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It is 1729 in pre-revolution France, a time when the aristocracy has all the power and the means to rule the country. As a wealthy, well-educated aristocrat, you have travelled the world and had the fortune to enjoy your life to the fullest – but you see that history is about to change course and you know that in order to stay strong, your family must prepare well. You need to find new allies. You must absorb smaller families and use their potency to strengthen your kin. You have to arrange wise marriages, nurture strong connections at court, obtain titles, build mansions, and find the right spouses for your daughters and sons...
Legacy: The Testament of Duke de Crecy enables you to build a powerful dynasty in 18th century France as you step into the shoes of a French noble and compete for lasting honor. Over three generations, you – a resourceful patriarch or matriarch – will attempt to create a lasting legacy by establishing a house with ties to many different wealthy and powerful families from France and abroad (Spain, Italy, Russia and other countries).
This card game offers endless possibilities. Each time you build a family, you write a unique story, bringing to life the diverse relationships between parents and their children, between cousins, uncles, aunts, nephews and nieces. Whether you are looking for the best husband for your only daughter or a suitable wife for one of your two sons, whether you are looking to add new blood to your family by marrying into foreign nobility – you will be working to make your family rise in status through prestige and wealth, new skills and abilities.
In Legacy: The Testament of Duke de Crecy – known previously as Nobles of Paris and winner of Ducosim Spelontwerp in 2009 – you will find 75 spouse cards with unique traits, more than twenty secret missions, nine titles, and nine "contribution to the family" cards. This all culminates in a highly thematic card game that will satisfy players who enjoy exploring many different paths to victory.
Legacy is a worker placement game in which you take actions to improve the standing and/or wealth of your family. You will expand your family, creating an ever-growing tableau, the family tree. You will need to balance the three 'currencies' in the game, Prestige (converts to Honor points at the end of each generation, of which there are three), Income (your income which converts to hard cash at the end of each round, of which there are 9), and Friend cards (which are actual connections/friends, and are the only way to marry into wealthy/famous families, and can only be received through actions, such as marrying a woman who brings some of her social contacts with her).
Prestige, Income and Friend cards can be gained and lost. You can, for example, lose some prestige by marrying someone infamous or lose some Honor points (i.e. reputation) by asking friends for money. There are also numerous actions you can take that will affect one of the three 'currencies' detrimentally, such as bribing someone to get a title (for which you need to pay, but also in the loss of friends who felt they deserved that title, and not you), or the maintenance of a beautiful new park you have built for the people (losing you income). Finally, you can also take actions that result in the loss of some of your social contacts (friends), due to jealousy, or people simply no longer wanting to be associated with you.
These currencies are carefully balanced by the male and female friend cards in the game. Generally men will give you income and possibly prestige, but will cost you a dowry/wedding costs. Women, on the other hand, will give you connections (new friends you can choose from the current socialites (cards lying open on the table) and possibly prestige, and will sometimes even earn you a dowry!
The card interactions allow for multiple different paths to success, but you must choose your road strategically, planning out where you want to be headed, else you will be left behind in the dust by those with greater and more successful plans than yours.
Legacy - Game Play 1
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
References (from this video)
- The solo variant offers new challenges.
- Connecting with the designer's previous involvement on the channel adds a special touch.
- A copy of the game is being given away to viewers.
- Mistakes in previous instructional videos are being clarified.
- A player might be considered a disappointment if they are a craftsman child of an aristocrat.
- Researching your family tree to uncover a connection to a wealthy aristocrat and claim an inheritance.
- Present day within the context of the game
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Family Tree Building — Players build out their family tree by adding children and spouses, with the goal of fulfilling specific objectives.
- Objective Fulfillment — The game requires players to complete objective cards (hints) related to their family tree over three generations to win.
- set collection — Players collect honor points based on various conditions related to the nationalities of family members and their parents, as well as social standing.
- worker placement — Players use action pawns on their personal board or the main board to perform actions that affect their family members.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- male Hendrick the designer of legacy is the same MJ hendris that participated in the first playthrough of a game we ever featured on our channel
- Portal Games the publisher of legacy is going to give away a copy to one of our viewers
- you are trying to research your family tree rumor has it a wealthy Aristocrat who's passed away with a large estate may be connected to one of your ancestors
- at the start of each generation you'll draw three of the hint cards these will provide you with objectives to complete in your family tree over the course of the entire game you will lose if you have not fulfilled each objective by the end of Generation 3
- you also lose a point if you have a Craftsman who was the child of an aristocrat apparently my father was a disappointment to the family
- hopefully together we'll be able to claim this massive inheritance
References (from this video)
- Completing hint cards provides a sense of accomplishment and progresses towards goals.
- Gaining new friends provides more options for building the family tree.
- The game offers strategic depth in planning family tree development.
- The solo variant allows for public play of all cards and actions.
- Some friends cards may not offer immediately useful benefits.
- Discarding friends can be necessary but might feel like a loss of options.
- Losing an honor point when initiating a venture.
