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Description
In 1271, 17-year-old Marco Polo started on a journey to China with his father and older brother. After a long and grueling journey that led through Jerusalem and Mesopotamia and over the "Silk Road", they reached the court of Kublai Khan in 1275.
In The Voyages of Marco Polo, players recreate this journey, with each player having a different character from history with a special power in the game. The game is played over five rounds. Each round, the players roll their five personal dice and take turns performing actions by placing their dice onto the board. Players may choose from a variety of actions, each require the use of one or more dice: collecting resources or money, acquiring contracts, traveling on the map or using a special action granted by a city. When traveling, each player begins at Venice and can decide between several routes eastward, all the way to Beijing. When a player stops at a city, they place a trading post there, giving them access to extra actions or resources for the rest of the game. The higher the value of the dice used for an action, the better the options that may be chosen, but also the more money the player must pay if an opponent has already chosen the same action.
After five rounds, the game ends with players receiving extra victory points for having trading posts in Beijing, fulfilling the most contracts, and having trading posts in the cities on secret goal cards that each player gets at the start of the game.
This game should not be confused with Marco Polo Expedition, which has the same German title.
Year Published
2015
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 6
This page: 6
Sentiment:
pos 5 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 1
Showing 1–6 of 6
Video MJW8d5RTxwI
Brothers Murf top_10_list at 1:17 sentiment: positive
video_pk 60286 · mention_pk 152714
Click to watch at 1:17 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- strong asymmetric powers that create dynamic interactions
- high replayability due to varied strategies per power
- tight, resource-focused decision making
Cons
- heavy rules complexity
- longer play time for full satisfaction
Thematic elements
- trade routes, contract fulfillment, resource management
- Medieval Silk Road trade across caravans
- player-specific blueprints guiding plan execution
Comparison games
- Quacks of Quedlinburg
- Root
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- contract_fulfillment — fulfilling contracts provides rewards and progression
- contracts — fulfilling contracts provides rewards and progression
- dice placement — dice act as workers to take actions, with powers that can be leveraged by each player
- dice_worker_placement — dice act as workers to take actions, with powers that can be leveraged by each player
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Star Wars in a box. This is basically where you and an opponent get to tell your own version of the Star Wars story.
- This is a fantastic uh dice worker placement kind of game.
- This is a really cool cooperative game where the way you kind of bounce and balance the powers ... is like another level of fascinating puzzle.
- This is the Lord of the Rings in a box.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video OX1rhDo-xxE
Unknown Channel top_100_list at 9:14 sentiment: positive
video_pk 11811 · mention_pk 34614
Click to watch at 9:14 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- innovative dice placement
- strong thematic flavor
Cons
- dice results add randomness
Thematic elements
- trade, exploration, travel
- Silk Road trade route between Europe and Asia
- story-driven dice placement
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- character_abilities — Each player controls a unique character with game-changing power.
- dice placement — Roll dice and assign actions across work sites.
- dice_placement — Roll dice and assign actions across work sites.
- trade_route_choice — Choose routes to optimize income and mission goals.
- Unique player powers — Each player controls a unique character with game-changing power.
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Rising Sun is absolutely fantastic.
- La Havre broke the cycle of Agricola clones and gave us something brand new.
- Ra was given a deluxe reprint not that long ago.
