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Description
Rio Grande Games' description:
The players take on the roles of the heads of influential families in Paris at the end of the 14th century. In the shadow of the Notre Dame cathedral, the players compete for prosperity and reputation. Each family controls one of the 3–5 boroughs that surround the site of Notre Dame. As head of his family, each player tries, through clever use of his action cards, to advance the power and prestige of his family, but penalties are assessed on those who do not take care of the health of the people who live in their borough. The player with the most prestige at the end is the winner.
Players play as well-off Parisians in the 14th century who wish to improve the importance and appearance of the city quarter around the famous Notre Dame cathedral. The primary game concept is original, but simple, card play players use to permanently improve their influence in the quarter. However, turn after turn, round after round, players must make choices that can have major implications. If one does one thing, then the other can't be done. Concentrating on one aspect means automatically ignoring another, which, above all others, is particularly dangerous in the case of the gradually approaching plague...
After 9 exciting rounds and about 75 action-filled minutes, Notre Dame is over. The maitre who has made the most of his cards and has garnered the most prestige points is the winner.
Description from Alea.
This game is #11 in the Alea big box series.
Expanded by:
6-/7-player expansion (unofficial)
Treasure Chest
Reimplemented by:
Notre Dame Express (unofficial)
Year Published
2007
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 4
This page: 4
Sentiment:
pos 4 ·
mix 0 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–4 of 4
Video 53v1aAc7pps
Peaky Boardgamer rules teach at 0:24 sentiment: positive
video_pk 13554 · mention_pk 39616
Click to watch at 0:24
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- described as a classic, easy to learn and easy to play family euro
- engages with a rich drafting and action-selection loop
- the plague track and church/Notre Dame scoring add thematic tension and strategic depth
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- political influence, city management, religious institution dynamics
- Medieval Paris/Notre Dame era, city-building and influence within a religious-institutional setting
- historical management euro with drafting and area control
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- area control and scoring via tiles — the Notre Dame tile provides victory points proportional to its current influence on the tile
- card drafting — players draft action cards by selecting one from a trio and passing the remaining cards to neighbors, ensuring a mix of colors each round
- carriage / market movement — carriage tokens move along market spaces to collect messages and bonuses; movement restrictions apply
- hire powers / engine building — at round ends, players may hire a person card to gain a special ability and further their engine
- influence markers / worker placement — placing influence cubes to activate actions; more cubes in an area amplify the action's power
- message tokens / market bonuses — messages provide points and bonuses; collecting sets yields additional benefits
- plague track management — advancing or regressing plague markers affects scoring and resource availability; excessive plague incurs penalties
- two-action rounds — each round consists of two actions taken in sequence per player, chosen from available cards
- two-player variant with neutral boards — a variant using neutral decks to allow two players to experience the system with different drafting dynamics
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- one of the most classic , easy to learn and easy to play family euro games out there
- a game that will always have its place on my shelf, and on my table of course
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video kDRq1MGNwYY
JohnGetsGames general_discussion at 24:39 sentiment: positive
video_pk 11290 · mention_pk 33191
Click to watch at 24:39
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- classic design with depth
- replayability
Cons
none
Thematic elements
- medieval/renaissance-era strategy
- historic city-building with drafting
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- drafting — choose cards to perform actions and score
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- If this was just a job if i was just doing this for money well first of all the channel would be a lot different
- it's been a real problem you know i mentioned that these playing with friends videos have been taking a lot longer to make
- these update vlogs are about me being transparent about stuff
- two cameras that work
- i'm tinkering around hitting a bunch of things with a hammer to see if things get better
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video UIU74i2IfK4
Adam's Board Game Wales general_discussion at 1:46 sentiment: positive
video_pk 10636 · mention_pk 31336
Click to watch at 1:46
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- Enjoyed owning it
Cons
- Traded away and regrets it
Thematic elements
- Medieval city management
- Medieval Paris
- Thematic
Comparison games
none
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- Card Play
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- It wasn't just the hundred sort of best designed games this was the hundred games that I feel that I'm particularly sort of connected to
- The games that have a place in my heart really games that I've got a lot of nostalgia for
- It felt a bit like doing a roll and write game but without all of the sort of convenience
- I wish I still had castles of burgundy and notre dame
- The main thing that got in the way for me was all the iconography
- I do use board games as an escape from screens and technology
- I really like the production of cockroach poker
- I found it was a game where I could see the ending coming and then someone would just go and there we go we've got another 20 minutes now
- It feels like something other than a board game
- The decisions you make in the game are very very slight
- Right up my alley
- I do really like push your luck
- That's my favorite game
- Abyss is my second favorite game
- I love pekka pig
- I just think it's ugly
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video 9LPSlgBtxvw
Board Games Hitting My Table general_discussion at 14:15 sentiment: positive
video_pk 4956 · mention_pk 14755
Click to watch at 14:15
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- ambitious engine-building with tight resource management
- highly regarded designer with strong pedigree
Cons
- some players may find it heavy or dense for two players
- complex scoring may require a longer teaching time
Thematic elements
- engine-building and token-driven action selection
- Notre Dame cathedral management with rat-threat mitigation
- tight euro with dramatic tension
Comparison games
- Earth
- Get on Board
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- action/draft engine-building — draft actions and build engine to gain access to places and resources
- cathedral/rat threat dynamics — advance cathedral and defend against rat threats via strategic moves
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- this little Tableau building game is where you're building up this little engine of money creating cards as well as Point creating cards
- it is aged very well
- a gimmicky Style game that feels so distinct
- the top row is worth negative points everything after it is worth positive
- fascinating I think it is a wonderful deduction game
- spiritual successor to photosynthesis
- this Japanese game where you are trying to create these routes connect these passengers
- Notre Dame cathedral in the center of the board
- notredam cathedral and the rat threats
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–4 of 4