- BGG rank
- BGG #71
- BGG rating
- 8.2
Lisboa
- 1–4 players
- 60–120 min
- Complexity 4.6/5
- 2017
- BGG rank
- BGG #5,025
- BGG rating
- 6.6
Gonzaga
2009
Rules assistance for Gonzaga
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–4 players
- 30–60 min
- 8+
- Complexity 2.5/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for Gonzaga
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Gonzaga is a board game released in 2009 for 2–4 players, 30–60 minutes per game, and ages 8 and up. It was designed by Guglielmo Duccoli and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Area Majority / Influence, and Tile Placement.
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About the game
Description from BoardgameNews.com: The Gonzaga family ruled part of northern Italy for nearly five hundred years, losing control to the Hapsburgs from Austria in 1708. During their reign, two daughters of the House of Gonzaga married Holy Roman Emperors. In Gonzaga, players must get into the expansionist spirit of the times and build fiefdoms across Europe to stake a claim on harbors and cities, while also trying to complete secret missions. The game lasts 7-12 rounds, and players are competing in some of six regions in Europe. (The number of regions and the specific regions vary based on the number of players and the scenario tile drawn at the start of the game.) A round starts with each player drawing a fief card from their individual deck; each fief card depicts one of twelve fiefs: plastic components comprising multiple hexagonal loops with castles on some of these loops. Each player then secretly chooses both a region card and an action card, then reveals them simultaneously. Part of the fief (but not all of it) must lie in the chosen region, and the action card determines whether a player must play the fief on one or more harbors, on one or more cities, on open land, or on both harbors and cities. With this last action – the alliance card – a player can alternatively place one or two of six individual rings on the board, even on spaces that another player has already claimed with a fief. You score points for covering cities and harbors, for connecting at least three harbors in a sea, and for setting aside your fief as a donation to the church. The cards you play are set aside for the next turn, thereby forcing you to switch regions and actions as you place fiefs. The game ends either after twelve rounds or after a trigger point based on the cities and harbors not covered. The player with the most connected fiefs, including the individual rings, scores a bonus, then players reveal their hidden objectives and score based on the number of target cities they covered.
Categories
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- DV Games
- ABACUSSPIELE
Questions and answers
Gonzaga supports 2–4 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Gonzaga is 30–60 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Gonzaga for ages 8 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Gonzaga has a complexity rating of 2.5 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Gonzaga belongs to these categories: City Building, Age of Reason, and Renaissance. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Area Majority / Influence, and Tile Placement. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Gonzaga are: Guglielmo Duccoli. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Gonzaga as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.