- The Voyages of Marco Polo is a dice placement game.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video XK18Ej7uC2I
Peaky Boardgamer rules teach at 0:28 sentiment: positive
video_pk 8993 · mention_pk 26515
Click to watch at 0:28 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Rich thematic flavor with historical setting
- Deep, dice-driven action economy offering varied strategies
- Strong character-based asymmetry and replayability
- Multiple viable paths to victory via contracts, trading posts, and city bonuses
- Clear end-game tension and scoring structure
Cons
- Steep learning curve and complex setup
- Can be lengthy (around 2 hours at 4 players)
- Advanced mode significantly increases complexity
- Some rules interactions are intricate and require careful teaching
Thematic elements
- trade, exploration, caravan logistics
- Silk Road trade routes across cities in Marco Polo's era
- historical adventure with merchant-driven decisions
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action-costs and re-use — reusing an action space often costs coins; some spaces allow multiple players; blue spaces have additional constraints
- character abilities — eight unique characters grant special abilities; advanced mode uses all eight with selectable starting choices
- contract selection and fulfillment — take contracts and fulfill them for victory points; replenish from stacks and discard as needed
- Dice-placement and resolution — roll dice each round and place them on action spaces; when multiple dice are used, the lowest-value die determines the outcome or cost
- end-game scoring paths — score via city bonuses, secret objectives, leftover goods, and special gold cards
- outpost/trading-post system — place trading posts in cities to unlock bonuses and influence end-game scoring
- resource management and currencies — manage coins, camels, and goods (silk, salt, gold) to pay costs and fulfill contracts
- route-building and traveling — move along roads to visit cities and oasis; unlock new actions and bonuses based on visited cities
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- the game is played in five rounds
- it's always the player that has used the travel action last
- the value of the die plays a very important role in what we can do with the action
- the owner of this character would start the game with an additional camel
- the player with the most victory points wins the game
- the first player token is always the player that has used the travel action last
- you discard all remaining contracts on the board to the bottom of the special contract stack
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video _91V_wy7AJI
Board Games 4K top_100_list at 0:41 sentiment: positive
video_pk 8338 · mention_pk 24531
Click to watch at 0:41 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- strong theme integration
- unique dice-based action system with character powers
- beautiful production and components
Cons
- learning curve for new players
- dice luck can affect flow
Thematic elements
- trade and exploration
- Medieval world travel along Silk Road routes
- historical adventure with route planning
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- dice placement — roll dice and assign to actions; dice values impact what you can do
- Resource management — collect and spend resources to fulfill objectives
- route/trade network building — travel along routes to gain points and bonuses
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- "a dice placement game"
- "game-breaking special ability"
- "elevate this game above its competition"
- "dexterity game"
- "timer on an app or on a watch"
- "fantastic dexterity game"
- "left for dead the board game"
- "never lost a game"
- "best played with more players of the six seven players"
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 64H0IRfWfKs
The Dice Tower top_20_list at 1:47 sentiment: positive
video_pk 2927 · mention_pk 8558
Click to watch at 1:47 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- strong die-based action choices with risk/reward
- the character abilities (beginning-of-game bonuses) feel game-changing and balanced
Cons
- dice variability can be nerve-wracking in tight moments
- learning curve around dice cost and action availability
Thematic elements
- exploration and trade via historical figure
- Venice to Beijing along the Silk Road
- historical/strategic journey
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- city/business expansion via contracts — travel and city actions grant benefits and allow progress on the Silk Road
- dice placement — roll dice each round; use dice values to take actions
- resource/money management — actions grant resources, money, contracts, or travel progress
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Balancing what actions you get on either side of the action space is kind of the whole fun of this.
- This is one of those weekend night games where this low overhead is quick to play, but it still has an interesting hook that keeps me coming back.
- There is no randomness in the game. Once the board is set up, all outcomes are on you and your decision.
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video Ttpw1MBgVjc
Adam Porter (inferred from speaker) analysis at 11:49 sentiment: negative
video_pk 133 · mention_pk 391
Click to watch at 11:49 · YouTube ↗
Overall sentiment (raw)
negative
Pros
- Okay composition
Cons
- Bored-looking Marco Polo
- Insipid orange color
- Doesn't convey excitement
- Old-fashioned look
Thematic elements
- Travel/trade
- Silk Road
- Historical
Comparison games
- Camel Up
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Dice placement/movement — Trading game along Silk Road
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- The box cover makes a promise to the customer
- Every box cover tells me what I'm going to be doing and how I'm going to be feeling
- This artist is one of the best board game artists working in the industry right now
- This is how you do it
- This cover is a mess
- Striking iconic design
- The box cover is not selling the game
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–6 of 6