Quick Takes: 
1-4 players 
30-120 minutes 
Ages 12+ 
Level 3 (advanced, looking for a challenge)
Ready to explore the Caribbean? Then this is the game for you! In Maracaibo, you play 17th century seafarers who sail across the Caribbean trying to achieve fame and wealth while building alliances with nations. The game is played over four rounds, and the winner is the person with the most victory points after the fourth round.
In each round, you move (sail) across the map and, depending on the route you take, have a variety of actions you can take to earn points. As you sail, you come across cities and villages where you may deliver goods, engage in combat with colonizing nations (France, Spain or England - sorry Portugal), explore new lands, upgrade your fleet or work as a privateer. You may also land on quest tiles and complete the quest for points. Each round ends when the first seafarer hits the end of their route, at which point there is interim scoring and all boats return to Havana.
Fun fact: Maracaibo is an actual city in Venezuela that was settled in 1574.
If you love Maracaibo, you might also enjoy designer Alexander Pfister's new game, CloudAge. Or for a complete opposite theme, check out Spirit Island where you play as spirits who repel the seafaring invaders!
- Strategy - more than a roll of the dice to win this one. Decision making along the way is key
- Optionality - you can play this as a campaign where the story builds or single play/base game
- Beauty - the pieces are well designed
- Great Euro game
- Meeple's Choice Winner - 2019
- Golden Geek Board Game of the Year Nominee - 2019