The Castles of Burgundy is a board game for two to four players, set in MedievalBurgundy. It was designed by Stefan Feld and illustrated by Julien Delval and Harald Lieske, and was published in 2011 by Ravensburger/alea.[2] It is considered a classic of the Eurogame genre,[3][4] and is cited as one of the most influential board games of the last decade.[5] It uses dice rolling and dice placement, a modular setup, and set collection as its mechanics.[6] The dice and the ability to change them give players a wide range of options.[7]
In Castles of Burgundy, players collect hexagonal tiles to fill their personal player boards[8] by drafting them via dice they've collected, and then gain benefits for each tile placed.[9] Players will earn bonuses for filling in a specific region of their board, which is worth more points if done earlier in the game, or for filling all hexes of a specific color on their entire board.[10] The game takes place over phases, and within each phase, there are five rounds.[11] The beginning of a phase starts by clearing the board of all existing hexagonal tiles, if any are present on the game board.[12] This step is skipped in the first phase of the game.[13]
Versions
In 2014 Yucata, the online game portal, released an online play-by-web version. In 2016 Ravensburger released Castles of Burgundy: The Card Game.[14]Ravensburger also released a "roll-and-write" version, The Castles of Burgundy: The Dice Game, in 2017.[15] In 2019 DIGIDICED developed versions for Steam, Android, and iOS.[16] In 2023 Awaken Realms collaborated with Ravensburger and Alea to release Castles of Burgundy Special Edition, which added all new art and deluxe components for the base game and for nine of the existing expansions and two new expansions, titled Vineyard and Shields.[17]
Reception
A review at Ars Technica described the game as having a "bland theme, dry artwork, chintzy components" but also "some of the best gameplay" in a board game and amongst the "best dice-rolling mechanics in any strategy game".[8]
The Thoughtful Gamer's review of The Castles of Burgundy expressed that "[e]very part of it feels, at once, intentional and necessary..." and "precise, pleasant, and accessible."[18]
One review for Castles of Burgundy Special Edition from Punchboard stated that it was "big, brash, and over the top, and it’s exactly what the game always needed."[19]
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