Troyes (game)

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Troyes
Game data
author Sébastien Dujardin ,
Xavier Georges ,
Alain Orban
graphic Alexandre Roche
publishing company Pearl Games ,
Z-Man Games
Publishing year 2010
Art Board game
Teammates 2 to 4
Duration about 90 minutes
Age from 12 years

Awards

Troyes is a board game by Sébastien Dujardin , Xavier Georges and Alain Orban , which was published in 2010 by the Belgian publisher Pearl Games in a trilingual edition (French, German, English). The German distributor Heidelberger Spieleverlag revised the rules of the game in 2011. In the revised version, Troyes reached third place at the German Games Prize 2011. In 2011, Z-Man Games brought out an English edition for the American market. At the International Gamers Award , Troyes was nominated in the multi-person strategy game category, and the game was also nominated for the French game award As d'Or - Jeu de l'Année 2011 . It is aimed at two to four players aged 12 and over, and the duration of a game is specified as around 90 minutes. When playing for two, some special rules apply.

The game takes up elements from the history of the French city of Troyes in the Middle Ages. The city was the capital of the influential Counts of Champagne and the seat of the important diocese of Troyes , for whose bishops the Troyes Cathedral was built. Construction began as early as 1200, but was not completed until around 400 years later. In addition, the city was important for trade and commerce, especially with textiles. Two of the six fairs in Champagne took place here. In the game the families (represented by one player each) compete for influence in the three classes of nobility, clergy and bourgeoisie and all build the cathedral together. Each player is under the influence of a historical personality from Champagne, whose focus of life they must emulate.

Game principle and equipment

Troyes is controlled by dice, action and event cards. The dice represent the workforce of the families and stands that is available in the respective round. It is important to divide them up among the various tasks and events. Due to the many options for action, the random factor of the dice takes a back seat to strategic considerations. The joint construction of the cathedral by all players brings an element of a cooperative game .

The large game board shows the stylized city with a large market square. Around this are the seats of the three estates: Count's Castle, Bishop's Palace and City Hall. They each have space for six followers, whose fields are marked with the six dice numbers. You are assigned three investment fields for action cards. There is also the construction site of the cathedral, which will be built over three construction phases of six fields marked with the dice numbers. Finally, you can still get an income in the city from a small farm. Outside the city there is a scoring bar for influence points at the top of the game board , and the current event cards are laid out at the bottom.

All dice, followers, marker and scoring stones, as well as the blocks used for actions are made of wood. The dice are marked in the colors red for the nobility, white for the clergy, yellow for the bourgeoisie and black for external threats to the city. The followers, scoring stones and blocks wear the colors of the four players plus gray, for neutral followers and actions. Money and victory point markers are made of cardboard, all other elements are playing cards. The game is trilingual, with all rules and explanations in French, English and German. Names on cards are in three languages, centrally in French and smaller in English and German. All functions are indicated on the cards in the form of symbols.

Game flow

The number of rounds is determined by the other players. The number of players plus two always applies. The first three rounds have six phases, the following only five. At the beginning the players and their followers occupy the six fields in the Count's Castle, the Bishop's Palace and the City Hall. The remaining fields are occupied by gray, neutral followers.

The first three rounds begin by revealing an action card corresponding to the round for each stand. This phase does not apply in the following rounds. The following phases are played in each round. Each player receives a constant basic income and has to pay his followers in the Grafenburg and Bishop's Palace with it (followers in the town hall cost nothing). Then each player rolls as many dice of the respective color as he has followers in the count's castle (red), the bishop's palace (white) and in the town hall (yellow). The player places the dice in his part of the marketplace. The starting player rolls dice for the neutral followers and also places these dice on the marketplace.

Then two events occur per round. They are represented by event cards that are laid out at the bottom of the game board. At least one event is a military attack, the second card can be negative or positive. The military threats are represented by a number of black dice indicated on the card, which the starting player throws. A special feature is the looting that takes place every round and places a black die as an opponent of the city. On each of the non-military event cards, an event that is now being carried out is indicated at the bottom. Then the starting player has to use his own dice (workers) on the market place against the military threats of the black dice. The aristocracy's red dice count twice against military threats. He chooses one or more dice from his dice, which together (possibly counting twice) are equal to or higher than the highest or the highest plus another black die. Any excess dice that cannot surpass any other black dice expire. The neutralizing dice of the player and the black dice are returned to the supply, for each neutralized black dice the player receives one influence point on the bar at the top of the board. Then it is the turn of the next player who has to neutralize the now highest black die and any other black dice. When the black dice of an event have been neutralized, the action phase begins.

