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Wayfinder box art
2006 Ranked #11,980

Wayfinder

Mancala-style voyaging game has navigators distribute tribespeople, form villages, and unite island communities. Players must rapidly mark a future voyage between turns, adding real-time pressure to spatial planning.

Abstract Abstract Strategy Mancala Containers: Tubes

Players

1-4

Play time

Not listed

Age

?+

Complexity

2.84/5

Rating

6.58

Harder to teach Highly interactive Deep strategy

Overview

At a glance

Is this game right for my group?

ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.

Teachability 2.3/5

Harder to teach

Replay value 3.9/5

High replayability

Interaction 3.7/5

Highly interactive

Player scaling 4.0/5

Scales well

Strategic depth 4.5/5

Deep strategy

See all 4 specifications

How it plays

How does it play?

Wayfinder is about four Polynesian tribes who, while voyaging, got mixed up among a group of islands. Each player plays a Wayfinder (navigator-priest).

Core mechanisms

Key systems that shape the decisions players make.

Read the full game description

Wayfinder is about four Polynesian tribes who, while voyaging, got mixed up among a group of islands. Each player plays a Wayfinder (navigator-priest). The goal for the Wayfinder is to go on a series of voyages to unite the people of the tribes and form villages. On the player's turn, the player must execute a voyage where the wayfinder is located - picking up all the residents of that space and voyaging (mancala like) placing one tribesman on each spot along the way. You get points for creating villages (exactly 5 men of one color in a space) - but more points for villages of your own color. Huts mark created villages - which is used in end game scoring. There is a real time part of the game play. That is, when it's not your turn, you must race to place your Wayfinder to mark the beginning of your next voyage before the beginning of your next turn. The game ends when there are no more moves possible. The player with the highest score wins.

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Editions

Language and publisher variants currently recorded in the catalog.

Edition Year Language Publisher / Region
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Player resources

Rulebooks, player aids, FAQs, and solo resources.

No files imported yet.

Game and edition data

All specifications (4)

Play and group

Players
1–4
Best with
3–4
Play time
45 min
Complexity
2.8/5
Credits and catalog connections

Credits

Designers

1
Benjamin Corliss

Artists

1
Benjamin Corliss

Publishers

1
Allumbra

Linked items

No published linked games yet.