All of the possible combinations that have water on at least one side are included, with varying frequencies, in the pile.
Each player has pieces in one of the two colors (white or black) depicting one, two, or three scouts.
If an empty space is completely surrounded, it is filled with reserve tiles of the correct variety, which are next to the board.
The score is the sum of the squares of the number of tiles in each island, minus twenty points for each space that is not filled at the end of the game.
This is because of its relationship to the Catan series (also created by Klaus Teuber and published by Mayfair Games), and because its parent game, Entdecker, can be viewed as the discovery of the island of Catan, as the publisher says at this link: [1].