It's time for our second Imperium: Horizons civilisation spotlight blog! Today we're covering how the Taíno play...

An image with the text "IMPERIUM HORIZONS CIVILISATION SPOTLIGHT: THE TAINO, DESIGNED BY NIGEL BUCKLE AND DÁVID TURCZI" alongside an illustration of a leader of the Taino holding a spear, and the Osprey Games logo

This time on the blog we are spotlighting the Taíno. Researchers believe the cultural ancestry of the Taíno comes from the Arawakan-speaking people living in large settled towns in South America, who migrated to the Caribbean by 250 BCE. To better tell their story of expanding their civilization’s horizons across the previously sparsely-populated islands, we stepped away from our usual abstraction of “Empire building”, instead having them focused on unlocking technologies and supporting their people as they live as free tribes. Even the card at the end of their nation deck – Ayiti (Hispaniola) – focuses on reaching a better land, instead of acceding to any imperial concept of development.

A spread of sample cards from the Taino deck for Imperium: Horizons, named left to right: Ayiti (Hispaniola), Free Tribes, Fishing and Migration

The Taíno are masterful in food production and have a special rule that any resources on their cards are counted for scoring purposes. This is reinforced by many of their cards, such as Fishing and Canoes. Production and fertile regions are the most useful for them, and you will want to concentrate on these to utilise the Taíno version of glory, Migration.

They still have developments, including their famous leader Enriquillo who can gain just the Fame card you need. They are also not shut out from white market cards: a helpful Gift Exchange will see you on your way, and their card Batey (Ball Games) means that the Taíno match the Greeks for their ease of acquisition. But among this card acquisition, do not lose focus on collecting those resources: you'll find them useful and any leftovers are useful for scoring with the Caribbean Sea.

A spread of sample cards from the Taino deck for Imperium: Horizons, named left to right: Enriquillo, Gift Exchange, Batey (Ball Games) and Caribbean Sea

Next Thursday we'll be back with a look at another civilisation, the Mayans.

And check out our first spotlight, on the Japanese, here.

Imperium: Horizons is out February 2024.

Pre-order now.