Bruges Rulebook

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

• Components
• Object of the Game
• Setup
• Gameplay
  • Phase 1: Draw cards
  • Phase 2: Roll the dice
  • Phase 3: Play cards and perform actions
  • Person cards
  • Phase 4: Verify the 3 majorities and change the start player
• Threat Events
• Game End and Final Scoring

Components

• 1 game board – Shows the scoring track, the reputation track (starting at the town hall), the dice spaces, the statue stack, and each player's two canal sections around their guard houses.
• 4 50/100 points tokens – Placed near the end of the scoring track; used when a player passes 50 or 100 points.
• 6 Statue tokens – Octagonal tokens valued 2 through 7.
• 165 cards – In 5 colors (blue, brown, red, purple, yellow); each card shows a person and the five basic actions.
• 50 workers – In 5 colors, forming a common supply.
• 20 1-guilder pieces and 24 3-guilder pieces – The money supply (guilders).
• 45 Threat markers – In 5 colors.
• 40 Canal tokens.
• 4 large Player emblems (seals) and 4 small Player emblems.
• 8 player pawns – Two per player (one for the scoring track, one for the reputation track).
• 12 Majority markers – Three per player (Reputation, People, Canal).
• 9 Overview cards.
• 1 Start player banner.
• 5 dice – One in each card color.

Object of the Game

Players collect points throughout the game and in a final scoring for the people they recruit, the houses and canals they build, the majorities they claim, and the reputation they earn. The player with the most points at the end wins.

Setup

• Place the game board in the middle of the table. Put the 50/100 points tokens near the end of the scoring track.
• Stack the Statue tokens in ascending order so the value 2 is at the bottom and the value 7 is on top.
• Cards: Shuffle all 165 cards together (ignoring their backs) and divide them into 5 stacks as equal as possible. Take one stack per player and shuffle those together, then divide the result into 2 roughly equal draw piles placed next to the board. Pile the remaining stacks together to form the extra draw pile, set aside; it is only needed near the end of the game. (Example: with 3 players, shuffle 3 of the 5 stacks into the two draw piles, and the other 2 stacks become the extra pile.)
• Place the 50 workers in a general supply. (Worker colors are unrelated to player colors.)
• Place the guilders in a reserve. Players may make change at any time (a 3-guilder piece equals three 1-guilder pieces).
• Place the 40 Canal tokens and the 45 Threat markers in supplies accessible to all.
• Each player chooses a color and takes: the large seal (placed in front of them), the small seal (placed in the round space above the guard house nearest their seat), 2 pawns (one on space 5 of the scoring track, one on the town hall of the reputation track), and 3 Majority markers (laid gray side up). Each player also takes 1 worker of each of the 5 colors, 5 guilders, and 2 Overview cards.
• Players start with no cards in hand; they draw their first cards during the first round.
• The start player takes the Start player banner and the 5 dice.

Gameplay

The game is played over several rounds. Each round has 4 phases, performed in order:

1. Draw cards (these cards are used during Phase 3).
2. Roll the dice – distribute Threat markers and advance 1 reputation step.
3. Play cards and perform actions – the main part of the round.
4. Verify the 3 majorities and change the start player.

Phase 1: Draw cards

Players refill their hands at the start of each round. The start player begins and may draw from either of the two draw piles, taking each card into hand without looking at it. Before each draw, she decides which pile to draw from (only the card backs are visible). She keeps drawing until she holds 5 cards, and may look at them only once her hand is complete. In clockwise order, the other players do the same.

When a draw pile runs out: immediately replace the empty pile with the extra draw pile and continue refilling. The round in which the extra draw pile enters play is the final round – after completing it, the game ends and final scoring follows. If a pile then runs out again, split the remaining pile into 2 roughly equal piles so players always have two piles to draw from.

Exception: A pile usually empties during Phase 1, but some cards let players draw during Phase 3. If that empties a pile, the extra draw pile enters play immediately and the following round becomes the final round.

Phase 2: Roll the dice

The start player rolls all 5 dice and places them on the board's dice spaces (ideally in ascending order). Then perform the following two steps in order.

1. Distribute Threat markers. For each die showing a 5 or 6, every player (including the start player, without exception) receives 1 Threat marker of that die's color. Players keep their Threat markers face up and visible. Whenever a player receives the third Threat marker of a single color, that player immediately suffers the matching penalty (see Threat Events below).

2. Advance 1 reputation step. Each player may advance their pawn 1 step on the reputation track. The cost, in guilders, equals the total sum of every die showing a 1 or a 2. Starting with the start player and going clockwise, each player who wishes to advance pays this cost to the bank and moves 1 step; a player may not advance without paying. The first advance moves a pawn from the town hall onto step 1. A player who lacks the guilders, or who chooses not to pay, does not move. A player may advance at most 1 step per round. If no die shows a 1 or 2, no one may advance. Dice showing 3 or 4 have no effect in this phase.

Phase 3: Play cards and perform actions

Each player starts this phase with 5 cards. On their turn, players (starting with the start player, clockwise) play exactly 1 card from hand to perform 1 of the 6 actions below. This continues until every player has played 4 cards and performed 4 actions, then the phase ends – players usually have 1 card left in hand. Any action may be chosen with any card (there are no cards tied to a specific action), and the same action may be chosen multiple times.

Anatomy of a card. Each card has a color (shown front and back). The banner on the right shows the five basic actions (always the same except for color). The person section shows a unique character with a price, a benefit, an activation icon, and a group.

