- Publisher(s) : Awaken Realms
- Designer(s) : Stefan Feld
- Artist(s) : Jakub Dzikowski, Piotr Foksowicz, Patryk Jędraszek, Ewa Labak
- Players : 1–4
- Playing time : 70 - 120 Min
- Weight BGG : 2.85
What's this?
The Castles of Burgundy is a tile-placement management board game created by Stefan Feld. It takes place in 15th-century Burgundy, where each player assumes the role of a duke seeking to expand his domain by optimizing his actions and carefully planning his choices.
How do you play?
General Procedure
The game is divided into five phases, identified by the letters A to E, and each phase consists of five rounds.
In each round:
Players roll their dice.
They perform two actions, one per die.
Main Actions
Each turn, a player has two dice to perform two of the following actions:
➡️ Take a hexagonal tile from the board
Each depot on the main board is numbered from 1 to 6.
The die used must match the depot number.
The tile is temporarily stored on the player’s board, which can be placed later.
➡️ Place a tile in their duchy
It must be adjacent to a tile already placed.
Its color must match that of the chosen location.
Different types of tiles provide different benefits.
➡️ Sell goods
Each player can store up to three different types of goods. Use a die to sell all goods of a given color.
Gain: silver coins and victory points.
➡️ Take workers
Allows you to modify the value of a die (+1 or -1 per worker).
Useful for adjusting your actions and avoiding getting stuck.
➡️ Buy a tile from the central black depot (optional)
For 2 silver coins, a player can purchase a special tile, adding more flexibility to their strategy.
The different types of tiles and their effects
Once placed in the duchy, the tiles trigger special effects that influence the players’ strategy:
🏰 Castles (burgundy): Immediately grant a free bonus action.
🏠 Buildings (beige): Provide unique benefits (e.g., take a bonus tile, sell goods, gain workers, etc.).
⛪ Monasteries (yellow): Provide permanent powers or victory points at the end of the game.
⛵ Ships (blue): Allow you to collect goods and change the turn order (valuable for playing first).
🛤️ Mines (gray): Provide silver coins at the end of each phase.
🐑 Livestock (green): Earn victory points based on the number of animals of the same type already present in the duchy.
The game ends at the end of the 5th round. The player with the most victory points at the end of the game wins.
Is it good?
The game is certainly one of the best in its category.
The game relies on a dice mechanic that influences players’ decisions, while offering numerous optimization possibilities to limit the impact of chance.
The diversity of the duchy boards ensures high replayability, while the strategic depth remains well balanced thanks to the workers, who allow you to mitigate chance and adapt your game.
Interactions between players are moderate and indirect: each player builds their duchy independently, but turn order and the market can influence the opponent’s choices.
Accessible yet demanding, the game offers rules that are easy to learn, but a tactical richness that reveals itself over the course of games.
In its previous versions, its main flaw was an uninviting design, but this new edition perfectly corrects this with superb illustrations and quality materials. The only drawback is a slightly high price.
The Castles of Burgundy nevertheless remains a must-have for fans of strategy, dice management, and tile placement, thanks to its subtle balance between chance and planning, as well as its tactical depth which makes it an absolute must-have in any game library.
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Review Castle of Burgundy
Positives
- High replayability thanks to the numerous duchy boards
- Balance between chance and planning thanks to the workers
- Deep strategy with varied tactical choices
- Accessible rules yet offering a nice progression curve
- Improved material and illustrations in the new edition
Negatives
- Moderate interaction, which may not suit those who prefer a more confrontational game
- Fairly high price for this new edition
- The dice mechanic may frustrate some players despite the available controls
Breakdown
- Components and illustrations 10.0
- Mechanics 10.0
- Thematic 8.0
- Replayability 10.0
- Handling 10.0
- Interaction 8.0
- Originality 10.0
