Darjeeling Board Game

In 1835, the British East India Company leased the region around the location of the modern-day city of Darjeeling.

The British had more than a strategically placed trading post in mind – because of the favourable climate, they wanted to build a sanitorium there as well!

That climate, which was to bring relief to sanitorium visitors, can be thanked for one of the most sought-after tea varieties in the world: Darjeeling. Tea connoisseurs from around the globe treasure the extremely fine and flowery aroma of the First Flush, the first harvest of the year’s new growth. But the many flavours of teas from the following harvests are also unsurpassed.

For a long time, only traditional black tea was produced in Darjeeling. In the meantime, however, other teas are exported by the region, teas produced by different fermentation techniques. So these days, for example, Green Darjeeling is not the rarity it once was.

To make the tea varieties more distinguishable, as well as making other “Regions” which chiefly produce other tea varieties playable via alternate playing area setups (shown at the end of the rules), the tea crates in the game are black, green, white and red for black tea, green tea, white tea and Pu-Erh, sometimes also called red tea, respectively.

While searching for the best teas, the players cross the entire region and assemble the largest shipments possible for each individual tea variety. The latest teas to be loaded are always worth more victory points than the older ones, as tea connoisseurs naturally prefer the freshest cargo. But preferences for individual tea varieties also bring the players victory points while loading shipments.

The game ends as soon as one player has reached 100 victory points.