1303. The war against England is over but Guyenne remains theirs. The castle of Caylus, located close to the border, must, therefore, be reinforced and modernized.

As a master builder, you will supply the construction site with materials, food, and the workforce. Construct buildings, recruit powerful characters, and manage as best as you can your workers to become the most prestigious builder of Caylus.


Components

  • 1 Game Board
  • 90 Resources
  • 34 Building tiles:
  • 12 Character tiles
  • 75 Workers
  • 50 Houses
  • 1 Provost
  • 1 Round Marker token
  • 1 First Player tile
  • 120 Prestige Point tokens (PP)
  • Rulebook

Limited Quantities

Players' Houses and Workers are limited in quantity, i.e.:

  • When a player no longer has Houses in their color, they cannot construct anymore;
  • Any taken Worker beyond the 15th is lost.

Resources and Prestige Points are unlimited.


Object of the Game

Over a series of 9 rounds, players will gain Prestige Points by developing the city and assisting in the construction of the Castle of Caylus. The player with the most Prestige Points at the end of the game is declared the winner.


Setup



Place the game board in the center of the table. Shuffle the 9 starting Buildings, then randomly place:

  • 1 Building, Setup side faceup, on the first space of the Construction Site 1;
  • The remaining 8 Buildings, Setup side faceup, on the spaces on the Road 2

Shuffle the 9 Wood Buildings, then randomly place:

  • 1 Building, Setup side faceup, on the second space of the Construction Site 3;
  • 1 Building, Setup side faceup, on the space on the Road4;
  • The remaining 7 Buildings, Construction side faceup, next to the board.

Important: The Stonemason Building can never be placed on the Road at the beginning of the game (should this happen, draw another Building tile).

Shuffle the 9 Stone Buildings, then randomly place:

  • 1 Building, Setup side faceup, on the third space of the Construction Site 5
  • 1 Building, Setup side faceup, on the space on the Road 6;
  • The remaining 7 Buildings, Construction side faceup, next to the board.

Place the 7 Monuments next to the board.

Place the Provost just before the space on the Road 7.

Place the Round Marker token on space 1 8.

Place the Resources and the Prestige Points (faceup) close to the board to form the supply 9.

Each player chooses a color. They take the corresponding Houses and place 1 of them under the Guilds Bridge 10.They also take Workers in their color. The number of Workers is based on the number of players:

  • 10 Workers when 2 or 5 players
  • 6 Workers when 3 or 4 players

The remaining workers are placed on the Camp 11.

Choose a first player at random and give them the First Player tile. Shuffle the Character tiles and draw as many as there are players + 3 (return the remaining Characters to the game box as they will not be used again).

Starting with the last player and continuing counter-clockwise, each player chooses 1 Character tile that they place faceup in front of them. The remaining 3 Characters are placed on the board 12.

And last, each player takes 2 , 1 and 1

Note: During the game, the players' Workers and Resources must be visible to all players. However, keep the Prestige Points you gain facedown.



Game Play

The game is played in 9 rounds. Each round is divided into four Phases:

  1. Planning: Players place their Workers.
  2. Activation: The placed Workers are activated.
  3. Delivery: Players contribute to the construction of the Castle.
  4. Stewardship: Players construct Monuments and gain new Workers.

Phase 1 - Planning

Starting with the first player and going clockwise, each player, on their turn, performs one of the following three actions:

  1. Place 1 Worker on a Building:

    The player places 1 of their Workers on one of the Buildings on the Road (i.e.; the Buildings before the Guilds Bridge, those placed during the setup, and those that are constructed during the game).

    It is prohibited to place a Worker:

    • On a Building that is already occupied by another Worker;
    • On a Monument;
    • On a Residence;
    • On the 3 Buildings placed on the Construction Site during the setup;
    • On a space on the Road where no Building has yet been constructed.

    When a Worker is placed on a Building constructed by another player, the latter immediately gains 1 Prestige Point. A player does not gain Prestige Points when they place a Worker on one of their own Buildings.

  2. Placing 1 Worker on the Construction Site:

    The player places 1 of their Workers on the first available space of the Construction Site, from left to right. The Construction Site can take several Workers, but only 1 per player.



  3. Passing:

    If a player wants to pass (or if they must pass because they have no more Workers to place), they place the House of their color on the first available space of the Guilds Bridge, from left to right.

    When a player passes their turn, the Phase is over for them and they can no longer place Workers.

    The first player to pass their turn takes the First Player tile and places it in front of them (they will be the First Player in the next round).

    For the rest of the round, whenever another player places another Worker, they must return 1 additional Worker to the Camp.

This Phase ends when all the players have passed their turn.



Example: On their turn, Blue chooses to pass their turn. Therefore, they place their House on the first available space of the Guilds Bridge.

As they are the first player to pass, they take the First Player tile. From now on, Black, Green, and Red will have to spend 1 additional Worker for each Worker they place.

Black chooses to pass as well, Green places 1 Worker (then pays the additional cost by returning 1 Worker to the Camp), and Red also passes.

Green is now the only one to play: they place 1 last Worker (and return 1 Worker to the Camp), then choose to pass. The order on the Guilds Bridge is: Blue, Black, Red, and Green.


Phase 2 - Activation

Buildings are activated one after the other, going from the City Gate (on the lower left side corner) and following the Road up to the Provost. A player who has 1 Worker on an activated Building can apply its effect once. Then, they return that Worker to the Camp.

