10 Days in Africa offers a concept similar in style to that of Elfenland or any of the rail-building games but the game mechanics are quite different. The aim of the game is to create 10 days of connected travel through Africa using a variety of transport options but players can only travel according to a set of guidelines. Once a player believes they have put together a legitimate 10-day travelogue they must prove it is legitimate to be declared the winner. The game is presented on a high quality mounted board with gloss-finish and each country has been assigned one of 5 colours (there are 40 countries in total). Each player takes a set of neat wooden stands (travel registers) which have the days 1-10 branded on them and these are to used to store each days travel option. The game set-up is completed with each player taking 10 starting cards (these are made with extremely thick reinforced cardboard that could take years of abuse) and one by one must place these in the register (one per day) until it is full. The remaining cards are then used to form draw piles and three cards are turned over. Play then begins with a player choosing to take one of the exposed cards (these can be special transport cards or cards that represent an African country) or drawing a card from the draw decks. Whichever card is taken must be placed in one of the 10-day slots and the former card is discarded to one of the exposed card piles. This sounds pretty basic but it is the rules for travel that makes things interesting. Players can travel from one country to another by three different means. A player can travel from one territory to any adjacent territory simply by walking, no special transport is required and two country cards can be placed side by side to reflect this. Travel by car allows a player to travel from one country, through another country, to get to a third country (this is represented by placing a car card between the two countries). Finally players can travel by plane from one country of the same colour to another country of the same colour anywhere on the continent. Between both of these country cards however a plane card of the same colour as the countries being travelled to and from must be used. This is the game in a nutshell.

10 Days in Africa is a very good game and I can't help but feel that the above synopsis doesn't do it justice. Whilst simple in nature, the game play is very compelling and both these features are its greatest strengths. Most countries only have one card to represent them. If the success of your whole travel register is dependent on gaining access to one country, anxiety levels begin to rise. This gives the game a real edge and the game play is addictive. The game is well balanced with most games resulting in victory by only a day or two at the most. 10 Days in Africa is one of those rare treats that offers the buyer more than the packaging suggests. The game is also highly educational in a geographic sense as each country card includes info such as the country name, shape of the country, location of the capital, population and its size in sq. miles. Definitely worth a look and the same game concept is also available with a map of the USA and Europe.