Caracas

About this board game

Caracas is a 2024 tile-placement game for 1–5 players that takes about 40 minutes, in which players build expedition maps inspired by Alexander von Humboldt’s 1799 South American expeditions.

Each player begins with a SEA tile, while a central MARKET holds four land tiles beneath four matching symbols. On your turn, place a land tile next to your SEA or an existing land tile, in the column beneath one of your SEA’s symbols. Then take the land tile from the matching MARKET column and store it above your SEA.

That stored tile becomes your next placement. On your following turn, connect it to your growing map and take another tile from the corresponding MARKET column. Because your next tile is already known while other players act, Caracas keeps turns moving quickly while giving you time to consider difficult choices—and even examine the puzzle developing on other maps.

• Common animals: Score 1 victory point when each animal’s specific scoring rule is met.
• Rare animals: Each appears on only one land tile and scores 2 victory points when its unique rule is fulfilled.
• Landscapes: Compare Jungle, Savannah, Swamp, and River Basin features across expedition maps to determine their victory points.
• Rivers: Each dead-end river connected to land on another tile costs 1 point.

Every point matters, and the challenge becomes harder as your map grows and more animal conditions compete for attention. You must also weigh landscape objectives: the player with the most separate Savannah areas earns the most Savannah points, while the player with the fewest separate Swamp areas earns the most Swamp points.

With its visible next tile, evolving MARKET, and layered scoring puzzle, Caracas invites careful planning from one turn to the next as you assemble the most successful expedition map.