Manifest Destiny
Please Note: Shrink-wrap removed to verify condition, has rusty staples (from long term storage). Never played.
Manifest Destiny is an economic expansion game set against the backdrop of American history. From colonial times to the present, you nurture your mercantile empire from humble beginnings in Louisiana, Mexico, Pennsylvania, Quebec, or Virginia and expand it over time. You try to amass 30 victory points by purchasing Progressions, researching breakthroughs, and controlling cities.
During each turn of Manifest Destiny, you will perform three key actions:
Play
Progress and Destiny cards. Progress cards reflect the famous leaders (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Robert Fulton, Samuel Morse, Amelia Earhart, Teddy Roosevelt, Elvis Presley, Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy and more) and historical events (Revolutionary War, World War, Panama Canal, Remember the Maine!, The Depression, and more) that helped shape the United States over the past two centuries. These cards provide you with extra income, opportunities to expand control or inhibit your opponents’ expansion, discounts on Progression costs, payouts on products or a boost to your research efforts. The more powerful Destiny cards (like Louisiana Purchase, California Gold Rush, Prohibition, and Oil Crisis), only one of which may be played each turn, provide both an event and a product payout.
Invest
You invest your cash to buy Progressions in five categories (Transportation, Telecommunications, Government, Culture, and Leisure) that provide additional powers during the game, as well as to buy control tokens. Tokens are used both to expand territorial holdings as well as to buy Pioneers (which enable research toward unique Breakthroughs), cities, and additional cards (the cost of which increases as the turn progresses).
Expand
You expand your holdings by placing control tokens in new territories. For each new territory you take, your Profit, which is your base income each turn, increases by one level. For each established territory you lose, your Profit decreases by one level. Control over a territory also establishes control over the product(s) produced by the territory, which may be paid out by play of a Progress or Destiny card.
Each turn presents a number of intriguing decisions:
· Should you move early or late in a turn?
· Should you play an event card to trigger the event or product payout?
· How many control tokens should you use for a Pioneer, city or card and how many should you save for expansion?
· What Progressions should you buy?
There is no one path to success. Each choice has its pros and cons and your investment decisions will vary from game to game. As in real life, funding is needed to fuel progress, investment and expansion, but there are different ways to obtain funds. Manifest Destiny blends opportunities for competition with opportunities for collaboration and contains many balancing features to keep the game close.
Manifest Destiny is a 3-4 hour multi-player, interactive strategy game that can be enjoyed by all members of the family, aged 12 years old and up. If you respond best to the game’s many opportunities and challenges, you will fulfill your Manifest Destiny
Game Components
- One deck of 64 Cards
- One 34x22 full color map
- 95 Breakthrough and Progression Deeds
- Reference Booklet
- Rules Book
- 6 Player Aid Cards
- 220 play money bills
- 228 assorted wooden blocks
- 5 turn sequence and product payout cards
- 5 player mats
- 5 six-sided dice