The original Discovery edition had a color map, more than 400 counters, a deck of 48 Disaster cards and a 26-page rulebook.Once the report is published, the explorer scores points for it, and is free to raise funds in order to organize another expedition.Source of the Nile was created by Ross Maker and David Wesely, and published by Discovery Games in 1978.In the November 1978 edition of Dragon (Issue 20), Gary Gygax called it a complex but "most enjoyable game".Freeman gave this game an Overall Evaluation of "Very Good", concluding, "It's a great deal of fun to play, and as a bonus it provides plenty of insight into a fascinating era.