Pioneers is played on a map which is built up from a grid of terrain hexes. Each hex on the map has a terrain type which defines the resources, if any, that are produced by that hex.
Settlements and cities are built on the corners of land hexes, while roads are built along the edges of land hexes.
In the center of resource producing hexes, there is a circle containing a number. At the start of each turn, two dice are rolled, all hexes that are labeled with a number equaling the sum of the two dice will produce resources for buildings on that hex. Underneath the number in the circle are some dots. The number of dots is equal to the number of different dice combinations that will generate this number. To highlight the two most commonly rolled numbers, the 6 and 8 are displayed in red (there is no label with the number 7). In addition, the hexes that produced resources this turn are painted with a green background.
The sea hexes which have a circle in them have building sites for ports where maritime trading can be performed. The location of the building sites is indicated by a dashed line drawn from the circle to a hex corner. The color of the circle indicates the resource type which may be traded at the ports. At the blue circles all resource types can be traded.
The black bottle shape is the robber.
The following table shows each terrain type, and the resources produced by that terrain.
Table 1.2. Pioneers terrain types
| Graphic | Terrain | Resource | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hill | Brick | Bricks are produced from the clay found in hills. |
| Field | Grain | Grain is produced by crops grown in fields. |
| Mountain | Ore | Ore is produced by quarries in mountains. |
| Pasture | Wool | Wool is produced by sheep in pastures. |
| Forest | Lumber | Lumber is produced by trees in forests. |
| Desert | No resources are produced in the desert. | |
| Sea | No resources are produced in the sea, but maritime trading may be performed at ports. |