- Building a family legacy and claiming an inheritance
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- hand management — Managing friends cards in hand to use for actions or to discard for other benefits.
- Income generation — Players collect gold based on their income level at the start of rounds.
- legacy elements — The game progresses through generations with evolving objectives and components.
- Objective Completion — Players need to complete a set number of hint cards before the end of the game to win.
- set collection — Collecting friends to add to the family tree to fulfill objectives.
- Set matching — Matching parent and child nationalities can provide benefits or points.
- worker placement — Using action pawns to perform various actions on the board.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- In my heart I have one goal be stinking rich
- I'm going to burn my stable clothes and buy one of those fancy silly looking white wigs all the rich guys wear.
- I've got some sensible thinking earlier there I collected this action Pond I want to use it right now I'm going to initiate a venture and remember to do that I'm going to have to throw away two friends from my hand and lose an honor Point.
References (from this video)
- Gaining prestige and honor points through completing hints.
- Acquiring gold to fund future actions.
- Building a complex family tree with diverse members.
- Satisfying hint conditions leads to game progression and rewards.
- The legacy aspect allows for evolving gameplay and a developing narrative.
- Occasional confusion with rules or tracking of prestige/honor.
- Discarding friends (cards) can mean losing useful abilities.
- Cost of adding certain characters can be high.
- Difficulty in fitting the expanding family tree on camera.
- Researching family history and gaining prestige/honor.
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- hand management — Managing a hand of friends (cards) to be played or discarded for various effects.
- legacy — Actions taken and components added in one generation permanently affect future gameplay.
- Resource gathering — Collecting gold and prestige points through various actions and by fulfilling conditions.
- set collection — Collecting friends (cards) with specific traits or nationalities to fulfill hint requirements.
- worker placement — Using action pawns to perform various actions on the board, such as adding family members or collecting resources.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- I'm very appreciative of the feedback that I got letting me know about those mistakes so I can correct them now.
- Patrick is been doing a good job of researching his family tree and things are really starting to spread out.
- I'm going to take a who were they action and Charles I'm going to make him let's let's make him work within the family tree here as well that way we can get some more points.
- I'm starting to think about maybe trying to go for a higher score.
- This is where things really come together because I'm going to use the additional Action Pawn I just collected by adding Pascal to the family and gain a title.
- I sometimes I'll refer to Patrick's family sometimes I'll refer to it on almost as if it's my family that I'm growing here and um I think that might be why I'm so caught up on collecting gold maybe it's a little bit of wish fulfillment on my part.
References (from this video)
- Completing hints provides prestige.
- New family members can grant gold, friends, and additional action pawns.
- Winning the solo variant after previous losses is a significant achievement.
- Generous giveaway of the game by the publisher.
- Mistakes made in gameplay (e.g., drawing missions, placing pawns) can lead to missed opportunities.
- Losing prestige for certain family members or actions can be a drawback.
- Some actions have costs in gold or prestige.
- The game can be challenging, as indicated by the host's previous solo losses.
- Building a family tree and managing prestige within a community.
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- hand management — Managing a hand of 'friend' cards and deciding which to play or discard is a key part of the gameplay.
- legacy — The game involves ongoing progression, with completed missions and hints contributing to future gameplay and scoring.
- set collection — Collecting specific types of family members (e.g., Craftsmen, Aristocrats) and nationalities is crucial for completing hints and scoring.
- tableau building — Players build a family tree, adding members with various attributes and abilities to their personal play area.
- worker placement — The host uses action pawns to perform actions, such as adding family members or completing missions.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- My brain's all scattered.
- I really don't know how to explain this. I've played the solo variant multiple times and lost each time and here I am with you guys playing and we won.
- 56 points is a pretty good score, I don't know, I've never won before.
- I want to thank Portal Games because they're supplying that copy for us to give away, which is I think is really generous.
References (from this video)
- Thematic depth around dynastic politics and legacy building
- Mechanics align with historical constraints and social ambition
- Interesting approach to legacy through family pyramids
- Euro-style mechanics can be heavy for new players
- Dynastic legacy; arranging marriages to build a powerful family
- France, a few centuries past; aristocracy and dynastic lineage
- Long-form family saga with time passing and a growing legacy pyramid
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Compound Scoring — A legacy-style pyramid where marriages and alliances shape prestige and national affiliations influence scoring.
- eventful birth outcomes — Random baby outcomes (boy/girl, twins) impact strategy and scoring trajectories.
- hand management — Manage cards representing children and arranged marriages to maximize points.
- hand management and marriage planning — Manage cards representing children and arranged marriages to maximize points.
- legacy/pyramid scoring — A legacy-style pyramid where marriages and alliances shape prestige and national affiliations influence scoring.
- permanent effects across generations — Aging and marriages create lasting effects that influence later rounds.
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- not alone is a great overall thematic game and that's why it's number 10 on the list
- season one is like 95% identical to the original pandemic
- it's like watching a Netflix show as you are playing these games
- Spirit Island is the most thematic out of all of these
- genuinely I felt like I was in this cramped pressure-filled crazy stressful submarine duking it out to the death