Overview
Afrikan tahti (The Star of Africa) is a classic Finnish board game first published in 1951. Players travel across a map of Africa by land, sea, and air, searching cities for hidden tokens. The goal is to find the Star of Africa — a legendary diamond — and return it to one of the two starting cities (Cairo or Tangier) before any other player.
Components
- 1 game board (map of Africa with cities connected by routes)
- Tokens (placed face-down on cities): Star of Africa, gemstones (various values), horseshoe/visa tokens, robber tokens, and blank tokens
- Money bills (denominations of 1000, 5000, and 10000)
- Player pawns (one per player)
- 1 six-sided die
Setup
- Shuffle all tokens and place them face-down, one on each marked city on the map.
- Each player chooses a pawn and receives 5000 in starting money from the bank.
- All players place their pawns on one of the two starting cities: Cairo or Tangier.
- Determine first player by any agreed method.
Turn Structure
On each turn, a player:
- Rolls the die and moves their pawn along connected routes up to the number shown. A player may stop at any city along the route even if they have remaining movement.
- Investigates a token (if on a city with a face-down token): The player chooses one of two methods:
- Pay 1000 to the bank and turn the token over immediately.
- Roll the die: on a result of 4, 5, or 6, turn the token over for free; on 1, 2, or 3, the token remains face-down and the turn ends.
- Resolve the token according to its type (see Actions below).
Actions
Token Types
| Token |
Effect |
| Star of Africa |
Take it — you must now race to Cairo or Tangier to win |
| Gemstones (red) |
Collect 5000 from the bank |
| Gemstones (yellow) |
Collect 3000 from the bank |
| Gemstones (green) |
Collect 1000 from the bank |
| Horseshoe / Visa |
If the Star has already been found by another player, take this token — you can win by reaching a starting city before the Star carrier. If the Star has not been found, the visa has no value and cannot be kept |
| Robber |
Lose all your money; return it to the bank |
| Blank (black) |
Nothing happens |
Transportation
- Land travel: Roll the die and move along land routes. Free.
- Sea travel: Costs 1000 when departing a port city by sea. Roll the die each turn to move along sea routes.
- Air travel: Costs 3000. Fly directly between any two cities connected by air routes without rolling the die.
Special Locations
- Golden Coast: If you find a gemstone here, you receive double its normal value.
- Cape Town: The first player to reach Cape Town receives a 5000 bonus from the bank.
- Blue-circled dots: If you land on one of these spots, you are stuck for one round (lose your next turn).
- Islands: If you are robbed while on an island, you are stuck for one round, then may take a boat to leave.
Scoring / Victory Conditions
The game ends when a player carrying the Star of Africa (or a horseshoe/visa, once the Star has been found) reaches Cairo or Tangier. That player wins.
- Primary win: Find the Star of Africa and return to Cairo or Tangier.
- Alternative win: After another player has found the Star, find a horseshoe/visa token and reach Cairo or Tangier before the Star carrier.
If a player runs out of money, they cannot use paid transportation or pay to reveal tokens — they must rely on free die rolls to reveal tokens and can only travel by land.
Special Rules & Edge Cases
- A player may not keep a horseshoe/visa unless the Star of Africa has already been found by someone else.
- The 2005 official rule amendment eliminated the need for sea travel tickets, allowing free movement across water to prevent unwinnable scenarios for cash-poor players. Check your edition for which sea travel rules apply.
- Tokens, once revealed, remain face-up for all players to see.
- There is no limit to the number of players that can occupy the same city.
Player Reference
| Action |
Cost |
Notes |
| Move (land) |
Free |
Roll die, move up to result |
| Move (sea) |
1000 at departure |
Roll die each turn |
| Move (air) |
3000 |
Instant, no die roll needed |
| Reveal token (pay) |
1000 |
Guaranteed reveal |
| Reveal token (roll) |
Free |
Success on 4-6 only |
| Win condition |
— |
Reach Cairo/Tangier with Star of Africa or visa |