The Castles of Burgundy
is set 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.
The game is about players taking settlement tiles from the game board
and placing them into their princedom, which is represented by the
player board. Every tile has a function that starts 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
their turns in the current turn order. During their turn, a player may
perform any two of the four possible types of actions:
- Take a settlement tile from the numbered depot on the game board
corresponding to one of their dice and place it in the staging area on
their player board. - Place a settlement tile from the staging area of their player
board to a space on their player board with a number matching one of
their dice in the corresponding region for the type of tile and adjacent
to a previously placed settlement tile. - Deliver goods with a number matching one of their dice.
- Take worker tokens that 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 awarding 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 their turn of the fifth
round of the fifth phase. Victory points are awarded for unused money
and workers and for 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.
The 2019 edition of The Castles of Burgundy includes eight expansions, seven of which were previously released as promotional items and one new to this release.
