Tropichaos is a game about collecting and selling fruit in a world where the seasons are out of control, with winter being completely absent and the other seasons coming and going at random. Players take on the role of fruit sellers and try to get points by selling fruits at the right time during their peak season. The player who earns the most points wins.
During a player's turn, they may do either of the following actions:
- Buy fruits. To do so, they pick up a fruit chip from among the three revealed fruit chips to add to their inventory, then replenish it by drawing a chip from a bag.
If this results in three chips of the same fruit being displayed in the market, they must replace one of them with a different fruit from their inventory and also as punishment take a deduction chip.
If a season chip is drawn, the season marker on the season board progresses by 1, then the turn player draws another chip from the bag.
- Sell fruits. To do so, they place all fruit chips they wish to sell in front of the colored area of their chip holder corresponding to the current season. The number of chips in their inventory determines how many fruits they may sell.
If the number is uneven, they must sell all fruit chips.
If the number is even, they may choose to sell either all or half of their fruit chips.
If a player has five chips, they must choose to sell and cannot choose to buy.
The game ends when the season marker reaches the last spot on the season board. Then points are calculated: each fruit gives different amounts of points depending on the season it was sold in. The player with the most points wins!
—description from the publisher
