Pampero is a hand management, card driven action selection game. Every player has a identical starting hand of 8 cards, to be played on an action board on their tableau, which contains two rows of spaces to activate actions on the different sectors of the board. On your turn you will have the option to play one card to the leftmost empty space of any row, pay the cost for that space (depending which zone on the board the action will take place - A, B, or C), and take the action. After three turns, all players return only the rightmost card from one of the two rows back into their hand. Players also collect income.

Actions become less expensive as cards fill your action board. Eventually, you will run low on cards and need to take a turn to retrieve all cards from your tableau and move your turn marker to the next space.

Knowing when and where to play cards, and when to retrieve them all to your hand is a crucial skill for success.