In 1703, Czar Peter the Great founded Saint Petersburg in Russia, which quickly earned the nickname "Paris of the East." The Winter Palace, the Hermitage, the Church of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, and many other buildings still amaze visitors from around the world today. To accomplish this, he needed a new administration and brought the aristocrats under his control. This was also a golden time for the workers as their skills were much needed to reform and build the new Russia.
In Saint Petersburg, players play important roles in building the city of Saint Petersburg. To do this, they will take turns selecting and purchasing cards from the display of available workers, buildings and nobles. Each type of card has an associated phase, and at the end of each phase, players earn rubles and score victory points based on the cards they have collected of that type. When one of the decks runs out, the players play until the end of that round, then the game is over. Additional victory points are awarded at the end of the game depending on the number of unique nobles that each player has, and the player with the most victory points wins the game.
This new edition of Saint Petersburg features an additional optional module, the Market, which adds a new card type, the market cards, and a new Market phase with its own rules for scoring points. These cards bring in new resources and not only allow for new tactical opportunities, as having a majority in provides extra victory points during the market phase scoring, but also allow for a fifth player to join the game. This edition also includes the two expansion modules from the original edition plus four entirely new modules, that can be used on their own or mixed and matched as players like.
- Classic, highly-regarded euro; second edition is a long-desired pickup
- Speaker is learning added rules; not yet played
- Engine tableau; classic euro
- Industrial-era trading/economy
- tableau-building
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- engine tableau — tableau-building with engine rules and market dynamics
Video topics + discussion points
Quotes (from this video)
- "Caesar sees Rome in 20 minutes"
- "this is like the spiritual successor or at least a sister game or a partner game to paulo maurice blitzkrieg"
- "I believe you're investing in these companies these companies can merge with each other so it's just all about making profit"
- "Detective Club and the expansion"
References (from this video)
- engaging tableau-building and engine interaction
- game aged very well and remains a strong centerpiece
- rarity/availability of second edition copies
- potential accessibility due to its height
- tableau-building engine development around money and points
- St. Petersburg, Russia in the 18th–19th century focusing on wealth accumulation through card-driven income and point engines
- abstract economic simulation
- P Blow
- The Lost Code
- Ingenious
- Caper Europe
Mechanics (from transcript analysis)
- card drafting — players draft cards to improve their engine and advance on side tracks
- engine building — players build an engine from money- and point-producing cards to generate income and score points
- engine-building — players build an engine from money- and point-producing cards to generate income and score points
- Track advancement — competition on side tracks to be the highest on each track
- track competition — competition on side tracks to be the highest on each track
Video topics + discussion points
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