Components

• 1 Game board
• 1 Round Marker
• 1 First Free of Charge Action Marker
• 35 Project/Ship Tiles
• 6 Merchant's Ship Tiles
• 4 Scoring Markers
• 4 Character Tiles
• 1 Label Sheet
• 9 Vasco Da Gama Tiles
• 22 Sequence Numbers
• 16 Action Discs
• 4 Additional Action Discs
• 28 Captains
• 32 Sailors
• 6 Missionaries
• 48 Coins
• 1 Cotton Bag
• Instructions

Object of the Game

Setup

If the game has less than 4 Players, remove the Action Discs, Captains, and Scoring Markers of unused colors and place in the box.

1. Lay the Game Board on the table. The board is subdivided in 4 Areas: Recruiting, Characters, Purchase Projects and Navigation.

2. Place the Round Marker over Number 1 of the Round Track.

3. Each Player chooses a color (yellow, red, black or blue) and he/she receives 1 Scoring Marker of the chosen color, to be placed on the board, over Number «0» (zero) of the Scoring Track.

   During the game, every time the Player earns Victory Points, he will move the Scoring Marker accordingly.

4. Each Player also takes and places in front of him, in order to create his supply:

   • 4 Action Discs of his own color,
   • 1 Captain of his own color,
   • 10 Reals
   
   
   

5. The Recruiting Area is subdivided in 4 Sections.

   When playing with 2 Players, 2 Sections will be active, when playing with 3 Players, there will be 3 Active Sections, with 4, all 4 Sections will be active.

   When playing with fewer than 4 players, place 1 Additional Action Disc of an unused color on each non-active Section.

   Place the 32 Sailors in the bag. Extract and deploy 5 Sailors in each Active Section. Each Player places the 6 remaining Captains of his color in the appropriate space.

6. The Player who has travelled to the farthest destination in the last year becomes the First Player and receives immediately the Bartolomeu Dias Tile and 2 Victory Points.

   Distribute remaining Character Tiles to other Players, in clockwise order, as per the table below. Give:

   • 1 Missionary to the Player possessing the Francisco Alvares Tile,
   • 1 Merchant Ship to the Player possessing the Girolamo Sernigi Tile. This Ship must be immediately placed in the Navigation Area. See ahead "Girolamo Sernigi Character",
   • the Additional Action Disc of his color to the Player possessing the Manuel I Tile.

   Place remaining Missionaries, Additional Action Discs, and Sequence Numbers 21 and 22 in the appropriate spaces.

   Form a deck with the Merchant Ships Tiles and place them face down in the appropriate square on the board. Place the first Tile face up on the top of the deck.

   If playing with fewer than 4 Players, place Character Tiles which were not distributed on the appropriate squares on the board.

   	2 Players	3 Players	4 Players
   1st Player	Bartolomeu Dias	Bartolomeu Dias	Bartolomeu Dias
   2nd Player	Girolamo Sernigi	Francisco Alvares	Francisco Alvares
   3rd Player		Girolamo Sernigi	Girolamo Sernigi
   4th Player			Manuel I

7. Place the coins on the board, to create the common supply.

   Place the Sequence Numbers from 1 to 20 following the numbering on the board.

   Shuffle Vasco da Gama's Tiles (from now on, VdG's Tiles) and place the deck face down in the space on the right. Pick the first Tile and place it face up on the top of the deck.

8. Divide the Project/Ships Tiles into 3 decks using the Roman numeral on the Project side, with the Project side face up.

   Place the decks next to the board, so that they remain visible to all Players.

   
   
   

   Place the first 7 Ship/Project Tiles from the first deck (I) with the Project side face up in the spaces on the board.

   The Tile placed in the space in the bottom right corner of the Area is called the Sao Gabriel Project (see Purchase Projects Action).

Game Play

Phase 1: Place Action Discs

Move the top face-up VdG's Tile from the deck on the right, and place it face up on the left space over any other Tiles possibly already there.

