House of Borgia
- Players
- 2 to 6
- Play time
- 30 minutes
- Designer
- Scott Almes
- Publishers
- Gamelyn Games, Talon Strikes Studios LLC
- Year
- 2017
- Rating
- 6.64 (BGG average)
Mechanisms
Categories
Families
Description
DESCRIPTION: Players take on hidden roles competing for influence in this ingenious tip of the hat to Liar's Dice.
GENERAL INFO: A bluffing game with dice for 2-6 players that plays in less than 30 minutes.
THEME: It is 1492, the church is without a pope. With the shadows to thank, the Borgia family is at the peak of their power. In a week the Cardinals will gather for the Conclave. With your reputation you could never win the seat, but you may be able to control who does!
HOOK: It's like Coup meets Liar's Dice! A quick and glorious game of lies and deceit! Richly thematic and completely immersive.
WINNING CONDITION: Having secretly controlled the Cardinal who has the most influence at the end of the game.
MECHANICS: Players are randomly given an identity at the beginning of the game. It is imperative that they keep their identity secret from the other players. These identities represent the Cardinal who they want to gain the most influence.
6 cards representing Cardinals, are randomly placed in an ascending ladder-like line up. A Cardinals position on this ladder determines how much, if any, influence they will gain at the end of the turn.
Using dice and bluffing in a similar fashion to Liar's Dice, players will be able to manipulate a Cardinal's position on the ladder; or manipulate how much influence they have; or even accuse another player of the Cardinal they are controlling.
At the end of the game, if another player has accurately paired you with a Rumor Card, one that matches your secret identity, you lose; regardless of how much influence you may have acquired for your Cardinal.