Gamehelplewisclark

Theme

On November 30, 1803, the United States purchased Louisiana from Napoleon. U.S. President Thomas Jefferson decided to send two explorers – Meriwether Lewis and William Clark – to discover this huge terra incognita.

Overview

• Lewis & Clark is a board game in which the players manage an expedition intended to cross the North American continent.
• Their goal is to be the first to reach the Pacific.
• Each one has their own Corps of Discovery that will be completed by the Native Americans and the trappers met during the journey.
• They have to cleverly manage their characters and also the resources they find along the way.
• Beware, sometimes frugality is better than abundance.

Game play

• Lewis & Clark features dual use cards.
• To be activated, one card must be combined with another one, which becomes unavailable for a while.
• Thus, players are faced with a constant dilemma: play a card or sacrifice it.
• During the game, each player acquires character cards that enlarge their hand, building a crew that gives them more options but it needs to be optimised as they will recycle their cards more slowly.
• This new "hand building" mechanism fits strongly with the historical background.
• Since the aim of the game is to be the first on the Pacific coast, the timing and the opportunistic use of the other players' positions are crucial.