the Antilles by Christopher Columbus) to 1797 (colonization of Tahiti). Each player portrays an explorer and his team commissioned by a European nation to discover, colonize, and exploit islands. The mission is intended to be one of peace: to meet the needs of the local population while providing commercial returns to the continent. The archipelago and its natives must be treated fairly or they will rebel, potentially leading to an all-out war of independence. A balance must be found between expansionism and humanism, between commercial goals and respect for local values, between knowledge sharing and unbridled industrialization. Such balance can only be achieved through each player`s commitment to make the archipelago a happy and productive colony. If not, the reckless exploitation of the islands` resources and their inhabitants will ultimately lead to chaos and revolt. To complicate matters, a separatist or pacifist may hide among the players. One or the other will attempt to use his influence to tilt the balance away from equilibrium and towards his respective goal of chaos and uprising or absolute peace. Are you ready to take on your discovery mission to the archipelago? Game Rules You hold in your hands the first semi-cooperative game involving exploration, development, optimization, negotiations, diplomacy … and treachery. You will compete with other great explorers who each have their own priorities and objectives. But you must work together to preserve the balance of the archipelago and avoid a war of independence… or do you? Contents: 25 regions x 2 sides, 185 wood pieces, 90 playing cards, 1 action wheel, 4 large boards, 5 player screens, 50 tokens, 51 money chips, 1 track, 1 rulebook. Age: 14+ Players: 2-5 Duration: 30-240 minutes

In Archipelago, players are Renaissance European powers competing in the exploration of a Carribean archipelago. They will explore territories, harvest resources, use those resources in markets both internal (for their use and that of the natives) and foreign (to sell it in Europe), build markets, harbors, cities and temples, and negotiate among themselves (and maybe betray each other) � all this to complete their secret objectives. They will also need to guess the secret objective of the other players to be able to benefit from them. But players also need to be careful of the natives; if they make them too unhappy or if too many of them are unoccupied, they could revolt and declare independence. Then everyone will lose!

Game includes a present theme, with negotiation and backstabbing
Choose between a short, medium and long game; a solo option will also be included.
Playing Time: 90 mins
Ages 14 +
2-5 players