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Once upon a time ...
1289. To strengthen the borders of the Kingdom of France, King Philip the Fair decided to have a new castle built. For the time being, Caylus is but a humble village, but soon, workers and craftsmen will be flocking by the cartload, attracted by the great prospects. Around the building site, a city is slowly rising up.
The players embody master builders. By building the King's castle and developing the city around it, they earn prestige points and gain the King's favor. When the castle is finished, the player who has earned the most prestige wins the game. The expansion Caylus Expansion: The Jeweller was included in the 2nd Edition.
Each turn, players pay to place their workers in various buildings in the village. These buildings allow players to gather resources or money, or to build or upgrade buildings with those resources. Players can also use their resources to help build the castle itself, earning points and favors from the king, which provide larger bonuses. Building a building provides some immediate points, and potentially income throughout the game, since players receive bonuses when others use their buildings. The buildings chosen by the players have a heavy impact on the course of the game, since they determine the actions that will be available to all the players.
As new buildings are built, they stretch along a road stretching away from the castle, and not all buildings can be used every turn. Players have some control over which buildings are active by paying to influence the movement of the Provost marker. The final position of the marker is the newest building that can be used that turn. The Provost marker also helps determine the movement of the Bailiff marker, which determines the end of the game. Generally, if players are building many buildings and the Provost is generous in allowing them to be used, the game ends more quickly.
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- the only constant is change
- jungkus games is my full-time career
- i want to make this digest of all games i've talked about on the site
References (from this video)
- Leader powers make it interesting
- Leader powers can overturn the power quite easily
- No direct battle, just area control
- Internal struggle for power
- 1917 Russia
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Area Control — Players compete to control areas, which is determined by secret objectives each round.
- Card Driven — The game is driven by playing cards, which dictate actions and advance markers.
- hand management — Players manage cards in hand to dictate actions.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- hi it's Ella from evil University
- thanks for watching please subscribe and hit the bell to be notified of my next videos for any questions in the comment sections below you can also follow me on instagram for port games photos and reviews until next time
References (from this video)
- Very quick (about 5 minutes per game).
- Easy to teach (can be taught in a minute).
- Engaging and tactical despite being simple.
- High replayability in short sessions.
- No luck involved (no-luck abstract).
- Rule ambiguity about whether you can place where you would normally call yourself (clarified later with publisher).
- Can be challenging for new players due to the depth of strategy in a short game.
- Advanced variant exists for additional depth.
- abstract strategy
- checkers
- chess
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- call_and_flip — A 'call' occurs when a piece is placed between two opponent pieces; the player who makes the call flips one of the two between them, and the opponent must move that flipped piece somewhere else.
- flip_and_move — After a call, the opponent moves the flipped piece to an open location instead of placing a new piece.
- initial_piece_placement — Each player places two pieces on setup (two pieces per player).
- multi_call_sequences — Multiple calls can occur in a row, creating back-and-forth movements and strategic depth.
- no_luck_abstract — Characterized as a no-luck abstract game.
- Objective — Aim to achieve five in a row to win.
- placement — On each subsequent turn, a player places one piece.
- Roll/Spin to Move — After a call, the opponent moves the flipped piece to an open location instead of placing a new piece.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- it's a no-luck abstract.
- You can teach this game in a minute.
- the rules actually say play three times and see who wins two out of three.
- it's addicting.
- this is a great quick little abstract game.
References (from this video)
- innovative turn-order mechanic via master builders
- strong thematic integration with action choices
- pivotal early example of a dense, strategic eurogame
- long playtime and setup complexity
- high learning curve for new players
- castle construction and strategic village development via worker actions and turn order
- medieval kingdom with a castle road and rebuilding effort
- classic eurogame flavor with misdirection via provost mechanics
- Agricola
- Caverna: The Cave Farmers
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- bag draft / master builder timing — master builders are drafted from a bag, influencing turn order and timing; players may pass or place
- worker placement — players place workers to gather resources and trigger actions on a shared board
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- i haven't gone back and looked at all the video i watched about five seconds of it and then i was sick in my mouth because it was that bad
- if your top 10 worker placement game ain't on this list that's because a [__] or b probably ain't played it
- bollocks
- there is literally no luck in this game