2005 · City Building
Caylus
Players act as master builders in a medieval village developing around a royal construction site. Each turn, players pay to place workers in village buildings to collect resources or money, build or upgrade structures, and contribute to the castle’s construction to earn prestige and royal favors. Buildings provide immediate points and ongoing income when others use them, and newly built structures extend a road away from the castle that may or may not be available each round. Players influence a Provost marker (by payment) to control which buildings are active and affect the Bailiff’s movement, which in turn determines the game’s end. Strategic placement and timing shape available actions for all players.
- Players
- 2–5 best 3
- Playing time
- 60–150 min
- Age
- 12+
- Complexity
- 3.8 / 5
About the game
- Design
- Publisher
Expansions
See them in Ludoya
Photos from Ludoya tables
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Where to buy it
Shop prices and second-hand copies, checked every day.
On Ludoya's tables
Full stats in Ludoya- 618
- Plays logged
- 480
- Players
- 1h 36m
- Average play
- 154
- In collections
- 25
- On wishlists
- 1
- Pre-ordered
7.8/10
from 122 Ludoya reviews
Mestremuten10.0 Rating: 5/5 Production value: 4/4 Is the game in my collection/Love to have?: 1/1
Rules questions
Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.
If a production building is activated by another player, do I also get resources as the owner?
Yes — when a production (stone) building is activated by anyone but its owner, the owner takes one resource cube (chosen among those produced) from the stock; if the owner activates it themself they take only the normal income and no extra cube is taken (page 3).
How does the provost decide which buildings are activated — what if my workers are past the provost?
After players pay to move the provost (Phase 4), buildings are activated in order from the first space after the bridge up to the provost's current space; any workers on buildings beyond the provost are not activated and are returned to their owners without compensation (pages 3 and 5).
If I place a worker on someone else’s building do they get points? What about placing on my own building?
Yes — placing a worker on another player's building immediately gives the building's owner 1 prestige point; placing a worker on one of your own buildings costs 1 denier but does not give any prestige point to anyone (page 3).
I put a worker in the castle — what if I can't or won't supply a batch when it's my turn to build?
If you placed a worker in the castle but cannot or will not provide the required batch (three different cubes, one must be food), you lose 2 prestige points (but not below zero); this penalty does not apply if you can't give a batch because the Towers section has no room left (pages 4–5).
Can I use the 'exclusive use' favor effects even if the corresponding building isn't on the board, and when are higher favor columns available?
Yes — the exclusive-use favor line lets you use construction-building effects even if the building isn't on the board (page 6); columns 3 and 4 of the favor table become available after the Dungeon count, and column 5 becomes available after the Walls count (page 6).
Free, on web, Android and iOS
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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.