Through the Desert FAQ
44 questions players ask · Updated Nov 12, 2026 · Full rulebook
Components
Setup
- Are water hole markers placed face up or face down at setup?
- How many water hole markers does a four- or five-player game use?
- What goes on palm tree spaces that no palm tree occupies at setup?
- How is setup changed for a five-player game?
- In a five-player game, where does the caravan leader removed at setup go, and does its rider stay on a camel?
- How many camels of each colour go into play for each player count, and how many are removed at setup?
Playing the Game
- How many camels does each player place per turn, and what is the first-round exception?
- Must the camels of one caravan form a single line, or can a caravan fork and branch?
- Must every camel I place touch one of my own same-coloured camels, and may it touch another player's camel of that colour?
- Must the two camels I place in one turn be the same colour, or placed next to each other?
- Can a caravan continue through a palm tree (oasis) so the camels on either side count as connected?
- Can I place a camel of my colour next to another player's lone caravan leader of that colour?
- How does the first-round leader colour restriction work, and must my leader's colour differ from earlier players' leaders?
- Are all caravan leaders placed before any rider-less camels are placed?
- What happens when a player has no legal placement but camels remain in the supply?
Linking Oases
- Can several caravans score the same oasis, including same-colour caravans from different players?
- Does a caravan score every different oasis it reaches, and does reconnecting to the same oasis score again?
- Do you take the oasis token when a caravan connects, or score oases only at game end?
- Does a camel touching an oasis that my caravan already linked to score again?
Enclosing Areas
- Does an area that contains camels count as an enclosure for scoring?
- Can I place a camel that walls off or surrounds another player's camels, so they have no legal move?
- Can an enclosed area contain an oasis?
- Can an oasis act as a border that encloses an area for scoring?
- Can the player who enclosed an area still place camels inside it?
- Can one caravan enclose several separate areas?
- Can my own caravan's fork or spur reach into the area it encloses without ruining the enclosure?
- Do water hole spaces inside an enclosure count as empty for area scoring?
- If my caravan already scored an oasis and later encloses that area, do I score the oasis again?
Game End and Final Scoring
- When does the game end after the last camel of a colour is placed?
- If the last camels of two colours are both left, can one player place both and end the game in one turn?
- Is the last camel of a colour counted across all players' camels, or only your own?
- For the largest-caravan bonus, does the longest line or the total number of camels count?
- Is there a tiebreaker if two players finish tied?
- Do caravan leaders count as camels for majority scoring and the largest-caravan bonus?
- What are the brown 10-point chips used for?
Through the Desert: BazaarExpansion
- For the Rival Nomads card, how far is 'within 2 spaces' of the mountain range?
- Does the Djinn card that calls for placing three camels change the normal two-camel turn?
- Can one caravan take more than one bazaar token from the same bazaar when it touches several villages?
- Can the same caravan score the same bazaar-to-village connection a second time?
- Does enclosing a bazaar with no village on the edge let you claim its token?
- Must the Extra Camel watering hole token be used as soon as it is claimed?