# Altiplano ## General Info - **Year Published**: 2017 - **BGG Rating**: 7.4 - **BGG Rank**: #479 - **Players**: 2-5 (Best with: 3) - **Duration**: 60-120 min - **Weight**: 3.29 / 5 - **Designers**: Reiner Stockhausen - **Artists**: Jeff Oglesby, Klemens Franz - **Publishers**: dlp games, Arclight Games, Arrakis Games, Baldar, GaGa Games, Giochix.it - **Categories**: Economic - **Mechanics**: Action Points, Contracts, Deck, Bag, and Pool Building, Modular Board, Open Drafting, Tile Placement ## Verdict If you're into optimization and engine-building games, Altiplano is a feast, with the cherry on top being its clever bag management!Addictive bag buildingMultiple paths to victoryChallenging resource optimizationHigh replayabilityEngaging Andean themeCan be complex for beginnersIndirect interaction, focus on personal optimizationGame length can be longRECOMMENDED ## Description Altiplano whisks you away to the high plateaus of the Andes in a bag-building adventure that echoes the acclaimed Orléans. However, the focus here shifts slightly: while competition for resources is certainly present, the main goal is to optimize your own production chain to be as efficient as possible. Ultimately, the player with the most valuable and well-stored goods will emerge victorious! Each player kicks off with a unique role, granting access to distinct resources and production methods. Initially, your options are limited, but as the game progresses, you can expand your production sites, unlocking a wider array of possibilities. The goods are diverse – think fish, alpaca, cacao, silver, and corn – and each boasts its own characteristics and uses. For instance, silver fetches a high price at the market, fish can be exchanged for other goods at the harbor, and alpaca yields wool, which can then be crafted into cloth. It's a true resource-juggling act! Beyond building a top-notch production engine, you'll need to be clever about fulfilling your orders at the right time, strategically advancing along the road, and, crucially, storing your goods in a way that maximizes your warehouse's value. Sometimes, being a logistics master is more rewarding than being the biggest producer. Altiplano offers multiple paths to victory, ensuring that each game provides a fresh opportunity to test new strategies and have a blast! ## How to Play Game Objective Welcome to the South American plateaus, my friends! In Altiplano, you are residents of a mountainous region between Bolivia and Peru, where life is challenging but full of opportunities. The objective is simple, but the journey is rich: be the player who best plans and adapts to the environmental conditions to have the highest income at the end of the game! Whether fishing in Lake Titicaca, mining in the mountains, raising alpacas, or trading manufactured goods, you will seek prosperity. But keep an eye out: resources are limited and can run out! You will have to decide between creating new production sites, changing professions (who knows, maybe planting cocoa?), building roads to accelerate development, or erecting warehouses to protect your precious goods from the inhospitable climate. The one who demonstrates the greatest skill in managing their resources and strategies will be the big winner! Setup Let's set up the table for our adventure in the Andes! Follow these steps: Organize the Locations: Position the 7 Locations (Village, Market, Road, Port, Farm, Mine, and Forest) randomly, forming a circle. This is our play area, and your pawns will travel between them. Prepare Goods and Cards: Consult the table in the manual to know the quantity of each good, carts, and contract cards to be used, according to the number of players. Remove any excess from the game. Shuffle all contract cards and randomly remove 6 (for 2 or 3 players) or 4 (for 4 or 5 players) from the game. Distribute the materials over the Locations according to the list: Road: Corn pieces Village: House cards and Carts (wooden cubes) Market: Glass pieces and Contract Cards Port: Fish pieces and Boat Cards Farm: Alpaca, Wool, and Fabric pieces Mine: Stone, Ore, and Silver pieces Forest: Wood and Cocoa pieces Food pieces and Coins are placed in the center of the table, within everyone's reach. Remember: Coins are unlimited! Extension Display: Place the extension display on the table. Separate the extensions that will remain in play (remove those not needed, observing the 3+, 4+, 5+ markings for the number of players). Shuffle the separated extensions by marking (A, B, C, D) and form a single pile, face down, in the following order (bottom to top): D, C, B, A. Reveal the first 5 extensions and place them next to the display, starting with the lowest space. Individual Materials: Each player chooses a color and receives: 1 Action Board 1 Warehouse 1 Pawn 1 Marker 1 Crate 1 Cart (taken from the Village) 1 Fabric Bag Each player's marker is placed on the highest space of the Road. The cart is placed on the top cart space on the action board. Starting Player: The youngest player receives the starting player marker. Choosing Professions: Shuffle the 7 professions (shepherd, merchant, stonemason, fisherman, farmer, miner, lumberjack) and deal one to each player, starting