Since Colombus arrived in America in 1495, rumors said there was a mythical city called "El Dorado" built using gold and which guarded great treasures. After some centuries, word spread of a lake in the mountains where a sacred rituals took place where gold was thrown into the waters as offering to the gods. Now, using the technology available in the 19th Century, some expeditionaries (the players) will try and drain Guatavita Lake in search of this glorious treasures. Guatavita is a worker placement game, where player will try to get machinery, work force and plumbing needed to drain each tile in the lagoon. After draining a tile, the tile will be flipped to reveal treasure, fame points, ponds or disasters. But the gold will be scarce and the expeditions will get poorer with each turn, making it harder to get to the center of the lake. The game ends if one of two conditions is met: either a player reaches the center tile of the lake, or a player enters bankruptcy. Points are scored for having the most camps, for having machinery still working, for the explored area and for remaining gold. This is a game of economical scarcity, and where every piece of gold counts.