- BGG rating
- 7.4
The Duke: Arthurian Legends Expansion
- 2 players
- 30 min
- Complexity 2.7/5
- 2013
- BGG rank
- BGG #1,058
- BGG rating
- 7.3
The Duke
2013
Rules assistance for The Duke
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2 players
- 30 min
- 13+
- Complexity 2.5/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for The Duke
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
The Duke is a board game released in 2013 for 2 players, 30 minutes per game, and ages 13 and up. It was designed by Stephen McLaughlin and Jeremy Holcomb and its main mechanics are Tile Placement, Square Grid, and Grid Movement.
Expansions
- BGG rating
- 7.2
The Duke: Customization Expansion Pack
- 2 players
- 30 min
- Complexity 3.3/5
- 2013
- BGG rating
- 7.3
The Duke: Middle Ages Siege Engines Expansion
- 2 players
- 30 min
- Complexity 3.0/5
- 2013
- BGG rating
- 7.2
The Duke: Musketeers Expansion
- 2 players
- 30 min
- Complexity 3.0/5
- 2013
- BGG rating
- 7.3
The Duke: Robert E. Howard Expansion
- 2 players
- 30 min
- Complexity 3.0/5
- 2013
- BGG rating
- 7.4
The Duke: Robin Hood Expansion
- 2 players
- 30 min
- Complexity 2.3/5
- 2013
- BGG rating
- 7.5
The Duke: Reinforcements – City Troops
- 2 players
- 30 min
- Complexity 3.0/5
- 2014
- BGG rating
- 7.4
The Duke: Reinforcements – Battle Troops
- 2 players
- 30 min
- 2019
- BGG rating
- 7.2
The Duke: Reinforcements – Gunpowder Uprising
- 2 players
- 30 min
- 2019
- BGG rating
- 7.7
The Duke: Lost Forces
- 2023
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About the game
Levy. Maneuver. Conquer. The Duke is a dynamic, tile-based strategy game with an old-world, feudal theme, high-quality wooden playing pieces, and an innovative game mechanism in its double-sided tiles. Each side represents a different posture – often considered to be defensive or offensive – and demonstrates exactly what the piece can do within the turn. At the end of a move (or after the use of a special ability), the tile is flipped to its other side, displaying a new offensive or defensive posture. Each posture conveys different options for maneuver and attack. The full circle is a standard Move, the hollow circle the Jump, the arrow provides for the Slide, the star a special Strike ability and so on. Each turn a player may select any tile to maneuver, attempting to defend his own troops while positioning himself to capture his opponent's tiles. If you end your movement in a square occupied by an opponent's tile, you capture that tile. Capture your opponent's Duke to win! Players start the game by placing their Duke in one of the two middle squares on their side of the game board. Two Footman are then placed next to the Duke. Each turn a player may choose to either move a single tile or randomly draw a new tile from the bag. With fifteen different Troop Tiles, all double-sided, and nineteen total pieces for each player (plus special optional tiles), the variety of game play is limitless. Beyond the endless variety of the basic game, Terrain Tiles introduce a variety of game play options, altering the game board. These rules also include several alternate objectives, such as the challenging Dark Rider game which pits five Pikeman against a lone Knight.
Categories
Designers
Publishers
- Catalyst Game Labs
Questions and answers
The Duke supports 2 players according to the catalogue. This is the publisher’s listed player count, so the game is designed for exactly that number of participants. Variants for other group sizes, if any, are described in the rulebook of your edition, so check it before setting up a different configuration.
The listed playing time for The Duke is 30 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 The Duke for ages 13 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.
The Duke 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.
The Duke belongs to these categories: Abstract Strategy and Medieval. Its main mechanics are Tile Placement, Square Grid, and Grid Movement. 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 The Duke are: Stephen McLaughlin and Jeremy Holcomb. 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 The Duke 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.