Thurn and Taxis (board game)

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Thurn and Taxis
a game situation
Designer	Karen and Andreas Seyfarth
Publisher	Hans im Glück Rio Grande Games 999 Games
Players	2 to 4
Age range	10 and up
Setup time	5–10 minutes
Playing time	45–60 minutes
Random chance	Medium
Skills required	Strategic thought

BoardGameGeek entry

Thurn and Taxis is a board game designed by Karen and Andreas Seyfarth and published in 2006 by Hans im Glück in German (as Thurn und Taxis) and by Rio Grande Games in English. In the game, players seek to build postal networks and post offices in Bavaria and surrounding areas, as did the house of Thurn und Taxis in the 16th century. The game won the 2006 Spiel des Jahres award.

[edit] Gameplay

Each turn players draw one or more cards representing regions of Europe. They then play one or more cards comprising a route. After reaching a certain length, a route may be scored. Players choose to put markers in some of the regions through which the scored route passes. One may either choose a particular province and assign markers to each city within that province represented in the route, or assign a marker to one city per province represented in the route.

Points are awarded for the length of the route and domination of the different regions. The player who triggers the game-end condition also receives a bonus point.

[edit] Expansions and Spinoffs

Three expansions have been released for Thurn and Taxis. The first, Der Kurier der Fürstin, was a small expansion released in the October 2005 issue of Spielbox magazine which adds letter tokens and a messenger to the game.

The second "expansion", Thurn and Taxis: Power and Glory (German: Glanz und Gloria, lit. Splendour and Glory), is really more of a distinct game, using new region and carriage cards, a new map, and significantly changed route-building rules.

The third "expansion" Alle Wege führen nach Rom (English: All Roads Lead to Rome) again is a distinct game with its own board and distinct rules. While the first two boards show somewhat realistic representations of Southern and Northern Germany, the Rome expansion makes no reference to Italian geography.