Afrikan tähti
Encyclopedia
Afrikan tähti or Afrikas stjärna (Swedish), meaning "the star of Africa", is a Finnish
board game
designed by Kari Mannerla
originally in 1951
. It has been one of the most popular board games in both Finland and Sweden for decades. The game was first published in 1951, with a revision to the rules made in 2005 concerning sea-travel within game. The publishing rights are held by the Peliko company.
Afrikan tähti is set in colonial Africa
, with the object being to find and retrieve the famous diamond
the Star of Africa, which the game is named after.
The board covers the continent of Africa, with famous cities marked as big red circles, and with routes consisting of small black circles connecting them. Players can start from either Cairo
, Egypt
or from Tangiers, Morocco
, whichever they want.
The game uses a dice
and play money
. Notes in the values £100, £500 and £1000 are supplied (referred to as dollars in the English language instructions).
Also included is a series of circular tokens, one token for each city. The tokens are not matched with specific cities, only their number is the same. Tokens include:
Each player is given £300 as starting money and their character is placed in Cairo or Tangiers according to their preference.
Stopping short at a city is allowed.
If the player buys or wins the token, it is flipped over, the player acts according to the revealed token as follows:
Before the star of Africa has been found, horseshoes are useless. After the famous diamond has been found, however, they become effective substitutes for it. Taking a horseshoe to Cairo or Tangiers when another player has the star of Africa wins the game.
The islands Madagascar
and St. Helena
are only reachable by aeroplane or ship. Canary Islands are only reachable by ship.
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
board game
Board game
A board game is a game which involves counters or pieces being moved on a pre-marked surface or "board", according to a set of rules. Games may be based on pure strategy, chance or a mixture of the two, and usually have a goal which a player aims to achieve...
designed by Kari Mannerla
Kari Mannerla
Kari Mannerla was a Finnish board and card game designer and advertising agency executive. The most famous game designed by Mannerla is the board game Afrikan tähti , the idea of which he began to develop in 1949. The game was published two years later...
originally in 1951
1950s in games
-Significant games-related events in the 1950s:*Avalon Hill Game Company founded by Charles S. Roberts to publish the first board wargame, Tactics. For many years Avalon Hill was a dominant maker of wargames....
. It has been one of the most popular board games in both Finland and Sweden for decades. The game was first published in 1951, with a revision to the rules made in 2005 concerning sea-travel within game. The publishing rights are held by the Peliko company.
Afrikan tähti is set in colonial Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, with the object being to find and retrieve the famous diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
the Star of Africa, which the game is named after.
Rules
Afrikan tähti is a race between several players. The minimum is two players, and the maximum is theoretically unlimited, although with more than five or six players the game starts to become unplayable, due to too long gaming turns and insufficient resources.The board covers the continent of Africa, with famous cities marked as big red circles, and with routes consisting of small black circles connecting them. Players can start from either Cairo
Cairo
Cairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
or from Tangiers, Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, whichever they want.
The game uses a dice
Dice
A die is a small throwable object with multiple resting positions, used for generating random numbers...
and play money
Play money
Play money is noticeably fake bills or coins intended to be used use as toy currency, especially for classroom instruction or as a marker in board games Play money is noticeably fake bills or coins intended to be used use as toy currency, especially for classroom instruction or as a marker in board...
. Notes in the values £100, £500 and £1000 are supplied (referred to as dollars in the English language instructions).
Also included is a series of circular tokens, one token for each city. The tokens are not matched with specific cities, only their number is the same. Tokens include:
- Blank tokens.
- GemstonesGemstonesGemstones is the third solo album by Adam Green, released in 2005. The album is characterised by the heavy presence of Wurlitzer piano, whereas its predecessor relied on a string section in its instrumentation.-Track listing:#Gemstones – 2:24...
