- BGG rank
- BGG #232
- BGG rating
- 8.5
Dune: War for Arrakis
- 1–4 players
- 120 min
- Complexity 3.7/5
- 2024
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- BGG #30,604
- BGG rating
- 4.4
The Golden Compass
2007
Rules assistance for The Golden Compass
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–4 players
- 30 min
- 10+
- Complexity 1.4/5
Rules assistant for The Golden Compass
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
The Golden Compass is a board game released in 2007 for 2–4 players, 30 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Marco Maggi and Francesco Nepitello.
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Goal
- 2 players
- 15 min
- Complexity 1.1/5
- 2000
About the game
Disambiguation: This game is for the Golden Compass movie, the game for the book is located over here. Players are part of Philip Pullman’s creation, as portrayed in the motion picture: a world very much like our own, but existing in a parallel universe. The game features graphics and pictures taken from the movie. Players alternate in leading Lyra in her journey to rescue her friends, as she escapes from the Magisterium's clutches. As each turn unfolds, players collect items and clues, and help Lyra to understand the Alethiometer - the truth-measuring Golden Compass. During a turn a player uses the Alethiometer spindle: the spinning action reveals the two actions the player is allowed to choose from. A typical move involves playing or drawing Lyra cards, played in sets to collect Item tiles from the board (representing Lyra and Pan's actions and investigations) or placing Symbol tokens that will later let a player draw valuable Truth tokens (representing the interpretation of the Alethiometer). Character cards, showing the main heroes and villains of the story, can be used by players to alter the gameplay by applying their special abilities. The winner is the player that scores the most points by the end of the game.
Designers
Publishers
- Devir
- Kaissa Chess & Games
- Editrice Giochi
- KOSMOS
- Esdevium
- Sophisticated Games
Questions and answers
The Golden Compass 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 The Golden Compass 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 Golden Compass for ages 10 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 Golden Compass has a complexity rating of 1.4 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a 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 Golden Compass belongs to these categories: Card Game, Fantasy, and Movies / TV / Radio theme. Categories describe the theme, setting and style of a game rather than its rules. Filter the catalogue by the same category to find similar games when you enjoyed The Golden Compass and want something comparable for your next game night.
The credited designers of The Golden Compass are: Marco Maggi and Francesco Nepitello. 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 Golden Compass 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.