Rajas of the Ganges

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Rajas of the Ganges
Game data
author Inka and Markus Brand
graphic Dennis Lohausen
publishing company German : HUCH! ,
Spanish : Devir,
Polish : Egmont Polska,
Dutch : 999 Games ,
Chinese : Game Harbor
Publishing year 2017
Art Board game
Teammates 2 to 4
Duration 45 to 75 minutes
Age from 12 years

Awards

Rajas of the Ganges is a board game by the game authors Inka and Markus Brand , which was released at HUCH! appeared. It is a worker placement game in which additional dice have to be used for actions and a village has to be built on a separate player board. The two opposing scoring bars for money and fame, which determine the winner of the game, are seen as a special feature.

The game was voted 3rd at the 2018 German Game Prize .

Background and game material

Thematically, Rajas of the Ganges is set in the up-and-coming Mughal Empire on the Indian subcontinent , where the players in the role of Rajas and Ranis have to develop new lands and markets for silk, tea and spices in order to lead their own provinces to wealth and fame . By placing a limited number of workers ( worker placement ) and using dice on the game board, players build their provincial boards and collect money through markets and fame through buildings. Money and fame are noted on one of the two counter-rotating scoring bars and come closer together as the game progresses. The player who succeeds first to bring the fame and the money marker on the track to the encounter wins the game.

In addition to the instructions, the game material consists of:

  • a double-sided game board with a representation of a province of the Mughal Empire and two counter-rotating scoring bars on the edge of the field,
  • four provincial boards,
  • four panels of Kali statue,
  • 48 dice, 12 each in four colors,
  • 64 province tiles,
  • 24 workers, 6 each in four player colors,
  • four boats in four player colors,
  • four money tokens in four player colors,
  • four fame markers in four player colors,
  • 20 additional markers in four player colors,
  • four bonus markers,
  • 30 yield tiles,
  • an elephant as the starting player marker,
  • two cover plates for the game of three and
  • eight river tiles.

Style of play

Game preparation

To prepare for the game, the game board is laid out in the middle of the table, with the open side depending on the number of players. In a round with three players, two fields are covered by the included cover tiles. The province tiles are sorted according to colors and symbols and are placed face-up in three stacks each, corresponding to 12 stacks, next to the game board. The 48 colored dice are sorted by color and placed next to the game board. The white yield tiles are shuffled and placed face down on the temple roofs.

Each player chooses a player color and receives the worker pieces, the boat and the tokens of his color, a province board and a potash board as well as a die of each color. Three of the workers of each color are placed on the correspondingly marked spaces on the scoring tracks. The boats are placed on the starting space of the river, the karma marker is placed on level 1 of the karma area and one marker is placed on the first position of the scroll for building development as an upgrade marker. The bonus marker is placed with the river field side up on the marked position on the money counter. The fame marker is placed on the starting space of the fame track for all players, the individual spaces of which are modeled on the blue peacock as a symbol of royalty ; the starting field is a representation of the peacock throne . Each player also places the province board, the potash board and the three remaining workers in front of him. The four dice are thrown and placed with the thrown number on one of the deposit positions of the potash statue. The player who rolled the lowest total roll gets the elephant as the starting player marker and places his money marker in position 3 on the money counting track, then all other players clockwise place their money tokens one $ higher on the track.

Game flow

Steps per run
  • Place workers on an action space
  • Pay costs (money or dice)
  • Perform action (s)

As with other worker placement games, the game takes place over several rounds, each with several rounds, in which the players place their workers on different action spaces on the board. In turn, beginning with the starting player, each player places one worker per round, pays the corresponding costs (deducted from the money counting bar) and takes the appropriate action. The round ends when all players have fully used their workers.

In the various areas on the game board, the action spaces are shown partly without costs and partly with costs (money or dice), which must always be paid in full. Only one worker may be placed on each action space, and if this is occupied, you have to switch to another and often more expensive space. Whenever a player receives new dice through an action or in another way, he rolls them and places them on his Kali statue, which can hold a maximum of 10 dice.

There are four different action areas on the game board: the quarry, the market square, the port with the river and the palace.