. There are three different gems, rubiesRubyA ruby is a pink to blood-red colored gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum . The red color is caused mainly by the presence of the element chromium. Its name comes from ruber, Latin for red. Other varieties of gem-quality corundum are called sapphires...
, emeraldEmeraldEmerald is a variety of the mineral beryl colored green by trace amounts of chromium and sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5–8 on the 10 point Mohs scale of mineral hardness...
s and topazTopazTopaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al2SiO42. Topaz crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal and other faces.-Color and varieties:...
es. - Robbers.
- HorseshoeHorseshoeA horseshoe, is a fabricated product, normally made of metal, although sometimes made partially or wholly of modern synthetic materials, designed to protect a horse's hoof from wear and tear. Shoes are attached on the palmar surface of the hooves, usually nailed through the insensitive hoof wall...
s. - The star of Africa itself. This is the only unique token in the game.
Game start
At the start of the game, all tokens are turned face down and shuffled, then distributed randomly at the cities, with one token at each city. At this point, no player knows which token is in which city.Each player is given £300 as starting money and their character is placed in Cairo or Tangiers according to their preference.
Game rounds
On their turn, each player throws the die, and moves the given number of steps along the routes. If they reach a city with its token still present, they have three options:- Continue as normal.
- Buy the token. This costs £100.
- Stay in the city. On the following turns, the player may try to win the token by throwing the die, instead of moving normally. On a 4, 5 or 6, the token is won.
Stopping short at a city is allowed.
If the player buys or wins the token, it is flipped over, the player acts according to the revealed token as follows:
- Blank token: Nothing happens.
- Gemstone: The gemstone is immediately sold for cash. Rubies are worth £1000, emeralds £500 and topazes £300.
- Robber: The player immediately loses all their money.
- Horseshoe: Acts as a substitute for the star of Africa, but only after the star has been found.
- Star of Africa: Finding this is the goal of the game. Taking it back to either Cairo or Tangiers wins the game.
Before the star of Africa has been found, horseshoes are useless. After the famous diamond has been found, however, they become effective substitutes for it. Taking a horseshoe to Cairo or Tangiers when another player has the star of Africa wins the game.
Travel
There are three different forms of travel available:- On foot. This moves on the regular routes and is free of charge.
- By aeroplane. Aeroplane routes connect some of the cities directly with each other. Travelling by aeroplane costs £300 and takes the player directly to the adjacent city.
- By ship. Ship routes are effectively similar to foot routes, but they are on the sea. Boarding a ship costs £100, after which the player may throw the die to determine how many steps they can take on the sea-route. According to the 2005 rule revision players with no money can also travel by sea but only a maximum of two steps at a time.
The islands Madagascar
Madagascar
The Republic of Madagascar is an island country located in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa...
and St. Helena
Saint Helena
Saint Helena , named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha which also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha...
are only reachable by aeroplane or ship. Canary Islands are only reachable by ship.
Special places
Some cities or other places on the board have special rules.- In Slave CoastSlave CoastThe Slave Coast is the name of the coastal areas of present Togo, Benin and western Nigeria, a fertile region of coastal Western Africa along the Bight of Benin. In pre-colonial time it was one of the most densely populated parts of the African continent...
, getting a blank token causes the player to be enslaved and sold at the slave market. They may only proceed after three turns have passed without their participation. - In Gold CoastGold Coast (British colony)The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.-Overview:The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial...
, the value of gemstones is doubled. - The first player to reach Cape TownCape TownCape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
is awarded £500. - There is one step in SaharaSaharaThe Sahara is the world's second largest desert, after Antarctica. At over , it covers most of Northern Africa, making it almost as large as Europe or the United States. The Sahara stretches from the Red Sea, including parts of the Mediterranean coasts, to the outskirts of the Atlantic Ocean...
where the player is ambushed by beduins and can only proceed after rolling 1 or 2. - There are two steps in the sea near the island of St. Helena where the player's ship will be raided by pirates and the player can only proceed after rolling 1 or 2.