with the starting player. Advanced tip: Once everyone knows the game, they can choose professions counter-clockwise, starting with the last player, and the last to choose becomes the starting player. Each player receives the goods indicated on their Profession (from the respective Locations, plus food and coins from the center of the table). All goods go into the fabric bag (or directly into planning spaces 1-4 to simplify the first round). Coins are placed next to the action board. Ready! Now, let's start the game! The Game Turn Altiplano is played over several rounds, and each round is divided into four exciting phases. Let's understand how it works: Phase 1: Draw All players perform this phase simultaneously. It's time to restock your resources! Draw goods from your fabric bag and place them in the planning spaces on your action board. Initially, you can occupy spaces 1 to 4. As you build roads, more spaces will be unlocked. If a planning space is already occupied (with a good not used in the previous round), you will draw fewer goods to fill the empty spaces. Important: Goods in warehouses or on contracts never return to the planning spaces! You can move goods already positioned in action spaces back to the planning spaces before drawing from the fabric bag. If your fabric bag is empty, transfer all goods from your crate to the bag and continue drawing. If there are still not enough goods, the remaining planning spaces remain empty. Coins on extensions or movement action spaces can be returned to your personal supply before drawing. Phase 2: Planning Again, all players plan their actions simultaneously. This is your chance to think about the next steps! Move goods from your planning spaces to the action spaces on your action board, profession, or extensions. Each action space holds only one good. You don't have to use all goods from the planning spaces. Unused ones remain there, but this means you will draw fewer in the next round. To perform an action at a Location, the positioned goods must match exactly those required for that action. For example, at the Farm, to produce 1 Wool, you need 1 Alpaca and 1 Food in the Farm's action spaces. Professions and extensions offer new actions, usually requiring 1 or 2 specific goods. Goods positioned in previous rounds cannot be moved to other action spaces. However, goods from the planning spaces can be moved between action spaces until all players declare the planning phase complete. The starting player declares their phase complete, and the others follow clockwise. Once declared, the position of goods cannot be changed. Phase 3: Actions Now it's time to act! Actions are performed by players clockwise, starting with the starting player. On your turn, you can perform one action or pass. If you pass, you cannot perform any more actions this round. The order of your actions is free. Your pawn must be at the Location associated with the action you want to perform. Before your first action in the game, you can place your pawn at any Location for free. Movement: You have a cart that can be used once per round for free to move your pawn up to 3 spaces (neighboring Locations). Move the cart to the right to indicate it has been used. For each additional space, you can pay 1 food in the movement action space. The food goes into your crate. If you have additional carts, you can use them by paying 1 food for each, moving your pawn up to 3 spaces. Movement does not count as an action. You can move your pawn before and/or after your effective action, using different types of movement in any order. General Action Rules: Actions are not mandatory. You can prepare an action and save it for future rounds. At the same Location, you can combine several actions, provided you meet the prerequisites. When you perform an action, the goods used and acquired go into your crate. They only return to your fabric bag when it is empty and you need to draw more. All goods remain in your possession. Only coins are spent and return to the central supply. Coins for market extensions must be positioned in the appropriate spaces in the Planning Phase. For basic Market or Village actions (contract, construction, buying carts), coins are paid at the time of the action. Basic Actions (available to all): Farm: Produce food (with alpaca), wool (with alpaca and food), fabric (with wool and food). Forest: Produce wood (with 2 food), trade cocoa for food, fabric, or glass. Mine: Produce stones (with 2 food), silver (with ore and food). Port: Produce food (with fish and food), trade 2 fish for 1 stone, build boats (with 2 wood – boats are worth 2 points and give a bonus good). Village: Build houses (with 2 stones – houses are worth 4 points and increase the value of a good for final scoring), store goods in your warehouse (with specific rules for types of goods and corn), buy carts (pay 1 coin, maximum 1 per round, maximum 4 carts in total). Market: Sell goods for coins, buy extensions (pay the extension price + position price on the display, maximum 1 per round, cannot have the same extension twice or an action identical to your profession), receive a contract (pay 1 coin, maximum 1 open unfulfilled contract), supply goods for