Quarry and construction activities:

If a worker is placed on one of the fields in the quarry, he carries out a construction action. After paying the action costs (1 to 4 coins), he can take any open province tile for at least the specified number of dice spots of the corresponding color and add at least one path to an existing path on his province board with at least one path leading to the residence shown on the tableau. By expanding the province, the players can generate income. Instead, there are buildings on the tiles that bring in fame and markets that bring in money through market actions. In addition, there are special yields that are triggered when the corresponding fields on the edge of the province board are connected to the residence by paths.
Building fame is paid directly by moving the fame marker on the fame track as many spaces as it corresponds to the position of the marker on the building development scroll (2, 3 or 4 spaces). Special earnings are also paid out directly when the tile has been discarded and the path to the residence is complete. The special earnings are additional money, additional fame, additional dice or upgrades to buildings.

Marketplace and market promotions:

Workers placed on the marketplace trigger a market action that depends on the corresponding action space on which the worker was placed. The market actions trigger profits in the form of money from the markets that the player owns on the tiles on his provincial table. There are three different markets for tea, silk and spices. There are two types of market spaces on the marketplace: goods of one kind and general goods. If a player places a worker on one of the three market spaces for one type of goods each, he also places a die and may score a maximum of as many markets of this type of goods on his board as corresponds to the number on the die. If the player places his worker on a general goods space, he may score exactly one market of the three different market types. The winnings correspond to the value indicated on the province tiles and are recorded on the money counter.

Palace:

In the Plast there are different actions that can be carried out through the use of workers and that bring different bonuses for the players. The plast consists of several areas with different types of action: the front terrace, the terrace, the balconies and the chambers.
The front terrace consists of a single action space on which a player receives $ 2 and can roll three of his dice again. This is followed by the terrace, on which a player receives a corresponding color die through the use of a worker and has to throw it immediately and place it on his Kali statue. On the balconies, one cube of one color can be exchanged for two cubes of another color by using a worker.
The various residents of the palace live in the chambers and distribute different bonuses through the use of a worker and a die with a matching number. So the player gets the Mughal emperor (1) two fame points and is in the next round starting player. With the dancer (2) he gets two new dice and may also take an income tile, which gives him an additional bonus. The yogi (3) increases the karma bar by two steps and brings an additional new die. The Raja Man Singh (4) takes a step on the building development and $ 3 and the builder (5) allows you to build a new tile on the province board. With the Portuguese (6), the player may move 6 spaces on the river.

Port and river actions:

River actions are triggered by workers in the port or by other actions that affect your ship's position on the river. If a worker is placed on a harbor space, the player can move his ship one, two or three spaces forward with a die with one, two or three points. In this case, only empty spaces are counted as spaces; river spaces with opposing ships are skipped. Depending on where the ship ends, a river action is triggered, which is depicted on the space. These are bonuses that are used directly, such as additional money, additional fame, dice, karma points, upgrades of buildings and triggered market actions. When a ship has reached the last river space, the player can no longer use these spaces.

In addition to the actions described, for which workers must always be used, a player can use his karma at any time. Each player starts with one karma and can accumulate a maximum of three karma points through actions. If a player uses one of these karma points, he may turn any die on his Kali statue on the opposite side.

All money and fame wins are accounted for on the corresponding scoring track on the sidelines. The player can activate additional bonuses in several places on these bars if he exceeds the corresponding position with his marker. In this way, a player can get a maximum of two additional workers and thus two additional rounds per round. The other bonuses mean that a player can advance a river space, receive additional karma or additional dice, or can advance one step on the building development.

The respective round ends when all players have placed their workers and carried out all relevant actions. Then the starting player marker is passed clockwise to the next player (if nobody activated the Mughal in the round). All players take their workers back from the board and the new starting player begins the new round.

Playing

The game ends when a player's money and fame markers meet in one round. In this case, the current round is ended and a check is then made to see whether other players have reached an encounter. If this is the case, the player with the greatest distance between the past markers wins the game, otherwise the one player who triggered the end of the round wins. That player wins even if there is a tie between several players.

Variants and additions

Navaratnas variant

The Navaratnas variant is recommended as an advanced variant of the game. It differs from the basic version in terms of individual rule and material changes.