The six actions:

• I. Take 2 workers. Discard the card and take 2 workers of the card's color into your play area. (Workers are unlimited; use substitutes if a color runs out.)
• II. Take 1-6 guilders. Discard the card and take guilders from the bank equal to the value currently shown on the die matching the card's color.
• III. Discard 1 Threat marker (and get 1 point). Discard the card and return 1 Threat marker of the card's color to the supply, scoring 1 point (advance your scoring pawn). You score 1 point every time you discard a Threat marker, including via a person's effect.
• IV. Build 1 Canal token. See below.
• V. Build 1 house. Play the card face-down in front of you and pay 1 worker matching the card's color (returned to the supply). Each house scores 1 point at game end and can hold one person.
• VI. Recruit 1 person. See below.

Building canals. Each player's guard house bears their small seal, with a canal section extending left and another right, each divided into 5 spaces (10 canal spaces total, buildable only by that player). Your first canal must be one of the 2 spaces next to your seal; afterwards you may continue in either open direction, so you usually have 2 choices unless a section is finished. To build, play 1 card matching the color of the target canal space and pay the guilder cost printed on that space, then place a Canal token there. Reaching space 3 of a section scores 3 points at game end. Completing a full section lets you take the topmost Statue token (worth its printed value at game end); a player may earn at most 2 statues.

Recruiting people. Play the card onto one of your empty houses so the house color stays visible, and pay the person's price (top-left corner) to the bank. Each house holds exactly 1 person, who may be a different color than the house.

Person cards

• Price: top-left, the guilders needed to recruit the person.
• Points: the small number below the price is the points the person is worth at game end if still in your play area (always one third of the price).
• Activation icon: shows when/how the person is activated.
• Name and benefit: the person's name and the effect gained on activation.
• Group: one of 11 groups – Noble, Entertainer, Craftsman, Church, Protector, Scholar, Bureaucrat, Merchant, Castle, Artist, Underworld. Some cards refer to a group, counting only people of that group.

Activating people. On your turn you may activate one or more of your people (before, after, or in place of playing a card – even a person just recruited). The activation icon determines the timing:

• Arrow: a one-use effect resolved immediately when the person is played; it cannot be used again unless the card returns to hand and is replayed.
• Worker: activate once per round (once per Phase 3) by paying a worker of the depicted color (not necessarily the person's color); the worker returns to the supply. Rotate the card 90° to show it was used this round.
• Infinity loop: three kinds. (1) Once-per-round effects that cost nothing and are rotated 90° when used. (2) Effects that automatically improve an action every time you take it (no cost, no rotation). (3) Effects that trigger automatically whenever a certain situation occurs, such as drawing cards or advancing (no cost, no rotation; they may trigger several times per round).
• Laurel: activated only during final scoring, granting the points indicated.

Activating a person can override the normal rules. Rotated cards are straightened at the end of the round so they may be used again next round.

Phase 4: Verify the 3 majorities and change the start player

Check the three majorities in order. A player who holds a clear, sole majority in an area flips the matching Majority marker to its colored side:

• Reputation: the single player farthest along the reputation track.
• People: a player with more people in their play area than each other player individually (not more than all combined).
• Canal: a player who has built more Canal tokens (both sections combined) than each other player.

Once flipped, a marker stays colored for the rest of the game, marking that the player held that majority at some point. If another player later surpasses the current holder, that player may also flip their marker – so several players can end up scoring the same majority.

Change start player. Straighten any rotated cards, pass the Start player banner clockwise, and begin a new round.

Threat Events

When a player receives a 3rd Threat marker of a single color, that color's circle is complete and the player immediately suffers its penalty:

Color	Threat	Penalty
Blue	Flood	Return all of your workers to the supply.
Brown	Plague	Discard one person of your choice from your play area (not your hand).
Yellow	Raid	Return all of your guilders to the bank.
Red	Fire	Discard one of your built houses or one of your built Canal tokens. If you have neither, you lose nothing.
Purple	Intrigue	Lose 3 points (a score cannot go below 0).

After resolving the damage, return all 3 Threat markers of that color to the supply (the next marker of that color will again be your "first"). No points are scored for returning markers this way.

Notes:

• If you discard a house that holds a person, take that person back into your hand.
• If you return the last Canal token of a completed section, you do not return the statue; but you will not earn another statue by completing that section again. There can be no gaps in a canal section.
• A player may suffer multiple penalties in one turn and chooses the order in which to apply them.
• If the supply runs short of Threat markers, distribute markers in player order and resolve triggered penalties immediately, which refreshes the supply so every player gets a marker.

Game End and Final Scoring

The game ends after the round in which a draw pile ran out (see the exception in Phase 1). Each player scores:

• People: the points value (top-left) of every person in their play area.
• Houses: 1 point per built house, occupied or not.
• Benefits (laurel people): the points indicated on each "laurel" person.
• Majority markers: 4 points for each Majority marker flipped to its colored side.
• Canal: 3 points for each Canal token built on the 3rd space of a section, plus the printed value of each collected Statue.
• Reputation: the points shown on the step the pawn has reached on the reputation track.

Move pawns around the scoring track to record points; a player passing 50 takes a 50/100 token, and flips it if they pass 100. The player with the most points wins. Ties are broken in favor of the most guilders; if still tied, the tied players share the victory.