Through the Desert

To set up the game, first place all oasis tokens randomly onto the water spaces on the game board. Then, place the five palm tree pieces onto the designated palm tree icons. Each player then places their guide (a camel with a rider) anywhere on the board, except adjacent to a palm tree. Finally, players take turns placing two camels each. The first two players place one camel each, and subsequent players place two camels each. Camels must be placed adjacent to an existing camel of the same color, or adjacent to their guide. Camels cannot be placed adjacent to an opponent's camel of the same color.

The primary objective of Through the Desert is to accumulate the highest number of victory points by the end of the game. Points are earned through several mechanisms: connecting caravans to valuable board elements like oases and palm trees, strategically enclosing empty areas with your camels, and establishing the longest caravan for each of the five camel colors.

During a player's turn, they must place two camels on the board. These two camels can be of the same color or different colors. Camels must be placed adjacent to an existing camel of the same color that is already part of their caravan, or adjacent to their guide. A crucial rule is that a camel cannot be placed adjacent to an opponent's camel of the same color. If a camel is placed on an oasis space, the player collects the oasis token. If a camel is placed adjacent to a palm tree, the player scores 5 points for that palm tree (only once per caravan per palm tree).

Victory points are calculated at the end of the game. Players earn 1 point for each oasis token they have collected. For each palm tree, the player whose caravan is connected to it scores 5 points (only once per caravan, regardless of how many camels are connected). Players also score 1 point for each empty space they have completely enclosed with their camels, provided that the enclosed area does not contain any opponent's guides or camels. Additionally, for each of the five camel colors, the player with the longest continuous caravan of that color scores 10 bonus points.

The game concludes when one of two conditions is met: either all camels of a single color have been placed on the board, or all water spaces on the board have been covered by oasis tokens. Once either of these conditions is met, players proceed to the final scoring phase to determine the winner.