Description

It’s spring 1530. More than 30 years have passed since Vasco da Gama found the sea route to India around Africa. By order of the King of Portugal, you embark on a mysterious journey following the famous explorer’s trail. If you want to win the monarch’s admiration and his favour, you must visit as many overseas ports as you can, bringing home the most valuable cargo. There’s only one problem. Some goods go bad really rapidly. This is why you have to store them appropriately in your ship’s cargo hold, to make sure most of them stay fresh when they reach the port back in Lisbon. Time to set sail. May the best servant of the King win!

Route to India is a family friendly game (which also has an advanced version of the rules) for 2-4 players in which the participants embark on a journey to India and back. The gameplay is divided into two phases, composed of a number of turns which the players take. In the first phase your ships leave from the port of Rastello. Sailing along, you will be moving your ships to the selected ports or colonies (different types of spaces on the board), purchasing goods for doubloons and placing them in the cargo holds (player boards). During your turn you can take move and trade actions, and each cargo tile you obtain is worth a specific number of points at the end of the game. The last ship that arrives at the port in India starts the second phase, beginning the journey back (with new goods available). The game goes on until all the players’ ships reach Rastello again, then you count the points and the player with the highest score is the winner.