The Princes of Machu Picchu

Hide the lost city of Machu Picchu as an Incan prince, with a Spanish discovery always looming over the table.

Designer: Mac Gerdts
Published by: PD-Verlag
Editions by: Rio Grande Games

When the Spaniards conquered the Incan Empire, only a few princes escaped into the mountains, to the lost city of Machu Picchu above the Urubamba river. Each of you is one of those princes, with workers who grow corn, feed llamas, plant coca and make ceramics and cloth, and you try to win over the Priests of the Condor, the Priests of the Puma and the Virgins of the Sun. Beware, though: is one of the princes a traitor ready to reveal the city? The game ends either with an Incan victory, rewarding the wisest sacrifices, or a Spanish one, where gold counts and multiplies. A 2008 game, ninety minutes, for two to five.

Incan princes and the lost city of Machu PicchuTwo possible endings with different scoringPriests of the Condor and Puma, Virgins of the Sun

Who it's for

You like worker-placement games with a built-in end-game dilemma, and the Andean setting appeals to you.

Not for you if…

You want your endgame to be predictable. Here the way the game ends changes who wins.

Vibe's take

A worker-placement race against a ticking clock. You grow your princedom while the table argues about whether the Incans or the Spaniards will cross the line first.