Orléans

Components

Orléans plays 2-5 and always runs exactly 18 rounds. At lower player counts (2 or 3), unused Followers and Goods tiles are removed before setup.

Setup

1. 1Each player takes a Player Board, a Followers Bag, 5 coins, 1 Merchant Token, 10 Trading Stations, and 7 wooden markers.
2. 2Place your markers on the first space of the Farmer, Boatman, Craftsman, Trader, Scholar, and Knight tracks, plus the Development Track — 7 tracks in all.
3. 3Each player puts one marked Farmer, Boatman, Craftsman, and Trader (4 Followers) into their bag. These four stay with you for the entire game — they cannot be used for Beneficial Deeds and are never lost to the Plague event.
4. 4Place those same 4 marked Followers on your Player Board's Market spaces, too — this gives you an initial setup for round 1.
5. 5Sort the neutral (unmarked) Character Tiles by profession on the large board, stacked on their matching buildings (Farm House, Village, University, Castle, Monastery).
6. 6Split the 20 Place Tiles into stacks by the Roman numeral (I/II) on their backs, and shuffle Goods tiles onto the Road and Waterway spaces and the Goods Market.
7. 7Pull the «Pilgrimage» Hour Glass Tile to the top, shuffle the rest underneath — round 1 always opens with the Pilgrimage event.
8. 8Remove the unused player colors' Followers, some neutral Followers, and some Goods tiles per the player-count table (2- and 3-player adjustments).

A round — 7 phases

1. 1① Hour Glass — the Start Player flips the next tile. It sets this round's event, and the round in which the 18th tile is flipped is the game's last round.
2. 2② Census — whoever is furthest ahead on the Farmers Track gets 1 coin, whoever is furthest behind pays 1 coin (ties mean nobody pays or gains; in a 2-player game, the trailing player doesn't pay).
3. 3③ Followers — each player draws from their bag up to the number allowed by their Knights Track (4 at the start) and places them on their own Market. Once the Market is full, no more can be drawn.
4. 4④ Planning — move Character Tiles from your Market onto the required Action Spaces of a Place. A Place activates only when every one of its spaces is filled, and you may fill it across several rounds.
5. 5⑤ Actions — starting with the Start Player and clockwise, each player carries out one activated Place or passes. Once you pass, you cannot act again this round. Used Followers return to your bag.
6. 6⑥ Event — resolve this round's Hour Glass event for everyone (Pilgrimage is the one exception, already applied in Phase 5).
7. 7⑦ Start Player — the Start Player Token passes to the player on the left.

Seven Follower types and managing your bag

Six Follower types — Farmer, Boatman, Craftsman, Trader, Scholar, and Knight — have their own track. Only the Monk has none; instead it may be placed on any Action Space that calls for another Follower type (the reverse is never true — no tile may replace a Monk).

Activating Places and Technology Tiles

Every Place is made of Action Spaces that each require a specific Follower. For example, receiving another Farmer at the Farm House requires 1 Boatman and 1 Craftsman — both spaces must be filled before the Farm House activates.

Traders Track, Trading Stations, Town Hall, and Beneficial Deeds

Advancing the Traders Track lets you choose a Place Tile to attach to your Player Board, adding a new Place you can use. The first choice must come from stack I; afterward you may choose from either stack I or II. A Trading Station built via Guildhall is limited to one per town regardless of owner — except Orléans itself, where each player may build their own.

Town Hall is the only Place that uses the Beneficial Deeds board. Placing 1 or 2 Followers on its open spaces rewards the printed coins (1, 2, or 3) or Development Points. Whoever fills the last remaining space of a given Deed also receives a Citizen Tile. Your marked starting Followers (Farmer, Boatman, Craftsman, Trader) may not be placed here, and each Deed space accepts only the specific Character Tile shown — Technology Tiles and Monks cannot substitute.

Hour Glass events and bankruptcy (Torture)

Game end and scoring

The game ends after the round in which the 18th Hour Glass Tile is drawn. Whoever has built the most Trading Stations receives the one remaining Citizen Tile (nobody does if tied), then everyone scores as follows.

Strategy the rulebook supports

• Pick up a few Knights early. A higher Phase 3 draw count lets you activate more Places per round.
• Don't grow your Follower mix carelessly. More types in the bag can lower the odds of drawing the exact combination you need — curate toward what you'll actually use.
• Use Technology Tiles to clear bottlenecks. Replacing a frequently needed space frees that Follower type for other uses (remember the first one must replace a Farmer).
• Raise your Development Status early. It affects Income payouts, the Hospital, and the end-game multiplier at once.
• Keep a small buffer of coins or goods for Harvest and Taxes. Losing a Place Tile or Development Points to bankruptcy usually hurts more than the coins would have.

Editions and expansions

Advanced variant (official rulebook option) — before round 1, starting with the Start Player and in turn order, each player may remove one Place Tile (from stack I or II, 2 tiles each in a 2-player game) from the game. Recommended for experienced groups who want a different mix of Places each time.

Frequently confused rules

History and reception

BGG lists an average complexity (weight) around 3.0, placing it among heavier Euro games, and it sat in the BGG Top 40 as of early 2024 (its exact live rank should be re-checked at publication time). Neither English Wikipedia nor Namuwiki has a dedicated article for this game, so this history section relies only on facts confirmed via BGG and the rulebook's own credits page.