Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
The most awaited day of the year in Brazil has arrived: Carnaval! And this time you’re not just a spectator, you are a carnavalesco!
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Open Drafting
Select cards or items from a shared face-up display.
Pattern Building
Place elements to create arrangements that satisfy scoring or action patterns.
Dice Rolling
Roll dice to introduce uncertainty into actions, production, movement, or resolution.
Push Your Luck
Choose whether to secure current gains or risk them for a larger reward.
Set Collection
Gather related items that become more valuable when scored together.
Read the full game description
The most awaited day of the year in Brazil has arrived: Carnaval! And this time you’re not just a spectator, you are a carnavalesco! After twelve months of preparation and rehearsal, the time has come for you to lead your school into the sambadrome and direct the best parade of your career! Carnavalesco is a dice allocation game in which players strive to place combinations of dice that fulfill the unique requirements of nine different categories. The objective of Carnavalesco is to become the parade director of the best samba school in all of Brazil. To do so, you must maximize your scores in the nine categories that samba schools are judged in. Each category has a specific combination of dice that guarantee perfect 10’s, but it is also possible to earn perfect scores by placing dice that minimize your losses while earning bonus points. Although difficult, it is not impossible to score perfect marks in all nine categories – you’re not just striving for the highest score, but also a perfect score. The difference between first and second place in Brazilian Carnaval can be as little as one-tenth of a point, so minimizing your losses in one category can be as important as maximizing your scores in the rest! The samba school with the highest score at the end of the game is the champion of this year’s Carnaval parade, and you will always be remembered as being the carnavalesco who led it to victory! —description from the publisher