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- BGG #6,045
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- 6.6
Papillon
- 2–4 players
- 30–45 min
- Complexity 2.1/5
- 2020
- BGG rank
- BGG #13,440
- BGG rating
- 7.3
SiliconVania
2023
Rules assistance for SiliconVania
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–5 players
- 45–90 min
- 14+
- Complexity 2.3/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for SiliconVania
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
SiliconVania is a board game released in 2023 for 2–5 players, 45–90 minutes per game, and ages 14 and up. It was designed by J.B. Howell and its main mechanics are Auction / Bidding and Tile Placement.
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About the game
The Vampire Council is looking to hire a new city planner to turn Transylvania, the most legendary vampire town in the world, into the world's newest tech haven! You and your rivals are competing to land a job that will ask you to create a diverse cityscape for vampire and animal life, provide plenty of blood banks for your citizens, secure contracts, and bring aboard the best specialists in the industry. The race is on to present to the Vampire Council the most organized plans for the city to renovate Transylvania into Siliconvania! In SiliconVania, players bid on building tiles and multi-use specialists that provide either one-time bonuses or end-of-game scoring. Players take the building tiles they win, and place them in their 4x4 city grids, juggling different scoring opportunities, and collecting vampire and pet meeples that are looking for places to live! Each round you: Bid on a pair of building tiles to add to your grid. Be careful as once they're down, they're hard to move. Bid a specialist card for its ability and to get a new specialist card. Cards with stronger bids have weaker abilities, and vice versa. Commit a specialist card for its scoring condition, earning points, but revealing to your opponents which kinds of buildings you really need. The game ends after eight rounds, at which time everyone's city grid will be full. You score points for having each of the seven building types, a wide network of blood banks, and proper housing for the vampire meeples your specialists bring to town. The vampires also want to make sure all this technological advancement doesn't destroy the biodiversity of their home, so you get points for having a variety of animals and animal meeples on your tiles. Your specialists also provide special scoring conditions. Players will also be competing to develop innovations, find artifacts, and build castles and train stations to make their cities even more attractive to the rising vampire population. —description from the publisher
Categories
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- WizKids (I)
Questions and answers
SiliconVania supports 2–5 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 SiliconVania is 45–90 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 SiliconVania for ages 14 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.
SiliconVania has a complexity rating of 2.3 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.
SiliconVania belongs to these categories: Horror and City Building. Its main mechanics are Auction / Bidding 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 SiliconVania are: J.B. Howell. 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 SiliconVania 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.