Source of the Nile Digital Edition

Source of the Nile Digital Edition

Friday Night Software · 2024 · Board Game, Hex Grid, Adventure, Turn-Based Strategy, Strategy

PC
Positive90% · 10
Best price
$19.99
lowest tracked $15.99
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Standard Edition · Steam
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About Source of the Nile Digital Edition

Source of the Nile - digital edition is designed to be an educational and challenging game in which players compete with nature. Luck tends to be a major element in the game but can be overcome by careful play. Because the game situation is forever changing, there is no single best strategy; however, players must weigh risks against gains with every decision they make and good judgment will pay off.
The game is played on a hexagon-grid map showing Africa from Khartoum to Capetown and Lagos to Mombasa. The periphery of this map, showing the territory known ca. 1820, is filled in; the interior is blank and ready to be explored by the player.

FEATURES:
* This game enables you to follow the great 19th century explorers in their search for the source of the Nile.
* Terrain, native tribes and other discoveries are semi-randomly determined, with allowance made for previous discoveries in adjacent hexagons.
* Meet and deal with native tribes.
* Discover mountains, jungles, deserts and great lakes in the uncharted heart of the Dark Continent.
* Survive animal attacks, disease and starvation.
* Overcome superstition, desertion and disaster.
* The game features 481 blank hexagons ready to be explored.

NOTE:
CHECK YOUR RESOLUTION AND DISPLAY SETTINGS
This game cannot be played on resolutions lower than 1920 x 1080 and Windows display scale must be set to 100%.
The following may help with ultra-wide monitors: Right-click the game in Steam → Properties → General → Launch Options and paste this      -force-window -windowed -w 1920 -h 1080It is HIGHLY recommended that you download and read the PDF manual from the Steam store before playing.AI was used to assist with the production of some images.

What Steam players say

Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.

✦ AI summary

Players praise this hex-and-counter African exploration game for its unique, story-driven gameplay and faithful port of the classic board game, noting that mastering it rewards patience and creates memorable narratives. However, common complaints center on frustrating mechanics like counterintuitive bearer/explorer mode switching and inventory management, as well as the game's brutal difficulty and lack of clarity on certain systems, with some players finding it needs better playtesting and clearer UI explanations despite the manual being helpful.

Recommended May 17, 2024
Scratches the need to explore Africa itch.
5 found this helpful
Recommended Jan 18, 2025
In dire need of play testing. Some annoying programming choices and logic errors by the Dev. * Normally an explorer can do anything a bearer can do but he has chosen to adopt this bizarros mechanism where you have to manually tell the game your doing bearer work. If your expedition has askari you obviously don't want to be in bearer mode but should you suffer a disaster which say kills your bearer who is say leading some pack animal carrying all your food the pack animals will wander off before your multi-role multi-talented explorer can lean over and grab the reigns of the horses. So sad, too bad you have just lost most of your food. This has been the doom many an expedition. * Overburdened. While travelling on foot I find a canoe by the side of a lake. I am unable to convert my travel mode to canoe because I am now overburdened by the weight of the canoe. The only way to become unburdened is to cache the canoe. Catch 22 Hence no canoe for me. * Overburdened. If people are sick and your staying put, ie waiting for people to recover ie not moving ie not carrying stuff the game still checks to see if you able to carry all your stuff and if not forces you to discard the e…
4 found this helpful
Recommended May 4, 2024
A very unique and different game. Be sure to read the manual thoroughly almost all problems playing are explained in the manual. This game, in the words of Nathan Explosion is "BRUTAL!" Sometimes you can't even get 2 hexes explored. Sometimes you die on your third move (but you do have 3 lives via associates taking up your quest). Then you go 3 expeditions with no real issues. This version like the original board game is very luck driven. But after about 50 or so expeditions (each taking 15 minutes max) you start getting prepared for the various disasters. Watch your supplies, when you get to 50% head back to port and consider Reckless movement if there are any delays on the return. The differences in explorers abilities is very interesting with pluses and minuses for each. They do make a difference. The game is perfect for a few quick plays whenever. Highly recommended !
4 found this helpful
Recommended Jun 30, 2024
Oh man! The stories this game tells! It took me a few fumbling turns to understand the flow of the game, but once I got it, the turns racked up and the stories wrote themselves. My only complaint is that I can't tell from the opening screens whether or not a canoe would benefit my trip. Other than that--fun stuff!
3 found this helpful
Recommended Jan 30, 2026
A very good game and just as frustrating as the board game.
2 found this helpful
Recommended Jul 24, 2026
The game is more than the sum of its parts. Just about every aspect of the game is sub-par, yet for some reason I keep going back to play it again. It's not a complicated game at all. First, you select what type of explorer you are (zoologist, botanist, journalist, etc.). They're only slightly different. Then, you outfit your expedition with warriors, bearers, food, and maybe canoes, horses, or trade items. Then, you set out across the unexplored African wilderness. When you step into a new hex, everything is RNG, even the terrain. The goal is to explore as much as possible and then return to England and publish your findings. Rinse & repeat until you've died 3 times. You get a score based on how many findings you published. The good: - It's fun trying to stay alive and fill in the map - Individual expeditions are quick. Maybe 10 minutes? - It's challenging - No crashes The bad: - UI is horrible. I thought the game was bugged at first, but I eventually learned how to get it to work. - There is no way to avoid being killed. At some point, the RNG will send cannibals (or some other unavoidable peril) and your whole expedition will perish. At least you get …

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