'On to India!' surprises with its economical game features: 28 maps and 52 wooden cubes in four colors are everything you need to play.
The route is designed to India Pre Game, consisting of nine (three players) or twelve (four players) is the city map. The first three are revealed, the rest remain hidden until they are achieved in the game from a ship, where a player can only discover a new city per round. The end of the game is rung when the last card face up and so that a sea route to India was discovered. The active player may finish his train, then get all the other players also have a train. Has won the one who has the most victory points.
Playful, the game belongs to the genre most closely worker placement: Each player has two actions which he can use any of six possible: it can
- Increase its available supply of resources
- Move all his ships as far as their mobility indicating and possibly convert it into commercial goods
- Trade goods to sell to get money and victory points
- Construct a building that brings him playful benefits and / or victory points
- Acquire a technology that brings him playful benefits and / or additional victory points (per player in the game a total of only three possible)
- Increase the reach of its ships
Since all actions 'move ships' out and 'sell trade goods' cost money, which is just at the beginning, one is initially somewhat limited. As soon as the money keeps pouring in, one stands every round again faced with the question, what is the strategic options most skill. The point of the 'On to India!' this apart from similar games, is the resource system: All resources (money, victory points, buildings) are represented by wooden cubes, each player has only one stock of 13 pieces. Therefore, one must carefully weigh how to spread this: Whoever amasses money, so automatically has fewer ships, and whoever builds a building after another, the missing merchandise. But decisions are not irrevocable; With few exceptions, cubes can be added to the stock out of the game again, so that you can even still has a chance, if you have taken a few wrong decisions. Have at least two players no longer in stock cubes, the end is also heralded.
The guide includes 16 pages in DIN A6 format and is internalized rapidly by the simple gameplay rules are easily explained. The overview map with the most relevant information to help in the first few games. The wooden cubes are indestructible, the cards are illustrated nicely for a bit limp and do not fit in envelopes, but is mixed as only once per game, you can live without that.
'On to India!' is a pure strategy game with minimal random component (Which city is next?) and therefore especially suitable for all strategists and tacticians; less for casual or society players. Even otherwise, it is somewhat reminiscent of chess: The possibilities are limited at the opening, but the further the game progresses, the more opportunities there are and you can win with numerous strategies. For a game with 28 cards and 52 cubes, it has an amazing playful depth and complexity.