FAQ
21 answered questions0 official
Rules questions from the BoardGameGeek forum. Answers marked Official were confirmed by Ravensburger or the designers. No official rulings are included in this FAQ.
Common mistakes
- Trying to combine two cards to enter a high-power landscape space. Ruling · Rule
- Splitting a multi-colour card movement across terrain colours. Ruling · Rule
- Spending half-coin value as movement power. Ruling · Rule
- Keeping every unplayed card instead of choosing which to discard. Ruling · Rule
- Moving the starting-player hat after each round. Ruling · Rule
- Collecting from the same cave again without stopping outside its adjacency. Ruling · Rule
- Treating the first finish arrival as an immediate end before later players get their final turn. Ruling · Rule
- Removing an item from the game when you only used its color to move a dragon. Ruling · Rule
- Using a cave token to replace the cards required for rubble, unless that token grants Native-like movement. Ruling · Rule
- Treating a blockade removal and the next space beyond it as one movement step. Ruling · Rule
- Leaving a stored Muisca card out of the game when it helps remove a base camp. Ruling · Rule
- Treating Lethargy as a movement-only restriction on gold. Ruling · Rule
Showing 21 of 21
Can I combine two cards to enter a high-power landscape space?
No. Each landscape movement uses one card, and its matching symbol and power must meet that space's requirement. A second card starts a separate movement. Rules
Source: BGG thread
When I play a card with more than one movement colour, can I split it between colours?
No. Choose one printed colour for that card's movement; its power cannot be split between different terrain colours.
Source: BGG thread
Are cards spent to buy a market card removed from the game?
No. The coin value pays for the purchase; played cards remain above your expedition board until the end of the turn, then go to your discard pile unless an effect removed them.
Source: BGG thread
Can I use half-coin cards to move through yellow spaces?
No. Half-coin values apply only when buying a market card; they are not movement power.
Source: BGG thread
How much are Jack of All Trades and Adventurer worth when buying a card?
If you choose their coin symbol, use its printed value: 1 for Jack of All Trades and 2 for Adventurer. An item with a coin symbol can likewise be spent for its printed value and removed from the game; if you instead use an item as an unused card worth half a coin, it is not removed. The 2017 rules distinguish cards with coin symbols from all other cards.
Source: BGG thread
Is a Traveler worth half a coin or one coin when buying?
One coin. Traveler shows the coin symbol with value 1; its purchase price is unrelated to its buying value. Cards without a coin symbol are worth half a coin each when used to buy.
Source: BGG thread
May I discard cards I did not use during my turn?
Yes. At the end of the turn, choose card by card whether to keep an unplayed card in hand or discard it. You do not have to play a card to take a turn.
Source: BGG thread
Does the starting-player hat move after each round?
No. Keep the hat with the starting player. It marks who begins and helps determine which players still receive a turn after the finish is reached.
Source: BGG thread
Can I collect the same cave token twice by moving away and back with one card?
No. You must end a move on a space that is not adjacent to that cave before you can collect from it again. Moving between two adjacent spaces in one card movement does not qualify.
Sources: BGG thread 3510207, BGG thread 3781742
Are cave piles replenished after their four tokens are taken?
No. The discussion found no refill rule; treat an emptied cave as exhausted. With Heroes & Hexes, unused and spent cave tiles may be used for the expansion's separate supply rule.
Source: BGG thread
Can I use a cave token instead of a card to enter rubble?
No. The rubble requirement asks for cards from your hand. A token that explicitly grants Native-like movement is different: follow that token's text, which may let it ignore the space requirement.
Source: BGG thread
Can one stop beside two caves and collect from both?
Yes. If a route places two distinct caves next to the space where you stop, treat each cave separately and take one token from each stack. This is uncommon on the base route; do not mistake ordinary mountains for caves.
Source: BGG thread
Does removing a blockade count as a movement step of its own?
Yes. Pay to remove the blockade as one step; reaching a space beyond it takes a separate movement step. A multi-step effect such as Gertrude can pay for both steps, but they still count separately.
Source: BGG thread
Does reaching one finish space end the race immediately?
It triggers the final round. Move the pawn onto El Dorado to clear the finish space, then let players later in turn order take their final turn. If the player who triggers it is last in turn order, the game ends then.
Source: BGG thread
How does a pawn clear a finish space in the two-player game?
When a pawn reaches one of the three finish spaces, the end-of-game procedure places it on El Dorado to clear the finish space. That placement is automatic; the pawn cannot later move away from El Dorado. In the two-player game, both of a player's pawns must reach El Dorado to qualify for the win.
Sources: BGG thread 2482547, BGG thread 2732308
When does the final round begin in the two-player variant?
The BGG thread contains conflicting interpretations. Follow the printed 2017 rulebook: reaching one of the three finish spaces triggers the final round; the two-player variant separately requires both of a player's pawns to reach El Dorado to win. The precise interaction is not settled here.
Source: BGG thread
If I use an item card only to move a dragon, do I remove it from the game?
No. Moving the matching dragon uses the card for its color, not its printed item effect. Put the unused item above your expedition board and discard it at the end of the turn, following the base rules for an item played without using its function.
Source: BGG thread
Can I move the same dragon twice on my turn?
Yes. You may move a dragon once with the Dragon Whisperer and again with a card used for its color, provided each move follows the normal dragon-movement rules.
Source: BGG thread
[Heroes] Does the Lethargy curse stop gold from being used to buy cards?
Yes. While Lethargy is active, its gold restriction applies to both movement and buying; you cannot spend gold for either.
Source: BGG thread
When an effect lets me take a cave token from the supply, may I choose which one?
No. The supply is face down, so take a random token (or the top token from a face-down pile). If Dr. Ian lets you use one of your already collected face-up tokens, choose from your own supply.
Source: BGG thread
Can a stored Muisca card count toward the cards removed to enter a base camp?
Yes. A stored Muisca card can be used as though played from your hand, including to pay a base-camp removal cost; return it to the box after it is used.
Source: BGG thread