Scramble for Africa

DISAMBIGUATION: This design is 25 years old. It is NOT the game designed by Joel Chacon for GMT Games. For information on that game, please refer to UNPUBLISHED PROTOTYPE.

Scramble for Africa recreates the European exploration and partition of Africa in the final decades of the nineteenth century, combining a strong historical theme and the random element of discovery with a simple positional game system. Played on an authentic 19th-century map of Africa, Scramble for Africa includes two scenarios, one historical and one hypothetical, each playable in under two hours. Complexity is easy (about 2/10).

Play is determined by the triangular grid, which is superimposed over a map of Africa. The points at which the lines of the grid intersect determine the placement of pieces on the game board in a manner similar to the game of go. A player action consists of placing one control marker on the map, often in conjunction with moving an army (if in play), playing an event chit, and/or drawing an event chit from the randomizer cup. Event chits add random elements to the game, and include discoveries, diplomatic events, resources, or encounters with native populations. The object of the game is to acquire the most Victory Points, primarily by surrounding and controlling spaces in a manner similar to the game of go. At the end of the game, players receive Victory Points for their positions on the board, and for resources controlled. This is added to VP's accumulated for discoveries accumulated during the course of the game. The player with the greatest score, obviously, is the winner.