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The Smoky Valley
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Rules assistance for Age of Industry Expansion: Great Lakes & South Africa
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–5 players
- 120 min
- 12+
- Complexity 3.4/5
Rules assistant for Age of Industry Expansion: Great Lakes & South Africa
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Age of Industry Expansion: Great Lakes & South Africa is an expansion for Age of Industry released in 2013 for 2–5 players, 120 minutes per game, and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Claude Sirois and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Network and Route Building, and Open Drafting.
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About the game
Two new expansion maps for Age of Industry : The Great Lakes & South Africa The Great Lakes map has been designed for 2 players and features the region around the Great Lakes in Canada and the U.S. Within the Great Lakes region, waterway plays a strategic role, carrying the iron ore and coal that are critical to the health of vital industries such as steelmaking and automotive manufacturing. The Seaway must close during the winter because of the bad conditions for navigation, so the international markets are not accessible all year round for the Great Lakes ports. Shippers must rely on rail during that season to move their goods or wait for the Seaway to reopen in spring... The South Africa map has been designed for 3 to 5 players and takes place at the end of the 19th century when important gold and diamond deposits were discovered in the northeast part of the current South African Republic Territory. In order to develop that part of the continent, exploit mines and ensure a continuous supply of equipments, investors had to establish ports in coastal cities and develop the hinterland from there...
Designers
Publishers
- (Self-Published)
- (Web published)
Questions and answers
Age of Industry Expansion: Great Lakes & South Africa supports 2–5 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Age of Industry Expansion: Great Lakes & South Africa is 120 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Age of Industry Expansion: Great Lakes & South Africa for ages 12 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Age of Industry Expansion: Great Lakes & South Africa has a complexity rating of 3.4 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-weight game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Age of Industry Expansion: Great Lakes & South Africa belongs to these categories: Economic, Print & Play, and Industry / Manufacturing. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Network and Route Building, and Open Drafting. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Age of Industry Expansion: Great Lakes & South Africa are: Claude Sirois. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Age of Industry Expansion: Great Lakes & South Africa as an expansion for Age of Industry. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need Age of Industry to use it. Check that your edition of Age of Industry is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.