2024 · Medieval
Courtisans
Nobles gather at the queen’s banquet while players maneuver influence and sabotage among rival families. Each turn a player plays three cards: one at the Queen’s table to boost or reduce a family’s standing, one into their own domain, and one into an opponent’s domain. Cards score positively or negatively depending on each family’s final status, so placement and timing matter. Players aim to maximize their points by managing family influence and disrupting others through careful card placement and strategic manipulation.
- Players
- 2–5 best 4
- Playing time
- 20–30 min
- Age
- 8+
- Complexity
- 1.3 / 5
About the game
- Publisher
Expansions
See them in Ludoya
Photos from Ludoya tables
All photos in Ludoya
Where to buy it
Shop prices and second-hand copies, checked every day.
On Ludoya's tables
Full stats in Ludoya- 727
- Plays logged
- 859
- Players
- 20m 19s
- Average play
- 136
- In collections
- 23
- On wishlists
7.7/10
from 56 Ludoya reviews
By player count
W3m3n8.3 Diversión 4/5 · Interacción 4/5 · Atractivo 4/5 · Originalidad 4/5 · Rejugabilidad 5/5 · Accesibilidad 5/5
No plays logged
Rules questions
Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.
Do I have to play all three cards on my turn, and can I choose the order?
Yes — you must play all 3 cards each turn, placing one card in each area (Queen's table, your domain, an opponent's domain), and you may play them in any order (page 1).
How do I tell which families are 'esteemed' or 'fallen' from the Queen's table?
At the end of the game, any family with more cards placed above the mat than below is esteemed; any family with more cards below than above is fallen (page 1).
How do cards in domains score points?
At game end each card in an esteemed family is worth +1 point and each card in a fallen family is worth −1 point, and cards placed in an opponent's domain affect that opponent's score the same way (page 1).
What does a Noble do?
Each Noble counts as two cards at the end of the game wherever it is placed (in a domain or around the Queen's table), so it doubles its effect on esteem and scoring (page 2).
How do Spies work—are they face up or face down, and can anyone look at them?
Spies are always played face down and no one may look at a played spy (not even the player who played it); when played around the Queen's table they are placed in the Queen's column to hide their family (page 2).
Can an Assassin remove any card, and are Guards immune to that?
When played an Assassin may eliminate one other Courtier in that area (it may remove a spy without looking at it), but Guards cannot be eliminated by assassins and are permanently immune once played (page 2).
Official score sheet
Courtisans score sheet
Every scoring category, from the Ludoya kit. On your phone the totals add up by themselves.
Free, on web, Android and iOS
Play Courtisans with Ludoya
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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.