How to Play

Caylus

2-5 players 60-150 min 7.7 Board Game Geek Rating

In medieval France, players are master builders constructing King Philip's castle and developing the surrounding village of Caylus. Each turn, workers are placed in buildings to gather resources, construct new structures, or contribute to the castle itself. Building generates immediate points and ongoing income when others use your structures. The Provost marker controls which buildings remain active each round, while progress toward completing the royal castle determines game length. Victory goes to whoever accumulates the most prestige points.

Published 2005

Caylus

Get Ready

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

1
Sort building tiles
Organize Wood, Stone, Prestige and Residential tiles by color, stack and place face-up by the board
2
Place neutral tiles
Randomly place 6 pink tiles face-up on the first 6 spaces of the road
3
Organize coins
Sort coins into small ($1 denier) and large ($5 deniers)
4
Position Bailiff and Provost
Place both markers on the last neutral (pink) tile on the road
5
Distribute player pieces
Each player takes wooden pieces in their chosen color
6
Place player markers
Put 1 marker by the turn order scale, 1 on the bridge, 1 on each fleur-de-lise, and 1 on the 0 space of the score track
7
Determine turn order
Mix and randomly place player markers on the turn order scale
8
Distribute starting money
Players 1/2/3/4/5 receive $5/$6/$6/$7/$7 respectively
9
Collect starting resources
Each player takes 1 wood cube and 2 food cubes from the supply

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

1
Receive base income
Each player gets $2
2
Add building bonuses
Gain +$1 per Residential building owned, +$1 for owning the Library, +$2 for owning the Hotel
3
Choose to pass or place
Either pass or place a worker (not on blue or green buildings)
4
Occupy empty spaces
Workers must go on empty spaces (except Stable, Inn, and Castle)
5
Pass and collect bonus
To pass, put marker from bridge on smallest number of passing scale; first player to pass gets $1
6
Pay for neutral buildings
Pay the smallest number shown on the passing scale (starting at $1)
7
Use the Stable
Place on the smallest number available; each player may place only 1 worker there
8
Use the Inn
Place on the left circle first; one player can take both spots
9
Use another player's building
Pay the smallest number on passing scale; owner immediately gets 1 VP
10
Use your own building
Pay $1 (no VP given)
11
Place at Castle
Pay smallest number on passing scale, place worker on smallest number; each player can only place 1
12
The Gate
Place worker on any unoccupied space at 0 cost; if not moved, worker returns to player
13
The Trading Post
Take $3 and get worker back
14
The Merchant's Guild
Move Provost 1-3 spaces forward or back for free, then get worker back
15
The Joust Field
Pay $1 and 1 cloth cube to gain 1 royal favor (once only)
16
The Stables
Adjust turn order based on worker placement spots, then get workers back
17
The Inn
Worker on left slides right; worker on right returns to player; having a worker on the right spot allows placing workers for only $1 regardless of number passed
18
Bid to move Provost
In order of Phase 2 passing, players may move Provost 1-3 spaces forward or back
19
Pay for movement
Cost is $1 per space moved
20
Observe boundaries
Provost cannot go before the bridge nor beyond the last space
21
Activate in order
Process buildings from first space after bridge to Provost's space
22
Return blocked workers
Workers on buildings after the Provost are returned without activation
23
Production Buildings
Take cubes from stock; if another player activates your stone production building, you also take 1 cube of choice
24
Construction Buildings
Build the appropriate type (carpenter→brown, mason→gray, architect→blue); pay cubes shown, place on first unbuilt space, add house, score VP on tile
25
Prestige buildings
Replace Residential buildings you already own; gain royal favors granted
26
The Lawyer
Change pink or owned craft building to green; pay 1 cloth and $1, get +2 VP
27
Marketplace
Sell 1 cube back to supply for market price shown
28
Pedlars
Buy 1 or more cubes (not gold) from supply as allowed
29
Church
Pay $2 for 3 VP or $4 for 5 VP
30
Taylor
Pay 1 cube for 2 VP or 3 cubes for 6 VP
31
Bank
Pay $2 for 1 gold cube or $5 for 2 gold cubes
32
Alchemist
Pay 2 cubes for 1 gold or 4 cubes for 2 gold
33
Decide contributions
Players on Castle spaces choose how many batches to pay (batch = 3 cubes, 1 must be food)
34
Score for batches
Dungeon gives +5 VP, Walls give +4 VP, Towers give +3 VP per batch
35
Place houses
Put a house on the section under construction for each batch paid
36
Penalty for not building
If player can't give a batch and there is space to build, lose 2 VP (except if Tower section is full)
37
Earn royal favor
Player who paid the most batches gets 1 Royal Favor (ties go to first arrival)
38
Move Bailiff forward
If Provost is farther down the road, Bailiff moves 2 spaces; otherwise advances 1 space
39
Reset Provost
Place Provost on the same space as the Bailiff
40
Trigger count phase
If Bailiff reaches a count space or a castle section was completed, proceed to count phase
41
Count houses
In player order, count number of houses in the section being counted
42
Dungeon scoring
No house = -2 VP; 2+ houses = 1 royal favor
43
Walls scoring
No house = -3 VP; 2 houses = 1 royal favor; 3-4 = 2 royal favors; 5+ = 3 royal favors
44
Towers scoring
No house = -4 VP; 2-3 houses = 1 royal favor; 4-5 = 2 royal favors; 6+ = 3 royal favors
45
Advance construction
After count, players can only build in the next castle section
46
Choose a benefit line
When receiving a favor, choose a line on the King's favor table and move right if possible
47
Use multiple favors
If earning multiple favors in the same phase, must move on different lines (4 max favors)
48
Gain VP
Increase VP by the amount shown
49
Gain money
Receive deniers shown
50
Gain resources
Take resource cubes shown (column 4: pay 1 cube for 2 cubes of choice, not gold)
51
Use building power
Use a building directly, even if not on the board; provides cube discount when building

Winning

How to claim victory.

1
Trigger game end
The game ends after the count of the Towers section (triggered by Bailiff reaching it or all spaces being filled)
2
Score gold cubes
Gain +3 VP per gold cube
3
Score other resources
Gain +1 VP per 3 cubes (not gold)
4
Score remaining money
Gain +1 VP per $4 deniers remaining
5
Determine winner
The player with the most VP (Prestige Points) wins
6
Resolve ties
There is no tiebreaker; tied players share victory

watch & Learn

Let the pros teach you with these top videos.

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FULL rules

Looking for the full details? Grab the complete rulebook as a downloadable PDF.

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