The Star of Africa (board game)

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The star of Africa
Game data
author Kari Mannerla
publishing company Peliko (since 1985)
Publishing year 1951
Art Board game
Teammates 2 to 5
Duration 15 to 60 minutes
Age from 5 years

The Star of Africa (Finnish: Afrikan Tähti , Swedish: Afrikas Stjärna ) is a Finnish board game by Kari Mannerla (1930–2006). The game first appeared in Finland in 1951 and in Germany in 1982 . It is the most famous board game in Finland.

history

Mannerla worked in the advertising industry, while designing various games.

Influenced by many novels about Africa and Humphrey Bogart's film Casablanca , the idea for the game The Star of Africa , which he named after the diamond of the same name , emerged in the late 1940s . He began already in 1949 with the design of a map-like game board. The first version of the game appeared in 1951. It was the first game to use reversible tokens. The game has been translated into 16 languages ​​so far and over four million copies of the game have been sold worldwide, around half of them in Finland.

Reception and criticism

The simple rules of the game allow players of all ages to participate in the Star of Africa . The game is more of a game of luck than tactics. Some critics are of the opinion that The Star of Africa is a colonialist game because it steals Africa's natural resources from European players .

Contents of the traditional game pack

In the Finnish version of the game there are:

  • Map of Africa with marked cities and routes
  • 6 pawns
  • Tokens:
    • The "Star of Africa"
    • 2 rubies worth 1000 pounds each
    • 3 emeralds worth 600 pounds each
    • 4 topazes worth £ 300 each
    • 5 horseshoes that are worthless before finding the star of Africa. Then one of the other players can still win the competition if he is the first to bring a horseshoe to Cairo or Tangier .
    • 3 robbers looting the player's money
    • 12 blank chips
  • cube
  • Play money in the values ​​1000 pounds (3 ×), 500 pounds (12 ×) and 100 pounds (21 ×)

regulate

The aim of the game is to find the “Star of Africa” diamond and bring it to Cairo or Tangier . To find the diamond you have to visit different places in Africa on the game board. Before the start of the game, the small round tokens are shuffled and placed face down on the red circles of the game board, backside up. Each player chooses a pawn and places his pawn on one of the two possible starting cities, Tangier or Cairo. Each player also receives three banknotes worth 100 pounds each as starting capital for the trip.

After the preparations, the search for the Star of Africa begins. The players take turns rolling the dice and moving their pawns according to the number rolled. The country roads are white with black dots. It is free to use. The sea routes are light blue with dark blue dots. To use a sea route you have to pay £ 100 each. If you run out of money, you can only take two steps by sea with each round. The flight routes are red lines. To use a flight path you have to pay £ 300.

When you reach a red circle on the board you have to pay 100 pounds to turn a token. If you can't or don't want to pay, you can turn the token if you miss out on the same space and roll a 4, 5 or 6 in the next round. You can also choose not to turn the token. After turning over you have to follow the picture on the token.

The winner is the player who found the Star of Africa and then brought it to Tangier or Cairo. If another player finds a horseshoe - after the star has already been found - and takes it to Tangier or Cairo before the star arrives there, he wins.

Special events

When visiting different places or areas, the following events occur:

  • Cape Town : The player who arrives in Cape Town first will receive £ 500.
  • Gold Coast : If a player finds a gem on the Gold Coast, he receives double its value.
  • Slave coast : If you turn an empty token on the slave coast, you have to wait three rounds before you can roll again.
  • St. Helena : You have to stay in St. Helena until you roll a one or a two.
  • Sahara : You have to stay in the Sahara until you roll a one or a two.

variants

  • In addition to the traditional board game, there are also different variants: a magnetic travel game, a card game and a memory game. On the occasion of the anniversary year 2011, a retro game and the 60th anniversary edition have been released.
  • The game Inkan aarre (German for "The Treasure of Inka ") by Kari Mannerla was released in 2005 and is very similar to the game The Star of Africa . The game board shows a map of South America .
  • The Star of Africa World Cup has been held every two years since 2005 . In 2011, Maximilian Grönblom from Finland won.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Obituary for the inventor  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Finnish)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.ts.fi  
  2. ↑ a b c HS.fi Muistot - Kari Mannerla  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Finnish)@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / muistot.hs.fi  
  3. ↑ Spielarchiv.de ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (German) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.spielarchiv.de
  4. ↑ Peliko.fi - Afrikantihti  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Finnish)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.peliko.fi  
  5. ↑ Peer Sylvester: So plays the world: A travel guide through the international game scene . P. 38
  6. ↑ a b c TS.fi Columni - Afrikan tähden salaisuus  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Finnish)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.ts.fi  
  7. ↑ Yle.fi - Karjaalaiset kaksinkamppailivat Afrikan tähden mestaruudesta (Finnish)
  8. ↑ Lautapeliopas.fi - Afrikan tehti (Finnish)
  9. ↑ Peliko.fi - Afrikanti-peliohjeet (PDF; 1.5 MB)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Finnish)@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.peliko.fi  
  10. ↑ a b The rules of the game "The Star of Africa" ​​(Finnish edition of the game: 2011, Martinez Oy, Raisio, Finland) (Finnish)
  11. ↑ a b Brochure about variants of the game The Star of Africa (in the Finnish edition of the game: 2011, Martinez Oy, Raisio, Finland) (Finnish)
  12. ↑ Iltalehti.fi - Afrikan tahti -pelin maailmanmestaruus 12-vuotiaalle ( Memento of the original from November 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Finnish) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.iltalehti.fi