In Orleans, players assume the role of powerful leaders seeking to expand their influence and fortune in the bustling city of Orleans and its surrounding provinces. The game is played over a series of rounds, with players taking turns to perform various actions such as recruiting followers, constructing buildings, and gathering resources. So what about the follow-on, Altiplano? Should you skip Orleans and just get that? This is a difficult choice. Altiplano plays very similarly but feels very different. Part of this is the addition of movement. You have to be on the correct ‘island’ to perform an action as well as assigning the correct resources (followers in Orleans). In Orléans, you will always want to take more actions than possible, and there are many paths to victory. The challenge is to combine all elements as best as possible with regard to your strategy. When everyone is done, the event tile drawn at the start of the round is resolved, and the whole thing is repeated with a new start player. Boreleans? Knights;A key worker in the late early game / early mid game, this is the worker that allows you to gain more tokens per turn. Again the earlier the better, but not too early as you may not actually be able to do anything with the extra pieces!

Looking for an engaging and strategic board game experience that takes you on a journey to medieval France? In this Orleans Board Game Review, we will provide an in-depth analysis of this award-winning game. Throughout the game ypu’ll be challenged on your strategic planning and resource management skills. With that in mind, let’s explore the heart of Orleans and discover why it’s earned a spot on our board game shelf. However, unlike in Orleans, there is not as much to do with the harder to get resources, other than score points. This makes things simpler, as everyone is broadly following the same path to attempted victory, but you lose the options you have in Orleans. In the city of Orléans, you can take trade trips to other cities to acquire coveted goods and build trading posts. You need followers and their abilities to expand your dominance by putting them to work as traders, builders, and scientists. Knights expand your scope of action and secure your mercantile expeditions. Craftsmen build trading stations and tools to facilitate work. Scholars make progress in science, and last but not least it cannot hurt to get active in monasteries since with monks on your side you are much less likely to fall prey to fate.

Final Thoughts

New Events : a completely new set of 34 Hour Glass Tiles from which 18 are semi-randomly chosen for each game During medieval Orléans, you must assemble a following of farmers, merchants, knights, monks, etc. to gain supremacy through trade, construction and science in medieval France. Want more gold? Recruit boatmen, more resources, farmers. Craftsmen offer technology which can be permanently added to one space on your player board – making it cheaper forever. The trader gets you a choice of extra buildings, which are basically extra action spaces for you. The monks act as a wild follower and I’ve already mentioned the knights and scholars. Players must strategically allocate their drawn followers to various actions on their player board. Each action requires a specific combination of follower types to be completed. The available actions include: It is 1598, and you have settled in the middle of France in the city of Orléans on the Loire. Your goal is clear: Build a cathedral in Orléans — all of you together because only together can you meet this challenge!

Central to the gameplay of Orleans is its innovative bag-building mechanic. Players begin the game with a set of basic followers, represented by tokens that are placed in a draw bag. Each round, players draw a specific number of follower tokens from their bag and place them on their player board. These tokens represent various professions such as farmers journalists, knights, and craftsmen, which are essential for performing different actions throughout the game. Whether looking for more plates to spin, or adding a combative streak, Trade & Intrigue adds a lot more depth to Orléans. Also, in the base game, the Town Hall Beneficial Deeds board is a bit boring, but it's the only way to thin your followers from your bag, so you will use it.Player interaction is mid-range with it mainly be racing to get the citizens or build in the nearest areas on the map. Invasion : A cooperative scenario in which players have to work together to fend off an invasion while fulfilling personal objectives, designed by Inka and Markus Brand. Monks; Monks can be anything. Get as many of them, as early and with as little else in your bag. This is the way to be flexible. this is the way to always maximise your actions. Don’t end up with more monks than you need, but in reality this is almost impossible as everyone will rush for the monks.

Farmers Adds; Like the roads, the farmers should not be forgotten – they give you food which might avoid the misfortune of losing 5 coins in some turns. The items also score points and going far on this path can be worthwhile. Especially if you can bury the farmers on the board waiting for other tokens to circle round. Orleans features high-quality components that truly immerse players in the game’s medieval setting. The artwork on the game board, player boards, and cards is beautifully illustrated and evocative of the era. The tokens and wooden pieces are sturdy and well-crafted, ensuring that the game will withstand countless playthroughs. Orleans boasts a rich and immersive theme that transports players to the bustling city of Orleans and its surrounding provinces in medieval France. The beautifully illustrated game components and evocative artwork help to create a vivid game world that players can lose themselves in. The various actions, buildings, and follower types are all thematically grounded in the game’s setting, adding to the sense of immersion and world-building. This strong thematic foundation not only makes the game more enjoyable to play but also helps to make the gameplay mechanics more intuitive and accessible for new players.