The game lets players claim successes throughout the game, and turn-by-turn one reaches one or even multiple goals. The game features a variable game board, built up out of hex tiles that depict easily traveled flatland, forests, or hills. Before the start of the game, nineteen different settlements with varying victory point values are randomly placed onto those spaces featuring a gray symbol. Each player then places his or her starting marker onto a chosen flatland tile. The object here is of course to try and put your starting marker near as many high-value cities as possible. The object of the game is to connect together as many settlements with your roads as possible, in order to get as many victory points as possible. The catch is that settlements award fewer and fewer victory points the more players connect to them. On a player’s turn, he receives six gold pieces. Each street segment costs two gold to build over flatland, three over forest, and four over hills. Players can build as many segments as they can afford on their turn, provided that they end at a settlement and don’t intersect any other streets on the way. Streets have to reach their destination at the end of each turn. Once a settlement has been reached then the player gets to put one of their trade markers on it. Note that streets can intersect each other only at the settlement locations. Players aren’t allowed to spend more than ten gold pieces on their turn. The game ends when one player can’t build any more roads or doesn’t have any trade markers left. Scoring then occurs. A nicely thought out sorting system ensures that the end game scoring doesn’t turn into a math exercise. Naturally, the player with the most victory points is the winner. In the case of a tie, then the tied player with the most gold left is the winner. La Strada is a very simple game: build roads and connect cities. But it’s not that easy to get ahead with the scores.

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