The Castles of Burgundy
MEDIUM-HEAVY EURO STRATEGY BOARD GAME (2011) by STEFAN FELD — set in 15th-century Burgundy. Players are aristocrats building castles, ships, mines, farms + trading commodities across HEXAGONAL PLAYER BOARDS. Signature: TWO DICE per turn — each die represents an action (take tile, place tile, sell goods, take worker); dice PIP VALUES restrict which tiles/actions are available. Deep puzzle-optimization; player interaction subtle. TOP-10 GAME on BoardGameGeek for over a decade.
Quick facts
Category
Board Games
Type
Individual
Players
2–4
Duration
~90 min
Where played
indoor
Country of origin
🇩🇪 Germany
Estimated origin
2011 Alea/Ravensburger release; global cult classic; 20th anniversary edition 2019
Olympic
No
Popularity
regional
How it works
Objective
Score most VP over 5 phases (25 rounds) by placing tiles + completing hexagonal regions.
Rules
Basic rules
Each turn: ROLL 2 DICE — each die used for 1 action (take tile from market, place tile, sell goods, take worker)
Signature 2-dice action system.
DICE PIP VALUE restricts action options; WORKERS let you MODIFY dice values (mitigation)
Signature worker mitigation.
PLACE tiles on hex board matching color + region; complete regions to score bonuses
Signature region-completion scoring.
TILE TYPES: castles, ships (extra turns), mines (VP), buildings (special abilities), animals (herds), knowledge tiles
Signature 6+ tile types.
5 PHASES × 5 ROUNDS = 25 rounds total; phase-end scoring for completed regions
Signature 25-round structure.
END: highest VP wins
Standard VP.
Scoring
Sum VP from tiles, regions, bonuses, phase scoring.
| Action | Points |
|---|---|
| Complete region (all same color hexes) | Phase-scaled bonus |
| Ships | VP + goods + placement bonuses |
| Mines | VP per silver marker |
| Building placements | Various VP + special powers |
Win condition · Highest total VP after phase 5.
Equipment
Individual hexagonal player boards + central market board + tiles + goods + workers + dice
Signature hex boards + dice
Dice (2 per player + colored player dice)
Signature dice-driven mechanic
Terminology
- Hex board
- Personal player board of hexagonal spaces divided into colored regions.
- Worker
- Token used to modify dice values (± 1 pip per worker).
- Region
- Group of adjacent same-color hexes; completing scores bonus.
- Phase
- One of 5 game phases; each has 5 rounds.
- Stefan Feld
- Highly regarded German game designer known for point-salad euros (also Trajan, Bora Bora, Amerigo).
Where it is played
Sources & provenance
- Alea/Ravensburger — Castles of Burgundy— Ravensburger
- BoardGameGeek— BGG