Important: NEVER return a Worker that was placed on the board in front of you.

Effects of The Buildings

  1. Fairground

    The player spends 1 to immediately gain 1 Favor.


  2. Lawyer

    The player spends 1 and places 1 of their Houses above any Building on the Road provided that it has a yellow flag. That Building will be transformed into a Residence during the Stewardship Phase (Phase 4 of the game round).



  3. Carpenter

    The player chooses 1 Wood Building from the supply, spends the Resources depicted on the upper left side, then places this Building (Construction side faceup) on the first empty space on the Road.

    Then, they place 1 of their Houses above that Building to mark ownership and immediately gain the Prestige Points depicted on the upper right side of the tile. Note: It is not allowed to perform this action if there is no available space on the Road.

    When this symbol is depicted in the construction cost, the player can either spend 1 , 1 , 1 or 1



    Example: Red has 1 Worker on the Carpenter and wants to construct a Quarry. They spend 1 and 1 and place the tile on the first empty space on the Road. Then, they place 1 House above it to show the Quarry is theirs and immediately gain 2 Prestige Points.

    Moving the Provost - d) and e)

    The Provost moves along the Road, between Buildings and empty spaces. Each move is 1 step. The Provost is always placed on the Road, never on an empty space or a Building. The Provost cannot move backward beyond the Guilds Bridge.

    If he reaches the end of the Road, he can be moved to the spaces bearing this symbol:

  4. Toll


    The player moves the Provost by 0, 1, or 2 steps either forward or backward.


  5. The Guilds Bridge

    During the activation of the Guilds Bridge, players can move the in# Provost, each on their turn in the order depicted by the Houses «&* on the Guilds Bridge. Each player can move the Provost from 1 to 3 steps, forward or backward, returning 1 Worker to the Camp per step.

    It is allowed, even advised, to discuss and negotiate. As nothing can be swapped, players may proceed as they wish regardless of their discussions or negotiations. However, the decision order remains that of the Houses on the Guilds Bridge.

  6. Starting Buildings



  7. Wood and Stone Buildings

    The effects of these buildings are explained here.

  8. Buildings placed after the Provost

    These Buildings are not activated: Workers that are placed there are returned to the Camp.



    Example: Red takes 1 , Yellow takes 2 . The red and green Workers placed after the Provost cannot activate their Buildings and are returned to the Camp.



Phase 3 - Delivery at the Construction Site

This Phase is only relevant to the players who have placed a Worker on the Construction Site. These players deliver at the Construction Site in the order of placement (from left to right).

On their turn, the player decides of the number of bundles they will deliver. A bundle must be made of 3 different Resources, one of which must be^y. The player gains 5 Prestige Points per bundle delivered at the Construction Site.



Once all players have delivered their bundles, the player who delivered the most bundles during this round immediately gains 1 Favor (see below). In case of a tie, the tied player who first placed their Worker gains the Favor.



Example: Red and Green have each placed 1 Worker on the Construction Site. Red, placed on space 1, delivers a bundle (and gains 5 Prestige Points) while Green delivers 2 bundles (and gains 10 Prestige Points).

In that round, Green is the player to have delivered the most bundles at the Construction Site and gains 1 Favor.

Had Green chosen to deliver 1 bundle (and not 2), it is Red - who first placed themself at the Construction Site - that would have won the Favor.

Favor

When a player gains a Favor, they immediately must:

  • Take a Character from another player; (or)

  • Benefit from the effect of one the 3 Buildings placed on the Construction Site during the setup. Then, if there is at least 1 Character left on the board, they can take one and place it faceup in front of them.

Important:

Rounds 1 through 3: a player can only activate the effect of the first Building. Rounds 4 through 6: a player chooses the effect of the first or second Building. Rounds 7 through 9: a player can make a choice between the 3 Buildings.


Phase 4 - Stewardship

Players perform the following in the indicated order:

  1. Residences: All the starting Buildings (yellow flag) above which there is a House are flipped to their Residence side (green flag).

  2. Monuments: Starting from the Guilds Bridge and proceeding along the Road, each Residence (green flag) may be replaced by a Monument (blue flag).

    The owner of the Residence makes this choice, and if they choose to do so, they must pay the cost of the chosen Monument (depicted on the upper left side of the tile), and then place the tile on top of the Residence.

    They then gain the Prestige Points depicted on the tile. It is possible for a single player to replace more than one of their Residences with a Monument during the same round.

    Note: The player who constructs the Theater immediately gains 1 Favor in addition to the 12 Prestige Points.


  3. Recruitment: Each player takes 3 Workers from the Camp (2 Workers in a 5-player game) +:

    • 1 Worker for each Residence they own;
    • 2 Workers if they constructed the Garden, 1 if they constructed the Granary, 1 if they constructed the Factory.


  4. The Provost is then placed just before the last constructed Building (disregard the Stone Building placed on the Road at the very beginning of the game as long there are empty spaces left in front of it).

    Examples:



    1) At the end of the round, the Provost is placed between the Quarry and the Stonemason.



    2) At the end of the round, the Provost is placed between the Sawmill and the Gold Mine.



    3) At the end of the round, the Provost is placed between the Gold Mine and the Alchemist.

  5. Move the Round Marker token 1 space forward and start a new round.


End of the Game

The game ends at the end of the ninth round. Players reveal their Prestige Points. They add 2 Prestige Points per they still have. The player who has the most Prestige Points wins the game. Tied players share the victory.


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