Dorfromantik: The Board Game

Components and the five landscape types

Among the 48 landscape tiles, Grade Crossings (shown on Track tiles) and Sheep (2 per tile) are not separate landscape types but bonus scoring elements, and a Flag attaches to only one of Forest, Grain, or Village.

Setup

1. 1Shuffle all 25 Task tiles face down and split them into any number of face-down stacks.
2. 2Shuffle the 48 Landscape tiles, draw 3 without looking and return them to the box (unused this game). Stack the rest separately from the Task tiles.
3. 3Shuffle the 25 Task markers face down and separate them by type (or icon), then place them face down next to the Task tile stacks.
4. 4Set the Score Pad and Campaign Sheet pad aside — you won't need them until the end of the game.
5. 5Do not open any of the 5 locked boxes until instructed to do so.

Turn structure — decide what to reveal first

1. 1Starting with the start player, take turns clockwise.
2. 2On the first 3 turns, you must reveal a Task tile.
3. 3After that, each turn check the play area: with fewer than 3 Task tiles that have markers, reveal a Task tile; with 3, reveal a Landscape tile.
4. 4Revealing a Task tile means immediately drawing one matching Task marker, flipping it number-up, and placing both tiles together on the map.
5. 5You may discuss placement with the other players, but the player whose turn it is makes the final call.

Placing tiles — Tracks and Streams must match, everything else is free

1. 1Every tile must share at least 1 edge with a tile already in play — the map always stays a single connected group.
2. 2Track and Stream edges may only connect to the same type. A Track edge cannot touch a non-Track edge.
3. 3Forest, Grain, and Village (and plain Meadow) never need to match their neighbors. You may combine them however you like.

Completing Tasks — the exact tile count matters

A territory is 1 or more tiles of the same type connected by matching edges (or a connected Track or Stream). A Task marker's number says exactly how many tiles that territory needs to be complete, checked the instant a tile is placed.

• You may never place a tile that makes a territory exceed its marker's number at the moment of placement, nor one that closes off the territory (no open edges left) with fewer tiles than the marker requires.
• If a territory grows past an already-placed marker's number, remove that marker and return it to the box. The same applies if a Landscape tile closes off a territory with fewer tiles than the marker requires.
• A single tile placement may complete more than one Task marker at once.

Flags — only a fully closed territory scores

At the start of the campaign there are 3 Landscape tiles with a Flag: green for Forest, yellow for Grain, and red for Village. They follow the same placement rules as any other tile.

Game end and scoring

1. 1The game ends immediately once you are required to reveal a Landscape tile and none remain. Any unrevealed Task tiles do not come into play this game.
2. 2If the last Landscape tile completes or cancels a Task, keep revealing and placing Task tiles until no more can be completed or canceled.
3. 3Add up the numbers of every completed Task marker.
4. 4Add the tile count of each closed territory that holds a Flag.
5. 5Add the tile counts of your single longest Track and your single longest Stream.

Strategy tips

• Once marked Task tiles drop below 3, your next turn must reveal a Task tile. Plan which territory to grow before your supply of Landscape tiles dries up.
• Track and Stream pieces only connect when a matching edge turns up, which is hard to predict. It can pay to leave room for a Track or Stream piece to connect later rather than forcing it now.
• Overshooting a marker's number removes it, so check whether the current number can still be completed before growing a territory further.
• You can deliberately leave a Flag's territory open while it grows, then close it late — but if Landscape tiles run out first, it may never close.
• Look for placements that complete several Task markers with a single tile; it's a big efficiency gain.

Campaign and expansions

• Campaign: record each game's Score Pad result in the Campaign Sheet's High Score List, and cross off that many white circles on the Advancement Track. The track forks partway, letting you choose which branch to pursue.
• Reaching a green hex on the Advancement Track opens the next locked box, adding new tiles, Tasks, and Achievement cards to the game. Once unlocked, components are used in every future game of that campaign.
• Achievement cards show a condition on the front and a new rule that applies once you meet it on the back. A campaign can be paused anytime and resumed later, or run separately with a different group.
• A 2-player duel edition: Pegasus also publishes "Dorfromantik: Das Duell," a separate 2-player-only board game. This guide covers only the base cooperative game (1–6 players) and does not include the duel edition's rules.
• Pegasus has also released themed expansions such as Sakura and South Seas, along with mini-expansions like Head-to-Head and Light Luggage, in English and German. A Korean release of any of these could not be confirmed.

Frequently confused rules

History and origins

This board game is based on the video game of the same name by Toukana Interactive (Sandro Heuberger, Luca Langenberg, Timo Falcke, and Zwi Zausch). The video game won Best Game Design and Best Debut at the 2021 German Computer Game Prizes and Best German Game at the 2021 German Developer Prizes.

The board game adaptation was designed under license by Lukas Zach and Michael Palm, illustrated by Paul Riebe, with graphic design by Jens Wiese, and published by Pegasus Spiele in 2023. That same year, it won the Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year, Germany).

In Korea, a price-comparison site confirmed a retail listing distributed by Korea Boardgames, but no official product page or Korean rulebook from Korea Boardgames could be found. A Namuwiki search was attempted but the article itself could not be opened to confirm (2026-10-10).