Through the Desert
Encyclopedia
Through the Desert is a German-style board game
designed by Reiner Knizia
. It was originally released in 1998 by German game publisher, Kosmos, under the name Durch die Wüste. Players place pastel colored plastic camel
s on a hexagon-based board in an attempt to score points by capturing watering holes and reaching oases.
in each of the five colors with a caravan leader of their color on the board.
On a player's turn, he places two additional camels of any color on the board. A camel must be played adjacent to a camel of the same color and that group of camels must include the player's caravan leader. A player may never combine two different groups of the same colored camels.
During the game, players score points by placing a camel on top of a watering hole or playing a camel adjacent to an oasis. At the end of the game, players score points for the longest caravan (most camels) of each color and for areas that have been enclosed by one of their caravans.
The game ends when the supply of camels for any one color has been exhausted. The player with the most points wins.
German-style board game
German-style board games, frequently referred to in gaming circles as Euro Games or Euro-style, are a broad class of tabletop games that generally have simple rules, short to medium playing times, indirect player interaction and abstract physical components...
designed by Reiner Knizia
Reiner Knizia
Reiner Knizia is a prolific German-style board game designer. Born in Germany, he developed his first game at the age of eight. He has a PhD in mathematics, and has been a full-time game designer since 1997, when he quit his job from the board of a large international bank...
. It was originally released in 1998 by German game publisher, Kosmos, under the name Durch die Wüste. Players place pastel colored plastic camel
Camel
A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...
s on a hexagon-based board in an attempt to score points by capturing watering holes and reaching oases.
Gameplay
Before the game starts, the board is seeded with watering holes and oases. Each player then places one camelCamel
A camel is an even-toed ungulate within the genus Camelus, bearing distinctive fatty deposits known as humps on its back. There are two species of camels: the dromedary or Arabian camel has a single hump, and the bactrian has two humps. Dromedaries are native to the dry desert areas of West Asia,...
in each of the five colors with a caravan leader of their color on the board.
On a player's turn, he places two additional camels of any color on the board. A camel must be played adjacent to a camel of the same color and that group of camels must include the player's caravan leader. A player may never combine two different groups of the same colored camels.
During the game, players score points by placing a camel on top of a watering hole or playing a camel adjacent to an oasis. At the end of the game, players score points for the longest caravan (most camels) of each color and for areas that have been enclosed by one of their caravans.
The game ends when the supply of camels for any one color has been exhausted. The player with the most points wins.
External links
- Through the Desert page at Fantasy Flight GamesFantasy Flight GamesFantasy Flight Games is a Roseville, Minnesota-based game company that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games. Fantasy Flight Publishing was founded in 1995 by its CEO, Christian T. Petersen. Since the release of its first game product in 1997, the company has been doing...