The Castles of Burgundy (2011)

How To Play The Castles of Burgundy

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 their turns in the current turn order. During his turn, a player may perform any two of the four possible types of actions:

1. Take a settlement tile from the numbered depot on the game board corresponding to one of his dice and place it in the staging area on his player board,
2. Take a settlement tile from the staging area of his player board to a space on his player board with a number matching one of his dice in the corresponding region for the type of tile and adjacent to a previously placed settlement tile,
3. Deliver goods with a number matching one of his dice, or
4. Take worker tokens which allow the player to adjust the roll of his 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 his 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. You can also gain bonus victory points for filling a region with settlement tiles.

How To Win The Castles of Burgundy

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. Gain bonus victory points from certain settlement tiles at the end of the game. The player with the most victory points wins.

The Castles of Burgundy Review

“Ultimately Castles of Burgundy is an exceedingly self-assured game. Every part of it feels, at once, intentional and necessary. All of the mechanisms lock into themselves like a puzzle and the result is a game that feels like a classic. I’ve played a few other Feld games since but none of them have been so precise, pleasant, and accessible as this one. A true delight.”

thethoughtfulgamer.com

“There must be something in the water because I simply cannot get enough of this game; I’m sort of addicted to it. When I’m not playing it face-to-face with other people I’m playing five or six games of it online. It’s just that good. After having played so many sessions of this game, I understand why it has become such a classic.

The mechanics for this game are inspired. Everything here belongs and there is nothing out of place. This game runs like a fine tuned machine. Every phase… every round… every die roll presents the player with new and unique challenges and decisions, and all of these decisions have far reaching, game changing consequences.”

David McMillan, meeplemountain.com

“Here’s the truth: I played two games of The Castles of Burgundy while I was writing this review. Even though it’s 1 AM right now as I’m writing this sentence, I’m a little tempted to play another game. It’s just so much fun. Chaining together your actions to pull off a high scoring move is so satisfying. Filling up your player board with all those little tiles is wonderful.

The game is simultaneously so very simple, yet elegantly complex. And it works well at different player counts! I’ve enjoyed this as a two player game with my wife several times, but it’s probably even better at three and four players (though it can get a bit long).”

Ric White, oneboardfamily.com

The content of this article is originally from Board Game Geek. For more information and a better understanding of the game, you can watch the videos below.