In the action phase, each player can choose from six possible actions. He can

  • activate action cards on display,
  • build the cathedral,
  • fight ongoing events,
  • place a follower in the three main buildings,
  • Farming
  • or fit .

He places dice for each of the possible actions. He can use his own dice or buy those of other players for money and then use them like his own. Until a player has placed all of his dice or has passed, all players take turns to take turns and each take one action.

To use an action card for the first time, he must invest in it and buy a field for a follower as a specialist on the card. Then the dice he used for this action card are scored and, depending on the symbols on the card, the player receives money, influence points, victory points or, in the case of action cards with a later effect, he places the corresponding number of his own blocks on the card and can later use them in Use the game with the specified effect. The cathedral is built with a block of your own color, which is placed on the lowest currently free space with the corresponding number. Blocks also fight events. The dice places a player uses determine how many blocks he can place on the event card. If all the designated fields on the event card have been covered, it is scored for the players involved in the defense of the event with their blocks and the event card is given to the player with the greatest stake or, in the event of a tie, to the leader who first defends the event involved. These cards can be important at the end of the game. If the looting is averted, the scoring takes place, but the card remains as a permanent threat for the next round. In agriculture, players can receive money for their yellow dice . If a player does not want to use his remaining dice, he can pass. That costs a stake of money, but he receives another coin every time he gets to get the train.

At the end of the round, all followers who are not in use are returned to the supply; the unused dice are also put there. The starting player function continues in a clockwise direction. At the end of the game after the specified number of rounds, in addition to the victory points achieved in the course of the game, each player who has started to fight events that has not yet been resolved is awarded further. Victory points are also awarded for all action cards in which a player has invested. Deductions are made to a player who did not take part in every construction phase of the cathedral. The historical personality that a player should emulate earns additional victory points, provided that the player has completed the corresponding tasks. The influence points can be used in any phase to influence the dice's eyes. If a player cannot complete a task on his turn, this usually costs two influence points. No player can ever have more than twenty influence points.

target group

Troyes is a complex strategy game with a large number of individual options for action that combine to form various strategies. Like most of the games that are highly rated at the German Games Prize, it is therefore aimed at more experienced players who can immerse themselves in the game world.

Reviews come to the conclusion that Troyes "is by no means a lightweight, Troyes wants to be developed" and "But once you have cleared this first hurdle and understood the principle, the game opens up many different facets and strategies that you want to try out." The reviewers from the realm of games agree with Troyes that “surprisingly, games appear again and again at the games fair in Essen , which were not hyped in advance or announced with a lot of tam-tam and which then turned out to be a real enrichment your own collection of games. ” The author states in detail: “ Everywhere there are adjusting screws and possibilities that can be turned and tinkered with, and it is seldom clear who has won even before the victory points are counted. The different action, event and personality cards result in different constellations in each new game and thus require a different strategy " and comes to the conclusion: " Troyes is a strategy wolf in sheep's clothing . " The Pöppelkiste sums up its review as: " So can I draw a clear conclusion: Troyes is worthwhile for everyone who likes complex games and longs for original game mechanics. He will hardly get it more than here; the fun is free. "

Extensions

There are several promotional cards with other personalities for Troyes .

The Troyes Ladies extension includes five modules

  1. 3 new scoring cards with the ladies of Troyes, the previous 6 cards are included
  2. 27 action cards that can be used alone or with those of the basic game,
  3. 6 new events that can be used together with those of the base game,
  4. 4 purple dice, which represent the clans chiefs and are not for sale,
  5. The outdoor activities that incorporate the city wall into the game and offer new strategic opportunities

The Pöppelkiste describes the expansion with "There is now an extensive expansion for this game, which consists of five modules. I'll say it in advance: The expansion is perfect!"

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Review by H @ ll 9000
  2. ^ Criticism at Reich der Spiele
  3. ↑ Troyes at poeppelkiste.de
  4. ↑ Heidelberger Spieleverlag: Troyes promotion cards  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.heidelbaer.de  
  5. ↑ Poeppelkiste.de: The Ladies of Troyes