Crossing the Desert
Crossing the Desert
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| 2 to 5 players | 45 min | 12 years and up |
La Traversée du Désert (The Desert Crossing) is a game of territory placement and strategy where players lead nomadic tribes across a vast desert. By deploying camel caravans, you must explore the dunes, reach oases, and encircle areas to earn points. Behind its simple rules lies remarkable strategic depth: each placement influences your opponents' movements and can transform the board's landscape. Quick to learn but demanding in its tactical choices, this game by a renowned author offers tense games where anticipation and territory control are essential.
How to play Desert Crossing?
Game Setup
The desert board is placed in the center of the table with oases and waterholesdistributed across different squares. Each player controls several caravans of different colors, each starting with a chief camel placed on the board.
Point tokens and camels are placed nearby. The goal will be to expand your caravans to control the desert and accumulate points through oases, resources, and conquered territories.
Gameplay outline
On your turn, you must place two camelson the board. These camels must always be adjacent to a caravan of the same color that you control.
By developing your caravans, several scoring opportunities appear:
- Water points: placing a camel on a token immediately grants this bonus.
- Oasis: connecting a caravan to an oasis earns additional points.
- Territory enclosures: if your caravan completely surrounds an area of the desert, you gain the resources it contains and score points for the enclosed spaces.
Caravans cannot merge with an opponent's caravans of the same color, creating a highly strategic game of blocking and control.
Win/Loss Condition
The game ends when a set of camels of a single color has been fully placed on the board. Players then add up the points obtained from oases, collected tokens, encircled areas, and the longest caravans.
The player with the most pointswins the game and dominates the desert crossing.
Our Tips for Winning
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Block opposing expansions
In this territory game, preventing an opponent from extending their caravan can be as effective as developing your own. Place your camels to limit their progress.
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Prioritize strategic oases
Oases offer immediate advantages and often serve as a pivot to control an area of the plateau. Reaching them quickly can provide a lasting advantage.
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Creating large, enclosed territories
Enclosing a desert area is one of the most cost-effective ways to score points. Try to take advantage of the board edges or mountains to complete your enclosures more easily.
FAQ – All you need to know about La Traversée du Désert
Why is Desert Crossing considered a strategic classic?
The game is based on simple rules but offers significant tactical depth through territory control and constant player interaction.
Can an opponent be completely blocked?
Yes. Placements can prevent an opponent from extending certain caravans, making positioning a central element of the strategy.
Are encircled territories important for scoring?
Yes. Enclosing an area allows you to gather resources and score additional points for each square within the enclosure.
Are the parts very different?
Yes. The arrangement of tokens and players' tactical choices greatly affect the board's development, ensuring high replayability.