When Marco Polo returned to Venice in 1295, he had to leave his treasure behind in the Chinese city of Hang-Tschou. The treasure was well hidden, and marco Polo left hints on where to find it in various pagodas and buildings across the city. In "Der Schatz des Marco Polo" (The Treasure of Marco Polo) the players search Hang-Tschou for that treasure. Once a player has found it, the others will try to snatch it away. In the first part of the game the players move through Hang-Tschou looking for hints. The hints always point to buildings in the city. When a player has gathered two hints of the same kind he needs to move to that location to uncover where the treasure is hidden. This starts the second, co-operative phase of the game. If the player who got the hint manages to reach the treasure he wins. From now on, though, all other players will try to hunt him down. If they succeed they share the loot among themselves and the first player loses.