Long before it was a tourist destination, Goa was one of India's most important trade centers. In the 16th Century, Portuguese explorers competed for influence in the "spice islands". In Goa, players build ships, harvest spices, develop colonies, levy taxes, and go on expeditions in hopes of being the best explorer in the end.

The classic auction/action game from Rodiger Dorn is open to all players this year (see the schedule for the teaching demonstration). We also return to three-hour heats, with 2.5 hour semi-finals and Final. Otherwise, last year's format is back:

Heats: we will have two heats with HMW being used to determine semi-finalists. The GM will assign players to tables. 4-player games will be preferred, but 3-player games may occur as necessary.

Semi-finals/Final: we will strive for a 16-player semi-final, giving us four 4-player games and four winners to advance to the Final. Regardless of the number of semi-finalists, we will have a 4-player Final.

Rules Version / Common Mistakes / Special Rules

* Seating order will be selected randomly by card draw (using bridge suit order - clubs, diamonds, hearts, spades). Do not use the method described in the rule book.

* You may not bid more ducats than you have. Any player bidding more than he/she has will be penalized one action in the next action phase.

* You may discard a just-purchased plantation if your plantation display is full. You do not have to discard one from your display.

* When performing the Expedition action, the player must discard before drawing or draw only enough cards to ensure that the action does not exceed his hand limit. (For example, a player at the 2/4 position on his development board who already has three cards must first decide to either draw only one card or to discard a card before drawing two.)

* The "take 2 colonists" expedition card may be played in the middle of the Found Colony action. An expedition card marked with an 'A' in the corner must be played before the action is taken. Other expedition cards may be used before or after an action, but not during an action.

* You may use at most one expedition card each turn.

* Red tiles, dark blue tiles, and the Duty tiles may be used before or after an action, but not during an action.

* The use of a tile is never an action. In particular, the benefit of the Espionage tile does not count as the player's action, and it cannot be modified by an expedition card with an 'A' on it.

* The Vice-king tile advances the least-developed success marker.

* The benefit of the Re-supply tile cannot be split among spices, colonists, and ships; all items must be of the same type.

Game tie breakers are as follows: 1) Remaining money 2) Fewest points from expedition cards 3) Player position relative to the flag (the player who ends the game with the flag has precedence, then the player closest, clockwise, to the flag-holder, etc.)