Villagers & Villains
BGG rank
BGG #9,284
BGG rating
6.6

Villagers & Villains

2011

Rules assistance for Villagers & Villains

Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

  • 2–5 players
  • 30 min
  • 9+
  • Complexity 1.8/5

For 2 players

Rules assistant for Villagers & Villains

What would you like to know?

Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.

Villagers & Villains is a board game released in 2011 for 2–5 players, 30 minutes per game, and ages 9 and up. It was designed by C. Aaron Kreader and its main mechanics are Variable Player Powers, Set Collection, and Dice Rolling.

Expansions

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About the game

Theme: "In the untamed wild, villains lurk in wait, terrors haunt dark lairs, tradesfolk seek riches, and heroes come to prove their valor." As the mayor of a frontier town, you stand in the center, eyeing the roads for talent and trouble. Will you take on challenges or hire help, develop your town or command its heroes? Your strategies, risks, and fortune can transform your village into a thriving city or forgotten ruins. Overview: Villagers and Villains is a card game with over 100 unique cards. The game is played over several rounds. Each round has 6 distinct Phases. During each Phase, all players (Mayors) have a chance to take specific actions. The Mayor who builds the most successful village wins. Game play: Villagers and Villains is a building game. In the 1st phase players recruit cards from a common pool neutral to all players. 4 classes of cards could appear in the pool: Challenges, citizens, buildings, and heroes. Each card has different game play applications and different effects on end scoring. In the 2nd phase each player has a chance to defend their town from challenges. In the 3rd phase challenges loot towns left unprotected. The 4th phase is when each town earns money. In the 5th phase money can be spent to expand a town by hiring heroes and citizens or creating buildings. The final phase resets the board for a new round of phases. The starting player changes and rounds continue until a town reaches a fixed size. At that time the game is scored. Goal: In the end each town is scored based on a variety of facets and features. Players have to assess which facet will score the most points as the game is played--and circumstances dictate. Features: The game ships with a basic and advanced version for experienced and novice gamers and special 2-player game rules. In the advanced game players gain access to the king's favor, special card powers, and pairing options for final scoring. In addition, the home site offers a variety of rules variations for added game play. While chance plays a part in the game (via a die-roll for certain elements) choices in recruiting, and how to use town's abilities and resources play a large role. The game includes: 100 different playing cards (challenges, citizens, heroes, buildings) 10 starting cards (5 citizens, 5 angry mobs) 5 player aid cards a die 1 kings favor token 1 start marker 1 score pad 2 punch-out sheets of gold coin tokens rules sheet.

Questions and answers

Villagers & Villains 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.