Navegador

In the 15th century, the Portuguese Prince Henry the Navigator (Henrique o Navegador) summoned the best cartographers and navigators of his time and instructed them to explore the shores of the African coastline. They thereby won expertise in navigation and shipbuilding, heralding the Age of Exploration and enabling Portugal to later to find a direct trade route to India and China. In the height of its power Portugal controlled the sea trade from Brazil to Japan and attained overwhelming wealth with the trade monopoly on spices.

Players represent wealthy trade dynasties which take part in building up the Portuguese colonial empire. The first aim is to explore the unknown sea regions. The player who first enters such a region is rewarded with an explorer and a premium of cash, but also has to sacrifice one ship. Along with a player’s other achievements (colonies, factories, shipyards, churches), the explorers count for victory points at the end of the game. Colonies are an important economic factor as their goods can be sold on the market. Factories are an alternative source of income, because they generate profits when processing goods taken from the market.

With their shipyards players build new ships, and with their churches they recruit new workers. Ownership of workers is necessary to found new colonies or to erect new buildings. A worker must be paid in order to acquire privileges. Privileges augment the victory points (VPs) which can be earned in five categories.