Caravelas II

Players: 2–4 players
Play time: 45 min
BGG rating: 6.6

Take the wheel of the greatest adventure ever: the Portuguese Discoveries. Climb aboard Caravelas II, the game that takes you through seas that were never sailed before to reproduce the beginning of the Portuguese empire. Decide your own strategy and sail across the world seaking the destinations that made the commercial success of Portugal in those times. Fill up your Caravelas with spices and precious metals and return to Lisbon to claim glory and all the points you earned in your journey. But you must be careful when passing the Cape of Good Hope, "Adamastor" may sink your boats. This simplified version comes from the success of "Caravelas", and maintains the goal and amazing graphics of the previous game, as well as its didactic interest, but in which rules and play duration are reduced in order to make it more accessible to young players. How is it played? Each player in turn spends up to 4 of his motion cards to move his caravels (by moving the corresponding number of squares on the predetermined sea routes). Then he can discover locations, load resources, and deliver them in Lisbon to gain victory points. At the end of his move, he can return the motion cards that he did not spend or save them for the next play. Finally, he picks new cards until he has 4 motion cards in his hand and the turn passes to the next player. The game is much simpler than "Caravelas" (1st version) in several aspects. There are less components. Only 4 pages of rules (instead of 16). Caravels move only on predetermined routes. Number of moves is determined by the motion cards (instead of depending on the route followed by the ship). There are no event cards. Management of the ships is simplified. Etc. This new version of the game has been developed for a broader (and/or younger) public.