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Kaivai

#20101BGG ↗

2005 · 3-4 players · 120min · weight 3.74 · 482 ratings

v2 v3

BGG raw

ID
20101
Name
Kaivai
Year
2005
Rank
5402
Min players
3
Max players
4
Playing time
120
Min playtime
120
Max playtime
120
Avg weight
3.7368
Num weights
57
Bayes avg
5.75124
Average
6.95487
Users rated
482
Num owned
505
Wanting
186
Wishing
357
Num comments
226
Fetched at
Wed Apr 29 2026 05:34:55 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Mechanisms (5)
Action PointsArea MovementAuction / BiddingDice RollingTile Placement
Categories (4)
City BuildingCivilizationEconomicNautical
Description (1086 chars)

Kaivai, by the Ostertag brothers, is a board game about a dynamically-growing island region and the various uses of the islands. The title is Polynesian and means "Water eaters". The game is about catching fish to trade for shells and points. The shell money is used to build up the islands, in order to gain more points. At the start of the game the players bid for turn order. The highest bidder goes first and may move his ships - but must pay dearly for new islands. Those who bid less get to pay less for the islands, but don’t get to move as much. The players can choose from six different player actions. When a player chooses an action for the first time, it’s free. But if it’s chosen a second time, it must be paid for and the payment increases each subsequent time that action is chosen. At the start of the next round, the value of the shells is reduced and the fish come closer to rotting. After 8 rounds comes the final scoring, in which the portions of the islands controlled by the players are counted. (Spielbox) Expanded by: Kaivai Expansion

LLM v2 (wide)

Not yet enriched at v2 (wide pass).

LLM v3 (deep)

Not yet enriched at v3 (deep pass).