Vanuatu (Second Edition)

In Vanuatu, you become a local inhabitant trying to prosper over eight intense rounds. To do so, you'll need to manage natural resources, valuable items, the local currency (vatus), and even attract tourists. Want more money or prosperity points? You can try your luck with sand drawing (a cultural tradition!), transport visitors between islands, or trade goods with other countries. Each turn, the archipelago expands, and you need to plan your actions using five tokens. The trick is that you can only perform an action if you have the majority of tokens in that space. This means you'll sometimes have to wait for other players to move their tokens to get yours in. If you're left without a majority anywhere, your tokens are lost, along with the chance to perform that action. A good strategy involves blocking opponents – for example, preventing someone from selling fish before they've even caught them! The order of actions matters a lot. Resources and islands are scarce, so be quick! And don't worry about getting too rich: ten vatus turn into five prosperity points, and you're poor again. But don't worry, ten special helpers can boost your actions. And of course, being the first player gives you the advantage of choosing before everyone else. Vanuatu is a pure strategy game, focused on planning, area control, and lots of interaction, with elements of development and blocking. This special edition also includes the Rising Waters expansion, which adds a layer of tension with global warming and the threat of submerged islands, requiring cooperation (or not!) to build dikes.

*Sand Drawing is a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.