Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Easier to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Light strategy
Luck-sensitive
How it plays
How does it play?
Auction the harbor-master role, buy shares, dispatch cargo boats, and bet on docks, shipyards, insurers, or pirates before the dice decide each voyage.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Betting and Bluffing
Risk resources on uncertain outcomes while disguising intentions or information.
Commodity Speculation
Buy or influence goods whose values change before they are sold or scored.
Auction / Bidding
Bid against other players to determine who receives an item, action, or priority.
Dice Rolling
Roll dice to introduce uncertainty into actions, production, movement, or resolution.
Read the full game description
Manila is a boisterous game of commodity speculation played across three uncertain shipping rounds. The harbor master is auctioned first, then may buy a share, choose three of four cargoes, and give their boats a head start toward port. Everyone places accomplices where they predict those boats will finish: profitable docks, failed-voyage shipyards, insurance offices, pirate spaces, or aboard the cargo itself. Dice move the boats, but careful starting positions and increasingly expensive placements turn every roll into a public calculation. Successful goods rise in value after each round, so a timely wager can pay immediately and strengthen a share portfolio for the final reckoning.