Place the First Free of Charge Action Marker in the Numbers Zone according to the upper right number of the Tile, from 4 to 12 (from now on, the "Initial Number").

The smaller numbers below this on the Tile indicate the amount of Reals that Vasco da Gama puts at the Players' disposal for the Round. Draw the corresponding amounts from the common supply and place them in the appropriate Slots in the Characters Area.

Starting with the First Player and continuing clockwise, each Player, in turn:

Once placed, the Action Disc and the Sequence Number associated with it may not be moved.

Available Action Slots vary depending on the Number of Players:

Sequence Numbers 21 and 22 will only be used by the Player owning the Manuel I Character and therefore the Additional Action Disc (See ahead Manuel I).

Phase 1 is over when all Action Discs of all Players have been placed.

Phase 2: Take Actions

After all Action Discs have been placed, pick the top face-down VdG's Tile from the deck on the right and place it face up on top of the deck.

Then, move the First Free of Charge Action Marker by a number of steps corresponding to the Number shown in the upper leftof the VdG's Tile just uncovered (Variation Number). This number ranges from - 3 (minus three) to + 3 (plus three).

The Free of Charge Action Marker will move backward if minus and forward if plus.

The Number by which the Marker will be placed indicates the First Free of Charge Action Number in the current Round.

One at a time, call Sequence Numbers placed on the board (from the lowest to the highest). The Player whose Action Disc is placed with the called Number must now declare whether he wants to perform the action of the Area in which the Disc was placed (See ahead Actions description) or otherwise give it up.

If he decides to perform the action the Player must first check whether or not he has to pay in order to perform it.

The right to take an action is:

• paid for if the Sequence Number is lower than the First Free of Charge Action Number: in this case, the Player, before taking the action, must pay an amount in Reals equal to the difference between the First Free of Charge Action Number and the Sequence Number, or

• free of charge if the Sequence Number is equal or higher than the First Free of Charge Action Number: in this case, it will not be necessary to pay to take the action.

In both cases, the action is performed immediately (i.e. before calling the next Sequence Number).

If the player decides to give up his action (i.e. he does not want to, or cannot, perform the action), in exchange for his giving up he immediately receives many Reals (drawn from the common supply) as shown in the Numbers Zone on the line corresponding to his Sequence Number.

The player may give up an action which would be free of charge, and receive the money. If the Number called is 21 or 22 the player can give up the action but does not receive any money.

After taking or giving up the action, the Sequence Number called is repositioned in its space in the Numbers Zone and the Action Disc is immediately returned to the Player supply.

If a Character is hosted, the Action Disc is placed instead in the Characters Area in the taken Character's space and returns to the Player supply only at the end of the Round (see ahead).

The following Sequence Number is then called. Phase 2 ends when all Sequence Numbers have been called.

Purchase Projects

In the Purchase Projects Area the Players can buy Projects to order the building of Ships.

On the Tiles there are:

A single Purchase Projects Action allows Players to:

The Player performing the action, having paid the relevant price, picks from the board the Tile or Tiles he purchased and places them in front of him in his supply:

• with the Project side face up if the Tiles are purchased from the 6 upper spaces;
• with the Ship side face up if it is the Sao Gabriel Project.

Each Tile purchased from one of the 6 upper spaces will show the Project side until the Ship is launched.

In order to launch a Ship the Player must own the complete crew. Ship's crew must be composed by Sailors and/or Missionaries all of different colors among them. The Player is free to choose which colors to use, provided they are all different in the same crew.

The Players can decide to launch 1 or more Ships in their possession at any time during the game (it is not necessary to own the complete crew before purchasing the Project, nor are Players compelled to launch any Ships when they own a complete crew).

It is not compulsory to own and board a Captain in order to launch a Ship (but it is compulsory in order to send it. Look ahead to the Expedition Action section).

When a Player, at any time during the game, has the necessary crew in his supply and decides to launch one or more Ships in his possession he will have to:

1. turn the Tile to show the Ship side and
2. return to the bag the Sailors he decided to use and/or return to the Characters Area any Missionary used.

