There is definitely a lot to think about and, while it sounds convoluted, the visual assistance of the game really does a good job of holding the player’s hand every step of the way. Coming from the designers of Grand Austria Hotel and Lorenzo Il Magnifico, Coimbra had me unreasonably excited. It’s fair to say I didn’t have a lot of gameplay information, other than I knew it involved dice drafting and these little plastic holders for your dice, dice homes as I like to call them. Combined with always changing synergies between available tiles and cards - no game of Coimbra will ever be the same!

Favour Tiles are free. They offer a range of perks. One, for example, pays out an immediate seven shields or seven coins. Another is worth two VP and three free movement for your Pilgrim. Shuffle and draw six Voyage Cards and place these face-up on the six spaces at the bottom of the board. Then place 14 Monastery tiles to their corresponding I, II and III spots on the Pilgrim Map. (Also distinguishable by colour.) Return the remaining Voyage Cards and Monasteries to the box. I also noted the vibrant colours of the cover art and game board which is somewhat, um, rare for a Euro game. Does this mean that Coimbra will be a theme embracing game? Coimbra Coimbra is only four rounds long, each divided into a sequence of actions indicated on the player board. Having that as a reference immediately sets out the pace and gives players a clear structure, making the game fairly straightforward, despite its first appearances.

Then, not even a full turn in, something almost magical happens. Everything starts arranging itself into a logical robust structure laid out so well that the initial apprehension disappears completely. While not every aspect becomes immediately clear – you’ll still find yourself looking up a symbol or two in the rulebook on occasion – the rest of the game becomes almost intuitive. On some of the Character Cards, there are diploma symbols in five different colours. You’ll score points for each unique diploma you have (12VP if you have all five). Last of all, players will add up their remaining coins, shields and any crowns. Then they’ll divide that number by two and earn that many points. The player with the most points is the champion of Coimbra! Top Tips to Triumph at Coimbra Euro-style, ‘point salad’ games like Coimbra are usually bland and beige, right? Wrong. Chris Quilliams’ artwork is a wake-up slap to the senses. The Eggerspiele box art is a funky seafoam green. Dominant purples, greens and oranges feature throughout the board and components. Players draft chunky dice, then sit them in delightful plastic, castle-shaped die holders. Coimbra is a game of choice, specialise or spread yourself out, number or colour, and so on. It plays out in only four rounds, although can be prone to analysis paralysis, particularly when the next group of cards are set-up at the start of a round. Yes, the theme is thinner than Harry Hill's hairline but the art and vibrancy of the graphic design are wonderful. In the 15th and 16th century, Portugal is thriving under its leading role during the Age of Discovery. Nestled in the heart of Portugal, the city of Coimbra serves as acultural center of the country. As the head of one of Coimbra's oldest houses, you seek to earn prestige by deepening relationships with nearby monasteries or funding expeditions of the era.To reach this goal, you must vie for the favors of the city's most influential citizens, even if you must offer a bit of coin or some protective detail.

Coimbra introduces an innovative new dice mechanism in which the dice players draft each round are used in multiple different ways and have an impact on many aspects of their decision making. While there are many paths to victory,players should always seek to optimize theiropportunities with every roll of the dice.Combined with ever-changing synergies of the citizens, expeditions, and monasteries, no two games of Coimbra will ever be the same! Coimbra is a brand new game from Eggerspiele in which two to four players don the relatively familiar doublet’s of near-renaissance era explorers, based in the famous Portuguese city that shares it name with the game. Coimbra is a fairly classic euro style game that was actually designed by a group of relative veterans, each of whom has a number of other, similar games under their belt. Most famously perhaps, a subset of this team was responsible for creating The Voyages of Marco Polo, which is a thematic trading and exploring game that shares more than just a few features with Coimbra. Also, if your die holder is sitting fifth in queue of dice, there’s a strong chance you won’t even get a card. In which case, you’ll only get two coins and two shields. Gamblers, beware…

After Phase F is complete, then some end-of-round clean-up occurs. Any unclaimed Character Cards return to the box. Replace them with 12 more, dealing out as described earlier. Again, place the Crown Tokens on the correct cards. Also return the Favour Tiles next to the Castle. The new First Player rolls the dice (Phase A), and players begin drafting dice once more. There are six phases to a round in Coimbra: A-F. These are all listed on the Player Boards, as a reminder. Phase A is simple: The start player rolls the 13 D6 dice (3x grey, 3x orange, 3x purple, 3x green and 1x white). For lower player counts, you’ll play with fewer dice for scaling purposes.