Tropichaos

About this board game

Tropichaos is a fruit-collecting and selling game for 2–5 players, playable in about 20 minutes. In a world without winter, the remaining seasons arrive and change at random, creating a constantly shifting market for fruit sellers.

On a turn, choose to buy fruits or sell them. To buy, take one of the three revealed fruit chips in the market and add it to your inventory, then draw a replacement from the bag. When a season chip appears, advance the season marker by one space and draw again.

The market can also create trouble. If drawing a replacement leaves three chips of the same fruit displayed, one must be replaced with a different fruit from your inventory, and you must take a deduction chip as punishment.

• Buy fruits: Add a market chip to your inventory and replenish the market.
• Sell fruits: Place the fruit chips you want to sell in the area of your chip holder matching the current season.
• Manage your inventory: With an odd number of chips, you must sell all of them; with an even number, you may sell all or half.
• Watch your limit: If you have five chips, you must sell rather than buy.

Timing is central to Tropichaos. Fruits score different amounts depending on the season in which they are sold, so choosing when to cash in your inventory is just as important as collecting the right fruit.

The game ends when the season marker reaches the final space on the season board. After scoring each fruit, the player with the most points wins.