MallorcaMallorca is the largest island in the Balearic Islands archipelago, located east of Spain. Its largest city and capital is Palma de Mallorca. Mallorca is the most populated island in the Balearic Islands and the second most populous island in Spain, after Tenerife in the Canary Islands.Mallorca, an island that showcases new and old timesThe term “Finca” is “almost synonymous” with Mallorca. In fact, the word “Finca” has rural and Spanish roots, and refers to a rural property, a farm or a ranch. It is a piece of rural or agricultural land, usually with a chalet, farmhouse or residence, often adjacent to a forest or crops specifically focused on the production of olive oil, almonds and wine.An olive FincaIn Mallorca, owning a Finca is not just about owning an estate; it's about owning a piece of the island's history, where the preservation of the landscape is protected by strict local laws.The main locations on the island, with their agricultural culture, are featured in the game Finca.Finca - Game InfoFinca is 2-to-5 players' game, age 10+, designed by Wolfgang Sentker and Ralf zur Linde. The artwork is by Vincent Dutrait, Joan Guardiet, and Franz Vohwinkel.Game BoxFinca was released in 2009 by Hans im Glück, and in 2025 in Brazil through Grok Games. Incidentally, the Grok version is the Pandasaurus Games version, which, in 2024, added another player, as the previous edition was only for 4 players. Among the mechanics we have: collecting sets, contracts, once per game abilities, mancala, and rondel.Game ComponentsFinca has received many awards, nominations, and accolades since its creation in 2009. The most important include:- Nominated for the Spiel des Jahres in 2009;- Won the E award in Hungary in 2011;- Also in 2011, won the Official Selection of the Ludoteca Ideale.Let's get to the game!Playing the GameIn Finca, management is everything, as we'll have to acquire products and find the perfect timing to deliver them, since the island's requirement changes constantly. We have to be careful about product and delivery shortages, as this can compromise our game. Making one, two, or even three deliveries at once can be the difference between victory and defeat. Who will be the most efficient farmer, and have the most Fincas? That's the scenario in Finca!Finca has a high replayability right from the setup, after all, the Windmill Blades, where we collect the products, are placed randomly. The Fruit Tiles are also placed randomly on the Main Board, and they come in greater quantities than necessary precisely for greater replayability. The Finca Tiles are also placed randomly.Main Board during SetupFinally, the number of Wooden Finca, Food Tiles, Donkey Carts, and Farmer Tokens also varies according to the number of players. This ensures that no two games will be the same!Setup's ready!With the setup ready, the game begins with an Introduction Phase called First Harvest. The youngest player is the starting player. They begin the First Harvest by placing one of their Farmers on any Windmill Blade and taking exactly 1 Food Tile from the stock that corresponds to the Food illustrated on the chosen Blade.Placing Farmers on the Windmill BladesNext, the other players proceed clockwise, placing one of their Farmers on any Windmill Blade and taking exactly 1 Food Tile from the stock corresponding to the Food depicted on that Blade. There is no limit to the number of Farmers that can be placed on the same Blade.An example First HarvestRepeat this clockwise until all players have placed all their Farmers and received 1 Food Tile for each of their Farmers.On your turn, you must choose and perform ONE of the following actions:• Move a Farmer;• Make a Delivery.Moving a Farmer around the windmill allows you to collect Food Tiles and Donkey Carts. To do this, choose any of your Farmers and move them clockwise.Moving a FarmerThe "secret" is that the number of spaces you move your Farmer is determined by the number of Farmers on the Windmill Blade you are moving from. That is, if you are the only Farmer on the Blade when you move, you will move exactly 1 space clockwise. If there are 2 other Farmers on the Blade, you will move exactly 3 spaces clockwise, and so on.Finally, after moving your Farmer, check the Food illustrated on the Blade you moved to. For each Farmer on the tile you moved to (including your own), take 1 Food Tile of the corresponding type from your inventory and place them in your playing area.An example movement and collectingBy the way, did you notice that we didn't start with any Donkey Carts, which, by the way, are crucial because they are used to make deliveries?This is how you acquire them: when a Farmer passes one of the two arrows with the donkey icon during their movement, the player takes a Donkey Cart from the supply and places it in their playing area.An example Donkey CartThis Donkey Cart Token is collected in addition to any Food the player collects as a result of the move.But what if a certain type of Food or Donkey Cart Cards runs out of stock?If a player needs to take a larger quantity of Food Tiles and/or Donkey Carts than there are available, all players must return all Food of that type and/or Donkey Carts from their play areas to the stock (including the player currently making the move). Only then can the player who needs to take the Food Tiles and/or Donkey Cart do the appropriate action and take what they need from the stock.An example running out of Food TilesThis is when the game really gets going! This is even