Into the Heart of Africa Board Game

Heart of Africa by Andreas Steding (2-5 players, 60-75 minutes playing time) is a meaty trading game where the players each lead a trading company which tries to make profits in Africa.

Although Africa had been circumnavigated by the start of the 19th century, the continent remained largely undiscovered. One of the great mysteries was the source of the Nile, and explorers like Burton, Speke, Baker and Livingstone became immortal in their attempts to find it.

Using Arab slave-routes leading from Zanzibar, Dr. David Livingstone, who despised slavery, led his last expedition into the heart of Africa. Having been mauled by a lion earlier, surviving 11 bite wounds and a shattered arm, this Scot was determined and utterly fearless. On they went, in a winding caravan with their heavy loads, through impenetrable jungles and endless, insect-infested swamps. They scaled rugged, seemingly impassable mountain ranges and toiled over endless steppes, beset upon by fierce, hostile tribes. Suffering from monsoon rains, crocodiles, snakes, dengue, malaria, hookworm, dysentery, desertion and thievery, his caravan finally disintegrated and Livingstone became too ill to go any further. His medicine chest was long lost. After an absence of 16 years, Livingstone was unaware that he had become a people’s hero in England, although it was uncertain if he was still alive. Unknown to the outside world, none of 3 relief caravans had reached him. It took another expedition, funded by an American newspaper, ably led by the equally brave adventurer and journalist Morton Stanley, 2 more years to find the toothless, withered Dr. Livingstone on the shores of Lake Tanganyika.

Soon, Africa became the subject of colonialism and trade expansion, and that is where Heart of Africa begins.

Initially, the players only have limited resources. A bidding structure decides who may conduct each next turn. Although bidding is costly, rewards may be rich…

As each turn ends, players evaluate their score. Will they have enough victory points to win?