Source of the Nile is an educational and challenging game in which players compete primarily with nature and with each other. They must weigh risks against gains with every decision they make and good judgment will pay off.

The game is played on a mapboard showing Africa from Khartoum to Capetown and Lagos to Mombasa. The mapboard surface is erasable. If the explorer dies before returning to Europe to publish his discoveries, all areas that only he has explored are erased. When other players explore the erased hexagons later they will have to generate new discoveries there.

Before each trip to Africa, explorers will have to raise money to support their expedition. New explorers with no discoveries to their credit must do this by drawing chance cards for several turns until they feel their finances are adequate.