Caylus (2005 Edition)

Every worker placement game you have ever played owes this one money.

It is 1289, and King Philip the Fair has decided that the small village of Caylus needs a castle. You are one of the master builders who turns up to make it happen — and, ideally, to be seen making it happen. Send your workers along the road running out from the castle gates, activate the buildings there, gather stone and timber and food, and turn all of it into prestige.

The clever, slightly cruel bit is the road itself. You put up a building and every other player can use it — you just take a cut when they do. Then there is the Provost, shuffling up and down the road deciding how far along the line actually gets activated this turn, and perfectly open to being bribed about it. Nothing here is safe.

This is the original 2005 Rio Grande / Ystari edition, still sealed in its factory shrink wrap. It has been out of print for years and is not reprinted in this form — the modern version is the reworked Caylus 1303. One copy only.

Perfect for: The person in your group who insists on explaining which game invented worker placement. Now you can simply hand them the box and enjoy the silence.

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📖 New to the genre? What is a Worker Placement game? — where it started, how it works, and why Caylus matters.