Chocolatl

About this board game

Chocolatl is a 3–5 player board game with a playing time of about 45 minutes, inspired by Aztec history, the legend of Quetzalquatl, and cacao, the fruit of the gods.

Each player begins with an identical deck of numbered bidding cards. During each turn, players use these cards to make blind bids at six different board locations, competing to claim benefits that can shape the rest of the game.

The locations offer a range of rewards, including scoring points, upgrading your bidding deck, and gaining ways to alter your blind bids. Success depends on reading your opponents, managing your available cards, and deciding where your bids will have the greatest impact.

The bidding format is not always the same. It can change from round to round according to the leader’s position on the score track, creating several distinct rhythms of play. In some rounds, all 12 cards are bid simultaneously, with two cards assigned to each location. In others, locations are resolved one at a time.

Another format lets players bid one card at each location, reveal those bids, and then place the rest of their cards after seeing everyone’s initial choices. These changing procedures make timing and outguessing central to the experience. The player who best manages their cocoa sacrifices and anticipates the opposition wins.

Chocolatl includes the following components:

• Game board and six player boards
• 77 cards and 51 wooden cubes
• 10 dice, two game figures, and seven bonus chips
• Rulebook