Pampero

The Government of Uruguay is concerned about the country’s dependence on imported fossil fuels, and aims to increase its energy security by fostering domestic resources like biomass and wind energy. The goal is to use this growth to foster economic growth and create employment. (Extract from World Bank Documents, CASE STUDY 11: URUGUAY – WIND ENERGY PROGRAMME )

The name "Pampero" refers to an extremely dry wind that blows from the southwest, often bringing a tempest or violent blasts, as described in Jules Verne's In Search of the Castaways.

Pampero is a hand-management, card-driven action-selection game. Every player has a starting set of eight cards to be played on their own tableau, which contains two rows of spaces to activate actions on the different sectors of the board. Each turn, you have the option to play a card to the leftmost empty space of either row or to retrieve all cards from your tableau. After three actions, a special phase takes place — consolidation, during which you retrieve the rightmost card from any row, generate batteries from stored energy, collect income, and advance the game timer. The player with the most money at the end of the game wins.

Key Features:

• Game Type: Hand-management, card-driven action-selection strategy game.
• Theme: Developing renewable energy infrastructure (wind and biomass) in Uruguay.
• Core Mechanic: Players manage a hand of eight cards, playing them to two rows on their personal tableau to activate actions across the main board.
• Action Selection: The turn features the choice to either play a card or retrieve all cards from the tableau, crucial for timing and resource planning.
• Consolidation Phase: After three actions, a special phase occurs for retrieving a card, generating batteries from stored energy, and collecting income.
• Goal: The player who accumulates the most money by the end of the game wins.