contracts (does not have to be all at once; upon completion, receive 1 corn from the Road and store it). Road: Build roads (with 1 stone and 1 wood – moves your marker down the scale, unlocking more planning spaces or receiving corn). When all players pass, the round ends. Phase 4: New Round Before starting a new round, some preparations are necessary: The starting player marker is passed to the player on the left. All used carts are moved back to the left. If at least one extension was bought, the remaining ones are moved down the display, and new extensions from the pile are drawn to fill the higher cost spaces. If no extension was bought, the lowest extension (without additional cost) is removed from the game. The others are moved down, and the highest space is filled with a new extension. End of Game and Scoring The game in Altiplano ends when one of these conditions is met: All goods and cards from a Location have been acquired (e.g., Port without fish and boats, or Road without corn). An empty space on the extension display can no longer be refilled. When one of these requirements occurs, the current round is played to the end, and one complete new round is played. After this last round, there may be a final storage through special extensions. Finally, it's time for final scoring! Each player gathers all goods from their crate, fabric bag, planning and action spaces, profession, and acquired extensions. Goods in the warehouse also count. Goods on contracts are not counted. Use the Scoring Pad to tally points: Goods: Each good is worth points according to the table (0, 1, 2, 3, or 4 points). Boats and Houses: Each boat is worth 2 points and each house is worth 4 points. Completed Contracts: Add up the points from the contracts you completed. Incomplete contracts and their goods are worth nothing. House Bonuses: Receive 1 point for each good of the types that your houses bonus (including those in the warehouse, but not those on contracts). Warehouse: Each complete row in your warehouse grants the points shown next to the row. Missions (if using the expansion): Add up the points from completed missions. The player with the most points is the big winner! In case of a tie, the player with the most coins wins. Tips for Winning Altiplano offers many paths to victory, but to start on the right foot, here are some valuable tips: Don't Underestimate Food: You start with little food, and it's crucial! Use it for production chains and, especially, to move between Locations. Being able to move more than once per round can be key to optimizing your actions. But be careful not to accumulate too much, as it doesn't score at the end! Explore the Warehouse: Beginners often forget the warehouse, but it's powerful! Storing goods not only helps manage your fabric bag (reducing the number of items that return there) but also guarantees valuable points for complete rows. Start several rows with different goods and complete the most valuable ones when you can. Coins are for Using, Not Saving: Remember, coins are not worth points at the end of the game! Accumulating them is a mistake. Use them to buy extra carts, acquire extensions at the Market that give you new actions, or take ## FAQ ### How many players does Altiplano support and what is the average playtime? Altiplano is best for 2 to 5 players, with games typically lasting between 60 and 120 minutes. Playtime can vary depending on the number of players and their familiarity with the game. ### What is the complexity level of Altiplano? With a BGG weight of 3.29/5, Altiplano is considered a medium-heavy complexity game. It offers significant strategic depth and requires careful planning, making it more suitable for players with some board game experience. ### What are the main mechanics in Altiplano? The core mechanics include bag-building, action points, contracts, modular board, open drafting, and tile placement. This combination creates a rich decision-making experience. ### Is there much player interaction in Altiplano? Interaction is mostly indirect. While there's competition for resources and the possibility of 'sniping' a coveted tile, the primary focus is on optimizing your own production engine and managing your bag. Don't expect much direct confrontation. ### Who is Altiplano most recommended for? It's highly recommended for fans of Eurogames with a focus on optimization, strategic planning, and engine building, especially those who enjoy the bag-building mechanic. If you liked Orléans, Altiplano is a safe bet. ### Is language dependency an issue in Altiplano? No, Altiplano has low language dependency. Most components are symbolic, and any text present is minimal and easily understood with a quick reference to the rulebook. ## Price Comparison ### Best Offers in Brazil - **R$ 120,53**: R$ 120,53 (https://www.comparajogos.com.br/api/redirect?to=391891) - See all on Compara Jogos: https://www.comparajogos.com.br/item/altiplano ### Best International Offers - **BoardGamePrices.com**: $ 54.49 (https://boardgameprices.com/item/go?source=A&storeitemid=6789141&utm_source=boardgamesbot.com) - See all on BoardGamePrices: https://boardgameprices.com/item/show/21791/altiplano?utm_source=boardgamesbot.com