The Red Cathedral

2020 · Economic

The Red Cathedral

Players take the roles of competing construction teams tasked with erecting a grand cathedral for the Tsar. Each turn a player chooses one of three actions: claim a section of the building, send resources to advance construction on claimed sections (and add decorative elements), or visit the central rondel market to gather resources and hire guild favors. Claiming a section gives control of column spaces and sets up future scoring; sending resources completes columns, yields money and prestige, and can trigger the endgame when a sixth section is finished. The rondel action uses dice selection and movement to access different resources and services. The game emphasizes resource management, timing, and tactical interaction as players optimize their building and scoring paths.

Players
1–4 best 3
Playing time
80 min
Age
10+
Complexity
2.8 / 5
7.8 on Ludoyafrom $27.99DiceSolo / Solitaire GameEnd Game BonusesDice Rolling

On Ludoya's tables

Full stats in Ludoya
1,393
Plays logged
1,172
Players
1h 10m
Average play
476
In collections
23
On wishlists

7.8/10

from 204 Ludoya reviews

  • Fun8.0
  • Interaction7.3
  • Replayability7.3
  • Uniqueness8.7
  • Looks8.7
  • Accessibility7.3
  • Garfield8.0

    #51 Gathering ressources to gain VPs and area majority in one game with nice mechanism. [c] Theme: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Building a cathedral --> Gameplay: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Good amount of decisisons --> Interaction: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Who builds where --> Artwork: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Ok, nothing special --> Luck: :star::star::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Dice rolling --> Strategy: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Obvious ones, not many possibilities? --> Components: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Ok, nothing special --> Play duration: :star::star::star::star::star: <!-- size 7]Perfect --> Easy to teach: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Ok --> Rules quality: <!-- size 7]Not read --> Setup time: :star::star::star::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Not much to setup --> No downtime: :star::star::star::star::nostar: <!-- size 7]Plays quite fast --> Replay value: :star::star::nostar::nostar::nostar: <!-- size 7]Only the random card setup --> [/c]

  • Daniel García Cruz7.0

    Buen juego calidad, precio...son de estos juegos que sacas con mucha emoción y luego no quieres jugarlo hasta el año siguiente.

  • Vardak8.4

    Red Cathedral is on my TOP of eurogames. It's a challengy and easy to learn game with a variable and quick set up. Amazing game!

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Rules questions

Answered from the rulebook by Ludoya's rules assistant.

Can I spend Prestige to get Rubles or reroll the dice at any time, even mid-action?

Yes — at any moment during your turn you may spend 1 Prestige to reroll all dice on any one space (once per turn) or spend 1 Prestige to move back one Prestige space and take 2 Rubles (move marker to the previous Prestige Point space). (page 3)

Can I pay Rubles to increase the movement of any die I choose?

No — you may only spend Rubles to increase the movement of the white die or the die that is your color; you cannot pay to extend another player's colored die. Also, a die cannot end its movement on a space that already has three dice. (page 7)

If my Inventory is full and I take resources from the Market, can I discard items to make room or choose which new resources I keep?

No — when you obtain Materials you must place them into your Inventory and you cannot discard existing items to make space; you only keep as many obtained Materials as you have open Inventory spaces. (page 8)

When I claim a Cathedral card, do I have to pay to place its Workshop tile face-up, and what if I place it face-down?

You may take the Workshop tile and either place it face-down (it cannot be activated later) or pay the cost shown to place it face-up and immediately gain its benefit; face-up tiles can be activated later when the matching die is moved. (page 4)

If a section above my unfinished claimed sections is completed, how are Recognition penalties applied to my unfinished sections?

Whenever a section is completed with unfinished claimed cards below it in the same tower, each player who has claimed those unfinished cards loses Recognition equal to the number of finished sections above their cards, without counting any of their own completed sections. (page 5)

Can I place an Ornamentation on a section another player completed, and do jewels give immediate Prestige?

Yes — any player may install an Ornamentation on any completed section; jewels set into the Ornamentation award 1 Prestige per jewel immediately, or a total of 3 Prestige if two jewels of different colors, and Ornamentations also score additional Prestige at final scoring. (page 6)

Opens Ludoya's rules assistant, which reads this game's rulebook.

Score sheets and play helpers

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Game facts (players, playing time, age, credits) from BoardGameGeek.