Stefan Feld's CASTLES of BURGUNDY: That escalated quickly!
YOU STAY CLASSY, BURGUNDY!
We told you there would be some big boardgame titles released on Board Game Arena soon. And this is only the beginning.
Today we are releasing a famous boardgame from a famous game designer:
The Castles of Burgundy by Stefan Feld (don't forget THE when searching for the game).
**And it's kind of a big deal. **
Initially released in 2011 (10 years ago, sigh..), the game has won notoriety amongst the most demanding gamers and received multiple awards throughout the world.
It is not THAT difficult to play, but it requires a bit of attention.
You will play in the Burgundy region of High Medieval France. Each player takes on the role of an aristocrat, originally controlling a small princedom. While playing they aim to build settlements and powerful castles, practice trade along the river, exploit silver mines, and use the knowledge of travelers.
Players take settlement tiles from the game board and place them into their princedom (which is represented by the player board). Every tile has a function that activates when the tile is placed in the princedom. The princedom itself consists of several regions, each of which demands its own type of settlement tile.
The game is played in five phases, each consisting of five rounds. Each phase begins with the game board stocked with settlement tiles and goods tiles. At the beginning of each round all players roll their two dice, and the player who is currently first in turn order rolls a goods placement die.
A goods tile is made available on the game board according to the roll of the goods die. During each round players take turns in the current turn order. During their turn, a player may perform any two of the four possible types of actions:
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take a settlement tile from the numbered depot on the game board corresponding with one of their dice and place it in the staging area on their player board;
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move a settlement tile from the staging area of their player board to a space on their player board meeting the placement requirements (having a number matching one of their dice in the corresponding region for that type of tile and being adjacent to a previously placed settlement tile);
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deliver goods with a number matching one of their dice; or
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take worker tokens which allow the player to adjust the roll of their dice. In addition to these actions a player may buy a settlement tile from the central depot on the game board and place it in the staging area on their player board. If an action triggers the award of victory points, those points are immediately recorded.
Each settlement tile offers a benefit, additional actions, additional money, advancement on the turn order track, more goods tiles, die roll adjustment or victory points. Bonus victory points are awarded for filling a region with settlement tiles.
The game ends when the last player finishes his turn of the fifth round of the fifth phase. Victory points are awarded for unused money and workers, and undelivered goods. Bonus victory points from certain settlement tiles are awarded at the end of the game.
The player with the most victory points wins.
We strongly suggest you check out the in-depth rules before your first game if you have never played it before. Or to dive into a training game, just to see what's all about it. Otherwise, you can be trapped in a glass case of emotion!
You can discover more about the game on the dedicated page by clicking here:
https://boardgamearena.com/gamepanel?ga ... ofburgundy
If you have never played it, it's a must.
If you already know the game: what about ARENA? Let's see if you are the optimisation king or queen in your BGA gamers group. 😉
Of course, nothing would have been possible without the help of Stefan Feld and the wonderful team of Alea. Kudos to them.
And what about fafa-fr, the developer who made this possible? The work done here is fantastic and we are sure you'll enjoy it as much as we do.
Remember that bugs are always a possibility, and you can use the Bug Report system to let us know about any issues you encounter.
While this game is close to perfect, we're not.
**Thanks a lot for reading, and let us know in the comments which Stefan Feld game you love the most!
**
Oh and by the way...
On Thursday night 9PM (Paris time) we will have a live event with Bruno Cathala about INSERT.
Check the front page.
Keep safe and play well, we'll see you next week with another amazing game release!