The most important addition to this variant is the introduction of yield tiles that change the bonus yields on the province boards. These are played on the other side, on which two of the special rewards are dependent on the progress of the respective player on the money or fame track or in other positions in the game. These special yields are determined by brown yield tiles that are drawn at the start of the game and placed on the tableau. On the game board, further colored (white, yellow, brown and red) yield tiles are distributed to the corresponding buildings. With these you can cover and improve your own yield tiles in the course of the game. A player receives new yield tiles either from the dancer in the temple or, if he has fewer workers than at least one other player during the round, in which he can place the additional figure. In addition, up to three additional workers, i.e. a total of six workers, can be activated via the money and fame bars in this version. In addition, the Kali statue can only hold 8 instead of the 10 dice in the basic version.

Ganga module

The Ganga module consists of eight river tiles that are used to cover individual fields in the river. The position is determined by a cube, and they are placed along the river according to the dice's eyes.

Ganga module 2

The Ganga module consists of two further river tiles, which, like those of the Ganga module, are used to cover individual fields in the river. One tile brings a double building update, the other tile is a Ganges dolphin , through which the player can use any bonus of the still free river tiles.

Mango Village

The mini-expansion Mango Village consists of eight new province parts, through which the players can win additional bonuses, two new action spaces for a re-scoring of the Mango Village tiles and another brown yield tile with a bonus of $ 3 for each of the tiles in the Tableau. With the goodie box 1, Mango Village was supplemented by two more tiles.

Snake expansion

The Snake Expansion brings 4 additional province tiles into play, one in each color, on which the Shalimar Gardens are depicted with a circular path around the tile. The tiles enable the player to take back a worker that has already been played and to use it again.

Tiger expansion

The Tiger Expansion also brings 4 additional province tiles, one of each color, into play. The tiles bring various advantages to the players.

The Test of Fate

The expansion The Test of Fate brings 8 fate tokens into play, two of which are in each player color. These are placed on the fame and for the money scoring tracks. When exceeded for the first time, players must give up fame or money points and fall behind; If they then cross the field again, they receive a market or building tile for free.

The Gemstone Trader

The expansion The Gemstone Trader consists of four colored, translucent worker figures. The players receive this when they exceed the space 10 on the fame track and replace one of their workers with it. In the later game, the gem dealer allows players to turn one die once per round.

Expenses and reception

Rajas of the Ganges was developed by Inka and Markus Brand and was published in 2017 for the international game days (SPIEL'17) by the German game publisher HUCH! in a multilingual edition in German, English, French and Italian. The game was subsequently released under license by dV Giochi in Italy, by 999 Games in the Netherlands, by Devir in Spain, by Egmont Polska in Poland and by Game Harbor in China.

The game was voted 3rd in the vote for the German Game Prize in 2018 .

In December 2017, the annual board game advent calendar from Frosted Games published Rajas of the Ganges: Mango Village, a mini-expansion to the game consisting of eight new provincial parts, through which players can win additional bonuses. In 2018, two further mini-additions appeared with the Snake Expansion as part of the German Game Award and the Tiger Expansion in the board game advent calendar. In a specially published goodie box 1 , HUCH! in December 2019 a collection of mini-expansions, which in addition to Mango Village (with two additional parts), the Snake Expansion ( Shalimar - Snake Expansion ) and the Tiger Expansion, also the Ganga Module 2 with two new river tiles, The Test of Fate and The Gemstone Trader contains.

supporting documents

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Official rules of the game for Rajas of the Ganges , HUCH! 2018.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Official rules of the game for Rajas of the Ganges: Goodie-Box 1 , HUCH! 2019.
  3. ↑ a b Mango Village in the BoardGameGeek database; accessed on September 26, 2018.
  4. ↑ a b Goodie Box 1 in the BoardGameGeek database; accessed on December 17, 2018.
  5. ^ Versions of Rajas of the Ganges in the BoardGameGeek database; accessed on September 26, 2018.
  6. ↑ Prize Winner of the German Game Award 2018 on the website of the International Game Days ; accessed on September 26, 2018.

Web links