Namibia
BGG rank
BGG #14,887
BGG rating
6.3

Namibia

2010

Rules assistance for Namibia

Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

  • 3–4 players
  • 120 min
  • 12+
  • Complexity 3.3/5

For 3 players

Rules assistant for Namibia

What would you like to know?

Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.

Namibia is a board game released in 2010 for 3–4 players, 120 minutes per game, and ages 12 and up. It was designed by Brian Robson and its main mechanics are Player Elimination, Auction / Bidding, and Network and Route Building.

Expansions

Similar games

About the game

In Namibia, players represent mining corporations who are looking to mine commodities - diamonds, gold, silver and copper - and attempt to transport them to ports to sell at the highest possible price. In order to achieve their aims, players have to bribe (via an auction) colonial government officials who control access to the interior and to the ports. 1884: First sources of various commodities have been discovered: gold, silver, copper and diamonds as well. The colonial government has issued concessions to enterprises which shall build up the necessary infrastructure to deliver the commodities and transport them to the coast. Who will place their rigs in the right place? Who will be able to sell the commodities for the highest price? The game board shows a map of Namibia with a hex grid. Access to the interior allows a player to develop the country’s rail infrastructure which is required to move commodities to ports in order to sell and make money. And money buys reputation, which gets more expensive to acquire as the game goes on. Players also need to construct and complete their mines and prospect for ore. However, too much bribery leads to a decrease in reputation which affects a player’s position at the end of the game, but limited access to the transport and shipping infrastructure will seriously impact a player’s ability to make money. Selecting the right time to ship and sell is the key, because the market can be manipulated by other players. The winner will be the player who can make loads of money while keeping a good market reputation. The player with the highest reputation wins. This is the second game of the "Edition Bohrtürme" (after 'Schwarzes Gold') that uses the game pieces of 'Giganten' (Kosmos). It is the winning titles in the categorie "more complex games".

Questions and answers

Namibia supports 3–4 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.