The players alternately place a cardboard strip, beginning with the double red bordered harbor square, which must be filled first; this is followed by the 5 squares of the port city, then the 3 of the track. When all of these squares are closed, each player can place his strips anywhere on the board. Exceptions are the gold fields marked with a red dashed border, which may only be occupied when the red border of the mountain squares surrounding them is occupied. Furthermore, the inner lines of the farms may only be occupied when the red border is completely closed.
As often as a player manages to close a square with four of his stripes, he may place markers of his color in this square, namely 2 markers each in the port city, on the railway line and on the mountains, 3 on the red-bordered farms, on the gold fields 5, on all other squares one each.
If a player succeeds in enclosing a small group of fewer than 16 of his opponents stripes in such a way that he can no longer establish a connection with a group nearby, he can remove these stripes and the latter may not occupy these lines again.
When all lines are occupied or one of the players can no longer place a strip, the game is over. Whoever has placed the most markers is the winner.