One of the most popular Finnish board games ever made, Designed by Kari Mannerla, first marketed in 1951, now over 3.5 million pieces sold, published in Finland by Peliko, also published in other countries.

The idea of the game is simple: The players start from Tangiers or Cairo, and must travel all around Africa looking for the Cullinan diamond (aka The Great Star of Africa, whence the name of the game also comes). It's possible to travel over land, sea and (from large cities) by air.

Each time the player gets to a major city, they can turn around a game counter that often has treasures - gems of all kinds, which gives you money - or even robbers who take away your money. The money, then, is used for turning the counters or flying.

After the diamond is found, the players must get back to where they started, either with the diamond or some other jewel.

Of course, the rule sheet of the game also included the real history of the discovery of the diamond.

Other versions of the game has also been published - a mini version for travel play, a card game and even a computer game!

The game now has a home page: http://www.peliko.fi/afrikan_tahti.htm