How to Play

Bruges

2-4 players 60-60 min 7.4 Board Game Geek Rating

Players are merchants in medieval Bruges competing for influence while managing relationships and threats. Each turn, choose from 165 colored character cards to perform six possible actions: gather workers, earn money, counter threats, construct canals/houses, or hire characters. Card colors determine action effectiveness and available areas. Victory goes to the most prestigious merchant.

Published 2013

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Gather Automa components

The Automa needs an additional d6 (the Automa die), the scenario sheet, and a spare worker to track progress through scenarios

Understand color matching

The Automa never needs to match worker or card color with actions, except when taking guilders

Learn the icon value scale

Icons are ranked from highest to lowest: Laurel (game-end bonuses), Infinity loop (continuous), Worker (activated through worker), Arrow (one-use effects)

Determine card values

A card's pip value equals the number of pips on the die matching that card's color

Identify least valuable cards

Use this priority: lowest pip value, then lowest point value, then least valuable icon

Identify most valuable cards

Use this priority: highest pip value, then highest point value, then most valuable icon

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Skip Phase 1 for Automa

Human players refill hands in Phase 1, but the Automa does not draw cards yet

Roll dice and fill Automa hand in Phase 2

After distributing threat markers, the Automa advances on reputation track if it costs 4 guilders or less, then refills to five cards by drawing one at a time, preferring highest pip value cards

Choose between equal pip values

If both visible cards have the same pip value, the Automa draws from the leftmost deck

Roll the Automa die on first turn

This determines which scenario (1-6) the Automa follows this round; place the spare worker on the matching scenario

Activate Automa's people first

Starting with earliest-recruited person, activate any "once per round" or "discard a worker" powers, placing used workers on the activated cards

Follow the scenario tree

Move the marker through the decision tree until completing one action, evaluating branching decisions and skipping actions that cannot be performed

Build a house

Discard a worker to general supply, place least valuable card face down; skip if house already unoccupied or no spare workers

Recruit a person

Choose highest point value affordable, then most valuable icon, then least valuable card; activate one-use bonuses immediately

Build canal token

Prefer the canal with most tokens; discard least valuable card and pay the cost

Discard threat markers

Discard least valuable card and remove all markers of one color (gaining 1 point each); prioritize blue, yellow, red, brown, purple (red drops to last after completing a canal)

Take workers

Discard least valuable card and take two workers of arbitrary color; skip if Automa has more than two workers

Take guilders

Discard most valuable card and take guilders equal to that card's pip value; skip if Automa has 7 or more guilders

Return workers in Phase 4

Workers on activated cards return to Automa's personal supply at round end