# Ora et Labora

Ora et Labora is a board game for 1–4 players. It plays in 60–180 minutes and is meant for ages 13 and up. Ludoya players call it best with 3. It is rated 6.3 out of 10 by 32 Ludoya reviewers. The cheapest copy in stock is $68.93 (United States).

- **Players:** 1–4 (best with 3)
- **Playing time:** 60–180 minutes
- **Minimum age:** 13+
- **Complexity:** 3.9 out of 5
- **Year published:** 2011
- **Categories:** City Building, Medieval, Territory Building, Religious, Economic, Industry / Manufacturing
- **Mechanics:** Network and Route Building, Worker Placement, Worker Placement, Different Worker Types, Increase Value of Unchosen Resources, Modular Board
- **Ludoya rating:** 6.3 out of 10, from 32 reviews
- **Owned by:** 113 Ludoya players
- **Plays logged on Ludoya:** 144
- **Unique players:** 146

**Designers:** Uwe Rosenberg

**Artists:** Klemens Franz

**Publishers:** Lookout Games

## Where to buy in United States

| Shop | Price | Link |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Goblin Trader Barcelona | 19.95 € | https://www.goblintrader.es/es/inicio/45371-ora-et-labora-8435407640559.html |
| FD Games | 36.35 € | https://fdgames.eu/index.php?id_product=1163&rewrite=ora-et-labora&controller=product&id_lang=2 |
| Zatu Games | 43.09 £ | https://zatu.com/products/ora-et-labora-2 |
| Spelexperten | 575 kr | https://www.spelexperten.com/sallskapsspel/strategispel/ora-et-labora.html |
| Alphaspel | 599 kr | https://alphaspel.se/491-bradspel/15862-ora-labora |
| El Nucli | 55 € | https://www.elnucli.es/products/ora-et-lavora |
| Pelipeikko | 55.95 € | https://pelipeikko.fi/fi/lautapelit/903-ora-et-labora |
| Spielezar | 72.9 Fr. | https://www.spielezar.ch/brettspiele/ora-et-labora |

## Expansions

- [Ora et Labora: Loamy Landscape](https://www.ludoya.com/games/ora-et-labora-loamy-landscape)
- [Ora et Labora: Die kleinen Wunder der Abtei Liesborn](https://www.ludoya.com/games/ora-et-labora-die-kleinen-wunder-der-abtei-liesborn)

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## Rules questions

### How does the production wheel work when goods are produced, and how do I use the joker?

At the start of each round the production wheel is rotated which changes how many of each good are produced; when a good is produced its goods indicator is moved back to the 0 space (page 2). You may choose to use the joker indicator instead of a regular goods indicator when using a building that references the wheel; the joker is moved to 0 and may even be used for goods whose normal indicator isn’t yet in the game (e.g. stone or grapes) (page 3).

### When do my clergymen return — do I get them back if I only used one or two?

At the start of each round only players who have all three of their clergymen on buildings get them back; if you used only one or two you do not retrieve them (page 2).

### What happens when I pay to use an opponent’s building (work contract)?

Paying a work contract obliges the opponent to choose and place one of their available clergymen on the building, you must pay immediately and the contract cannot be refused or issued to a player who has already placed all clergymen (page 3). The work-contract price increases from 1 to 2 coins once someone builds the Winery or Whiskey Distillery, and you may instead return 1 wine or 1 whiskey as a ‘present’ in place of coins (page 3).

### Are there special placement rules when building cloisters or other buildings?

Cloister buildings must always be placed adjacent (horizontally or vertically) to other cloister buildings, and each building card shows which landscape types it may be built on (e.g., only Quarries or the Castle on mountain spaces; only the Houseboat on water) (page 4). After building you may use your prior to immediately activate that building by placing the prior on it, if your prior is available (page 4).

### When and where can I buy and place landscape tiles (districts and plots)?

You may buy a landscape once per turn and once per settlement phase and must place it immediately; districts must be placed above or below your heartland following its orientation (not offset), while coastal plots attach to the left and mountain plots to the right with at least one matching-space adjacency required (page 5).

### When do settlement phases occur and what are the basic rules for building a settlement?

A settlement phase occurs whenever the production-wheel beam passes the next pile of building/settlement cards (and there is a final settlement phase after the bonus round) (page 5). During a settlement phase each player may build at most one settlement by paying its food and energy costs with goods tiles and placing it on a legal empty landscape space (you may not build on mountain or water spaces and you may buy one landscape immediately before building) (page 6).

## Links

- [This page](https://www.ludoya.com/games/ora-et-labora)
- [Ora et Labora in the Ludoya app](https://app.ludoya.com/g/ora-et-labora)
- [BoardGameGeek entry](https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/70149)

_Data from Ludoya, updated 2026-09-18. Ratings, ownership and play counts are Ludoya's own._