- BGG rank
- BGG #16,665
- BGG rating
- 5.9
Avanti mare!
- 1–6 players
- 5–30 min
- Complexity 1.0/5
- 2000
- BGG rank
- BGG #19,378
- BGG rating
- 6.3
Kanaloa
2020
Rules assistance for Kanaloa
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 3–5 players
- 20–25 min
- 8+
- Complexity 1.0/5
Rules assistant for Kanaloa
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Kanaloa is a board game released in 2020 for 3–5 players, 20–25 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Günter Burkhardt and its main mechanics are Race and Trick-taking.
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About the game
Aloha! Adventures sail the oceans and hope to gain the favour of Kanaloa, the god of water, to get ahead fastest. He sends his spirits of the four elements, the Tikis, to assist them. But the Tikis' head are filled with nonsense and they try to trump each other. Kanaloa himself has to intervene to get everything back in line and protect the sailors from the danger of the shallows, the octopus. Who will claim victory with the help of the right Tikis and sail towards the sunset as the lucky winner? Aim of the game: The aim is to take the most tricks by skillfully playing cards to get ahead as fast as possible with your boat and to outrun the slowest player. Gameplay: The game consists of several rounds. One round is always played as follows: The starting player opens a round by playing a card from their hand. The other players now also play one card each in turn. Check to see who took the trick. This player may move their boat forward to the next free water space. Any occupied spaces are skipped. Before the player who has taken the trick plays a card for the next trick, they announce the trump suit for the next trick out loud. The suit on the water space on which the leading boat is placed is always trumps. A round is finished once all cards have been played and 8 tricks have been taken. After the player who took the last trick has moved their boat forward, they remove any free water card from the sea route. So the sailing route gets shorter and shorter during the game. The player who took the last trick starts the next round. They shuffle all the cards, deal 8 cards to each player and lay a card for the first trick. The game ends when a player‘s boat laps the last boat on the sea route. This player wins the game. —description from the publisher
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- Piatnik
Questions and answers
Kanaloa supports 3–5 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 Kanaloa is 20–25 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 Kanaloa for ages 8 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.
Kanaloa has a complexity rating of 1.0 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a 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.
Kanaloa belongs to these categories: Card Game, Nautical, and Racing. Its main mechanics are Race and Trick-taking. 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 Kanaloa are: Günter Burkhardt. 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 Kanaloa 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.