used as a strategy to "undermine" the opponents' resources. Pay attention and always look at the whole picture, it makes all the difference.If you choose the Make a Delivery action, which is how you earn victory points, use the Donkey Carts to deliver the Food you collected to the communities that request it.Front and Back of the Donkey CartsThe current demand of each community is shown on the face-up Fruit Tile in its respective region of the Board. Note that there are numbers at the top of the Tile; they shows two things:- the victory point(s) that will be awarded;- the amount of items requested in this demand.Example Fruit TilesThe key to optimizing this action is that on your turn, you can make one delivery to one or more communities. However, the maximum number of Food Tiles you can deliver in a single turn is 6, which, incidentally, is equal to the maximum capacity of the Donkey Carts. On the back, there are 6 delivery baskets.To make a delivery, follow these steps:- return one of your Donkey Carts to the stock;- place the Food requested by the community(ies) on the region's Fruit Tile;- take the Fruit Tile you just fulfilled and place them in your play area, returning the used Food tokens to the stock;- reveal the top Fruit Tile of each pile from which you just collected your tokens. This will reveal the next demand of those communities.Deliver ExampleFinally, after Making a Delivery, it is necessary to check if someone will win a Finca. When a player takes the last Fruit Tile, the player who delivered the largest quantity of the Food shown on the corresponding Finca Token will be awarded a Wooden Finca in that region.That player collects the Finca Token for their play area and places a Wooden Finca from the stock on the property illustration for that community. Players use the Fruit Tiles in their play area to check the Foods they have already delivered.How to guarantee a FincaIf there is a tie between players when determining who receives a Finca Token, neither player collects it. Simply return the Finca Token to the game box and then place a Wooden Finca from the stock on the illustrated property in the community.That's a turn of Finca! Play resumes with the player to your left.Ending the GameThe game ends when the last Finca Token is placed on the board.To tally the final score, add the victory points you obtained during the game:- those shown at the top of the Demand Tokens;- those shown at the top of the Finca Tokens.An Example Final ScoreThe player with the most victory points wins!In case of a tie, among those tied, the player with the most Food Tiles in their playing area wins. If the tie persists, the tied players share the victory.Important: If the last turn of the game involves more Finca Tokens than the number of Tokens available, resolve the Finca Tokens normally, even if it is not possible to place the required total number of Finca on the Board.Strategy TipsFinca is about logistics and, obviously, timing. There isn't much of a strategic "manual," after all, everything in Finca, from the setup, changes each game, so you'll have to adapt your strategies according to the game's scenario.Even so, some tips can be very important, like:- always have a variety of products available to take advantage of different demands;- always have 1 Donkey Cart available, for the same reason as above;- always try to maximize deliveries, that is, deliver 6 products;- try to make the delivery as soon as you notice that a product is scarce in stock, because when someone goes to pick it up, it may be missing and everyone will have to return everything they have;- the previous tip is also valid for Donkey Carts;- To "undermine" your opponents, when you notice a product is running low in stock, collect that product in such a way that it becomes unavailable, thus forcing your opponents to return their products.The golden tip is: keep an eye on the whole board – yours, your opponents', the island's demands, the stock – and adapt your strategy accordingly.So, as mentioned, it's all about strategy adjustment and timing. Combine the two and win in Finca!Unbxing, Rules and Gameplay VideosUnboxing:Rules:Gameplay:Pedagogical TipsIf you're looking for a game with beautiful artwork, high-quality components, that will capture children's attention, and is easy to teach and play, Finca is your game! Beyond these qualities, culturally, Finca teaches about the history of the island of Mallorca, bringing real cultural and local facts.Finca is language-independent; everything is iconic, so it's easy for children to understand. It also provides excellent stimuli, namely:- resource management: managing food and donkey carts;- strategy: adapting "in real time" to changes in game demand;- logistics: finding the best way to make more deliveries at the lowest cost;- decision-making: finding the perfect timing to gather resources and deliver them;- logical-mathematical reasoning: to calculate delivery quantities, load capacity, and final score.I want to emphasize that, before playing with the children, show them Mallorca on Maps, its main cities, its culture, the Fincas, and then the game will have a whole new "flavor." They will identify the locations, and so on, making a geographic "link". It will be really cool!Pedagogically, Finca addresses resource management, stimulates strategy, logistics, decision-making, logical-mathematical reasoning, and, on top of that, it's fun!I recommend Finca for your collection!!!
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