Recruiting

A single Recruiting Action allows the recruitment of Sailors from a single Section and/or 1 Captain of the Player's color.

The Player performing the action must choose from which Section he wants to recruit Sailors.

The cost for Sailors is as follows (regardless of the quantity recruited):

• 1 Real for (any number of) Sailors of 1 color (from a single section),
• 3 Reals for Sailors of 2 different colors,
• 6 Reals for Sailors of 3 different colors,
• 10 Reals for Sailors of 4 different colors.

The Captain costs 1 Real for each recruited Sailor (regardless of their color). The Player can decide how many Sailors to recruit for each color (it is therefore not compulsory to take all Sailors of the color chosen).

The fewer Sailors recruited, the lower the cost of the Captain. If the player opts not to recruit Sailors he may take 1 Captain free of charge. The Player is not compelled to recruit a Captain every time he recruits Sailors.

The Player pays the relevant cost, picks the recruited Sailors from the chosen Section (and only from that) and/or 1 Captain of his own color from the relevant space and places them in his supply.

Expedition

A single Expedition Action allows a Player to send 1 or more Ships from his own supply to a single Landing. The Player performing the Action chooses how many Ships to send and to which Landing.

The Player can send only Ships that were launched (see Purchase Projects Action) and that have a Captain of his color on board.

First, the Player performing the action places a Captain of his own color (to be drawn from his supply) on the Ship Tile of each launched Ship that he wants to send.

Then, he chooses a Landing and places all Ships that he wishes to(and can) send there. The Player is not compelled to send all Ships in his possession.

Ships can only occupy empty Ship Slots (i.e. Slots in which there are currently no Ships placed) the value of which is lower or equal to their Navigation Limit.

If there is more than one Slot of appropriate value, the Player can choose where to position his Ship. Ships of more than one Player can be placed in the same Landing. If there are no empty Slots in a Landing, or only Slots bearing a value which is higher than its Navigation Limit, a Ship cannot be placed there.

For each Ship sent, the Player immediately receives:

Once all Slots in a given Landing are occupied, the Landing is defined as "complete". In the example, the Malindi Landing is "complete".

All Players having Ships in "complete" Landings will receive additional Victory Points during Phase 3 (see ahead). In addition, Ships in "complete" Landings can navigate further up to the next Landing.

Characters

A single Characters Action allows a Player to:

• take one of the two amounts of Reals made available by Vasco da Gama for the current Round. The Player who performs the action picks the coins from the space of his choice and places them in his own supply.

  OR

• host one of the Characters and benefit from his power.

The Player performing the action takes the Tile of the Character he intends to host (either from the board or from the Player owning it at that time), places it in front of himself, and immediately enjoys the benefit of the Character power.

The Player places his Action Disc over the space on the board corresponding to the Character taken, to indicate that no other Player can host that same Character for the current Round. The hosted Character Tile will stay in front of the Player until another Player takes it during a following Round.

The Player who is already in possession of a Character Tile (because he hosted it in a previous Round or received it at the beginning of the game -See Initial Setup), can use the action to host the same Character in the current Round.

He puts his Action Disc in the space corresponding to the Character which is already in his possession so that no other Player will be able to take it from him during the current Round.

If Bartolomeu Dias or Francisco Alvares are involved, the Player will receive immediately 2 Victory Points or 1 Missionary respectively. If Girolamo Sernigi is involved, the Player gets the right to send the Merchant Ship.

There is no limit to the number of Characters that a Player can have in front of him.

Manuel I (The King)

The Player hosting Manuel I immediately takes the Additional Action Disc of his own color from the board, together with the Sequence Number 21 or the Sequence Number 22 (he must immediately choose one of the two options) and places them both on the Board on an empty Action Slot (i.e. in which there are currently no Action Discs positioned) in the Area relevant to the action he intends to take.

When the chosen Number is called (see Take actions), the Player may perform his Additional Action. If the Player does not want to, or cannot, perform this action, he can give it up, but he will not receive any money in exchange.

