
- BGG rank
- BGG #5,840
- BGG rating
- 6.9
Kaigan
- 3–4 players
- 90 min
- Complexity 2.9/5
- 2009

2018
Rules assistance for From Batavia
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 2 players

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
From Batavia is a board game released in 2018 for 2–6 players, 40 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Toryo Hojo and Kenichi Tanabe and its main mechanics are Hand Management and Open Drafting.
In the 17th Century, the capital of the Dutch East Indies was Batavia (now Jakarta in Indonesia). Many Dutch merchants wanted to get wealthy trading spices and crops. Nobility desire cardamon; cloves were sought for medicine; cinnamon for its deep, sweet fragrance; and ginger and pepper for their strong spicy flavors. Buy spices, send them to Europe, get rich, and succeed as big merchants! From Batavia (フロム:バタヴィア) is a card-drafting game of sorts. In general, each player has a ship, and they'll place cargo cards on the ship until it's full, after which they get a new ship. Whoever fills three ships first wins! In more detail, each ship card has a hold number and possibly an icon. The cargo cards come in five types (cardamon, cloves, cinnamon, ginger, pepper), and they have a cost, an effect, an icon, and a money value. Grain cards have nothing but a picture of grain, yet they can be valuable, too. Each player starts with a hand of five cargo cards. On a turn, each player chooses a cargo card from their hand, then they reveal them simultaneously. If they can afford to pay the cost of their card, they do so, discarding cards from hand equal to the cost (with a card of the same color as the revealed cargo card counting for two cards) and handing those cards to their -left-hand neighbor. All cards are passed at the same time. If a player can't pay the cost of their card, they return it to hand, then give their left-hand neighbor one cargo card from the top of the deck. All players who paid the cost of their new cargo card now carry out the effect of that card. Ginger, for example, lets you draw grain cards equal to the number of ginger icons on your cargo cards and ship card; grain cards can't be placed on ships, but they can be used to pay for cargo. Cinnamon lets you take a coin and place it on your ship, then discard as many cards as you want to take additional coins; each coin helps to fill the hold of your ship. If the money value of a player's cargo cards (along with any coins they have) equal or exceed the hold value of a ship, that ship is full. The player places that ship aside, discards the cargo cards, then takes a new ship in a different color. Each player can discard any number of cards from their hand, then each person with fewer than six cards draws one cargo card from the deck. Cardamon icons can let you draw a card even if you have six or more cards, while cloves lets you draw additional cards anytime you draw cargo, then discard the same number of cards that you drew additionally. Filter cards to find what you want!
From Batavia supports 2–6 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 From Batavia is 40 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 From Batavia for ages 10 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.
From Batavia has a complexity rating of 2.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light 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.
From Batavia belongs to these categories: Card Game, Travel, and Nautical. Its main mechanics are Hand Management 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 From Batavia are: Toryo Hojo and Kenichi Tanabe. 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 From Batavia as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.