Orléans is a worker placement game with bag-building mechanics. Players draw and deploy workers to grow crops, trade goods, and expand their influence. Designed by Reiner Stockhausen, Orleans is a 2 to 5 player, pool or bag building game. The box says 90 minutes, but if you have all 5 players, it’s longer than that. There are many bits and resources to arrange around the board, so setup will take a good amount of time.
In Orléans, you will recruit followers and put them to work to make use of their abilities. Farmers and Boatmen supply you with money and goods; Knights expand your scope of action and secure your mercantile expeditions; Craftsmen build trading stations and tools to facilitate work; Scholars make progress in science; Traders open up new locations for you to use your followers; and last but not least, it cannot hurt to get active in monasteries since with Monks on your side you are much less likely to fall prey to fate.
In this game, you will always want to take more actions than possible, and there are many paths to victory. The challenge is to combine all elements as best as possible with regard to your strategy.