If one of the Players owns the Manuel I Tile at the beginning of the Round (because he hosted it in a previous Round or received it at the beginning of the game -See Initial Setup) he will be able to use his Additional Action Disc (with Number 21 or 22) already in Phase 1.

If during Phase 2 another Player gets possession of the Manuel I tile, the new owner can immediately use the Sequence Number remaining in the Characters Area.

Bartolomeu Dias (The Leader)

The Player opting to host Bartolomeu Dias immediately receives 2 Victory Points.

The Player in possession of the Bartolomeu Dias Tile at the end of the Round (see End of Round operations) will again receive 2 Victory Points and will be the first player for the next Round.

Francisco Alvares (The Priest)

The Player hosting Francisco Alvares immediately receives 1 Missionary taken, if available, from the Characters Area, and places it in his supply.

At the end of each Round (see ahead End of Round Operations), the Player owning the Francisco Alvares Tile will again receive 1 Missionary to be drawn, if available, from the Characters Area and places it in his supply.

If there are no Missionaries in the Characters Area the Player does not gain one.

The Missionaries can be used as Crew members for the launching of Ships (see Purchase Projects Action).

Girolamo Sernigi (The Merchant)

The Player opting to host Girolamo Sernigi achieves the right to send the Merchant Ship. The Player can choose whether to send it immediately or at the beginning of Phase 3 (see ahead).

If he decides to send it immediately, then he picks the Merchant Ship placed face up on the top of the deck in the Characters Area and places it in a Ship Slot of the appropriate value at a Landing of his choice.

The Merchant Ship is completely financed by the Merchant. To be sent, it needs neither Captain nor crew. It can be placed in a empty Ship Slot having a value lower or equal to its Navigation Limit.

The Player immediately receives the "bonus" reported on the coast of the Landing in which he will place it (see Expedition Action for the "bonus" description). The Player does not receive the Victory Points indicated on the Ship Slot.

Once placed, the Merchant Ship will follow the same navigation rules as Ships owned by the Players (see ahead Phase 3).

During the first Round the Player who is in possession of the Girolamo Sernigi Tile having received it at the beginning of the game (see Initial setup) must send the Merchant Ship at the beginning of the first Round, before Phase 1.

Phase 3: Navigation

If the Merchant Ship was not sent (it is still face up on the top of the deck in the Characters Area), the Player owning Girolamo Sernigi must send it at the beginning of this Phase.

The Player picks the Merchant Ship from the Characters Area, places it in a Ship Slot of the appropriate value at a Landing of his choice, following the standard positioning rules, and receive the "bonus" reported on the Landing coast in which the Ship was placed.

Once placed, the Merchant Ship will follow the same navigation rules as the Ships owned by the Players, but not being the property of any Player it earns neither Reals nor Victory Points.

Each Ship in the Navigation Area earns its owner the amount of Reals and/or Victory Points shown in symbols on it, if any, (regardless of its Navigation Limit and the value of the Ship Slot in which it is positioned).

Each Ship in a "complete" Landing earns its owner the Victory Points reported on the coast of the Landing in which it is positioned (regardless of its Navigation Limit and the Ship Slot occupied).

Therefore, for example, every Ship in the complete Landing of Mombasa gains 3 Victory Points for its owner.

Starting from Calicut downwards, the status of each Landing is checked (so that Players check, in order: Calicut, Malindi, Mombasa, Mozambique, Terra de Boa Gente and finally Natal):

If the Landing is NOT "complete" (i.e. there are empty Ship Slots) the Ships that are in it do not navigate. They therefore just stay at their place. The Landing is skipped and the check is done on the Landing immediately lower.

If the Landing IS complete (i.e. all its Ship Slots are occupied) the Ships placed there MUST move.

The first Ship to move will be the one placed in the furthest left Slot, followed by the other Ships from left to right.

Phase 3 is over when all the Landings have been checked.

End of the Round

At the end of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Rounds:

End of the Game

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