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Description
Set in the legendary city of Ragusa (now Dubrovnik), Ragusa charges players with the task of building the city in the 15th century, constructing its great towers, boosting trade with the East, and finding their fortunes.
Players build houses on the spaces between three hexes, gaining access to resources (on rural spaces) and actions (in the city), which means that a house effectively functions as a worker being placed, but triggering three spots at a time. Players use resources gained in the countryside to build buildings, trade, and craft valuable commodities — the value of which varies as ships come and go from the harbor.
In the city, players gain access to actions, with each spot representing the three actions that surround it. This simple worker placement gives way to a deep engine-building mechanism as not only will building around production spaces utilize the houses you've already built in the countryside, but building near other player's houses will re-activate them, giving other players valuable opportunities outside of their turns.
The game ends once players have placed all their houses. The player with the most points from all sources wins.
Year Published
2019
Transcript Analysis
Browse transcript mentions, sentiments, pros/cons, mechanics, topics, quotes, and references.
Total mentions: 2
This page: 2
Sentiment:
pos 1 ·
mix 1 ·
neu 0 ·
neg 0
Showing 1–2 of 2
Video 5QXJnD78iiw
Jonah's Games general_discussion at 29:33 sentiment: positive
video_pk 2604 · mention_pk 7701
Click to watch at 29:33
Overall sentiment (raw)
positive
Pros
- High-tension drafting with meaningful increments for placement
- Tight tempo with four players; more chaotic with five, yet engaging
- Clear and elegant design that rewards planning and positional play
Cons
- Five-player games can feel chaotic and slower
- Some players may hit tempo fatigue if not familiar with the system
Thematic elements
- city-building with strategic placement of houses and resources
- medieval/village expansion with olives, stone, and oil as core resources
- engine/curve-based progression with endgame scoring via walls and towers
Comparison games
- Kali mala
- Pioneer Days
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- resource management and endgame scoring — olive oil, stone, wood and other resources drive actions and endgame bonuses
- tile/die-like activation system — tiles and buildings activate when you place your pieces; the first to a spot often multiplies activations
- tiles, walls, and towers for endgame bonuses — building walls and towers creates endgame scoring opportunities via contiguous structures
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- income is super important this is almost more of an engine building game than it is really a worker placement game
- this is a fully cooperative game and everybody is simultaneously trying to figure out all of their words
- this game hums along at a great pace
- the events being integrated into the overall action row was such a cool idea
- it's a gateway level to have a game like Nations
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Video wn6gLywvFoA
Three Minute Board Games game_review at 0:16 sentiment: mixed
video_pk 1993 · mention_pk 5679
Click to watch at 0:16
Overall sentiment (raw)
mixed
Pros
- Unusual placement and chaining rules create deep tactical decision-making
- High tension and competition for coveted spots on the board heighten player interaction
- The long-wall scoring mechanic adds a fun, tactical sub-game within the main game
- Secret objectives provide a straightforward, additive scoring path
- Market dynamics can swing significantly based on player actions, increasing replayability
- The end-state visuals are striking and very appealing
Cons
- Turn order can create frequent 'whose turn is it?' moments, which can disrupt flow
- Some may feel the aesthetic of the physical game doesn't fully match its in-game grandeur
- Complex chaining rules can be confusing for new players and slow to resolve
Thematic elements
- city-building, trade, and network expansion
- medieval Ragusa (Dubrovnik) city-state with coastal trading, walls, and merchant networks
- procedural resource management and spatial optimization with visible progression via infrastructure
Comparison games
- Concordia
- Castles of Burgundy
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- area control through walls and arches — the Mason and Architect interactions allow walls and arches to affect scoring and visibility of structures
- area/placement limits by hex grouping — you may only place a certain number of houses in each hexagonal grouping, governed by resource matching and region type
- engine building — early and multiple placements in a region amplify advantages later in the round and game
- market-based resource flows — the Market and Wharf mechanics allow selling goods and adjusting prices via tokens and ship tokens
- network building — longer walls and multi-location placement drive scoring through connected structures
- set collection / secret objectives — players pursue objective cards and ship tokens to gain points, providing optional collection goals
- worker placement — each turn a player places a house to gain benefits from the three adjacent regions and activate resources
Video topics + discussion points
No key topics recorded for this video.
Quotes (from this video)
- Ragusa is a different sort of Euro game
- unusual placement and chaining rules
- the best thing about this game is how damn pretty Ragusa looks once the game has ended
- few games have more 'who's turn is it?' moments than Ragusa
- all up a very tactical Euro game for eurogame fans
- Ragusa comes alive when people are intensely competitive over spots on the board
- the market can swing quite a bit through the course of the game based on player actions
References (from this video)
No references stored for this video.
Transcript Navigation
Showing 1–2 of 2