Pearl Games | Troyes | Board Game | 1-4 Players | Ages 12+ | 90 Minute Playing Time

Product Information

A: Initially, the game is designed to be played with 2-4 players, but the solo variant is also possible. As a solo game, Troyes works just fine, but it is much more fun when you have other people playing it with you. The game ends after the fourth round is completed. At the end of the game, players score points based on victory point tokens they have accrued throughout the game, points for the spots on the tradesmen, negative points for each row of the cathedral they do not have a cube in, points based on events they have cubes on, and finally, points for hidden bonus cards. The hidden bonus cards score bonuses based on all players’ bonus cards, not just their own. These bonuses range from the number of workers you have in buildings, to the number of cubes you have in the cathedral, to the number of event cards you’ve collected. Each player then gathers his dice on his district of the city square, being careful to maintain the face-up values that he rolled. Not having suffered from the last wars, Troyes has a high density of old religious buildings grouped close to the city centre. They include: In fact, if you can figure out whose principles the other families follow, you can maximize your own fame, because each family will be scrutinized by all of these famous figures.

Troyes | Board Games | Zatu Games UK Ladies of Troyes | Board Games | Zatu Games UK

You may use a group of 1 to 3 dice to combat the events threatening the city. The activation cost shown on the left side of an Event card defines:

Game Play

My favorite element of the game is the hidden end game goals. Each goal defines a different type of strategy that you can follow and which can radically alter the course of your game play. Since you still score all of the other players’ end of game bonuses, there’s also the added element of deciphering what scoring bonuses the other players have. This is an exceptionally cool opportunity for subtle interaction in the game. The second type of action you can take is adding workers to buildings. The building locations players selected have one to three dice values associated with them. These dice indicate the number value of the die used to add a worker to that location. For instance, to send a worker to the top space in the yellow building, you would need to spend a 1 or 6 pip yellow die.

Troyes Dice | Board Games | Zatu Games UK Troyes Dice | Board Games | Zatu Games UK

If a player is the only one with cubes on the card, he gains the total VPs of both ranks The neutral player's cubes are considered in determining majorities, and the neutral player can deprive players of VPs, If a player cannot totally execute an event, he does as much as he can, and then loses 2 VPs (a player with no VPs doesn't lose anything). If you are tired of all board games repeating each other, you might want to try Troyes: it is like nothing you have played before! The gorgeous production and art of the game, the player interaction, and the unconventional use of dice will make Troyes a favorite on your shelf. Each round you will be allocated a number of dice depending on how much presence you have in three buildings. There are three colours of dice and each one leans in a certain direction more than the others - yellow are generally better for earning coins, red for fighting of events and white for rebuilding the Cathedral. The artwork on the game board and cards is consistent and fairly attractive. The artist, Alexandre Roche, did an impressive job of capturing the ramparts and bustle of the city of Troyes using muted tones that don’t detract from the overall gameplay.

Phase 3: Events

Important: If you already have a citizen lying on a building's illustration, nobody can expel your citizen from that building; however, you will retrieve your expelled citizens to your personal supply at the end of the round, so this small protection is only good for the current round.