Guildhall*
Guildhall is a unique and competitive card game where players aim to progress from the Dark Ages by building a guildhall that attracts professionals from across Europe. The goal is to achieve economic stability and outmaneuver your competitors by gathering like-minded individuals into chapters and utilizing their collective skills to earn victory points (VP).
Gameplay Overview
- Build and Utilize Chapters: Players collect and assemble chapters of professionals, such as Traders, in all five colors. Each professional within the guildhall offers special abilities that increase in power as the chapter grows.
- Strategic Use of Abilities: The abilities granted by the professionals are a key element of strategy, allowing players to gain an advantage in building their chapters or hindering their opponents’ progress.
- Victory Points Acquisition: Completing a color set of a profession allows players to trade it in for victory points. However, this means temporarily losing the set's abilities until they can rebuild it, presenting a strategic dilemma of when to cash in for points.
Key Decisions
- Risk vs. Reward: Players must carefully decide which professions to collect and when to use their abilities for maximum benefit. Choosing when to trade in a complete set for VPs versus keeping the set for its powers is crucial.
- Dynamic Interaction: The game encourages interaction among players through the use of professional abilities, which can affect not just the player's guildhall but also those of their opponents.
Winning the Game
The race to accumulate 20 victory points is tense and requires players to be adaptable and strategic in their choices. The first player to reach this goal on their turn is declared the winner, marking their guildhall as the most prestigious and successful in the land.
Conclusion
Guildhall blends strategic depth with accessible gameplay, making it a compelling game for players looking to experience the challenges of economic stability and professional development during the Dark Ages. Its mix of strategy, risk management, and player interaction makes it a standout choice for those who enjoy card games with a historical twist.
Nominated for 2 awards and won 1.
- 2 - 4 Players
- 30 - 45 Minutes
- 10+ years old
- Easy to learn
We like Guildhall so much that we recommend it in the following board game recommendation lists 2024
- Position 5 in All "À la carte🇩🇪 2013" game award winners & nominees in comparison
- Position 14 in All "Spiel des Jahres🇩🇪 2014" game award winners & nominees in comparison
- Position 50 in The best games presented at the Spiel 2012 game fair in Essen, Germany