Game: Säulen von Venedig, Die

Thread: Re: Master Builder -- MAY or MUST build as many stones as possible?

chaddyboy_2000 — 2008-10-01T07:05:27+00:00

The rule is basically that you must keep building until you have no legal builds. This could be due to having insufficient stone, no more city tiles, or insufficient pillars to build on.

If you have 4 stone and have the choice between something that costs 3 or 4 stone, you may choose the 3, after which you will have insufficient stone to build the 4, so your turn would be over.

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BudsBalkan — 2008-09-13T11:11:49+00:00

The Gondolliere

Thread: Re: Master Builder -- MAY or MUST build as many stones as possible?

gugi — 2008-09-12T23:03:57+00:00

Knutster wrote:
steveoliverc wrote:

My interpretation is that you must build as many stones worth of buildings as you possibly can. If you have six stones and play that Master Builder, you've got to (if there is room).

Exactly. As many as you possibly can.

Does this mean that I have to build the most expensive of two (not cumulative) possible buildings ?

For example: I got 2 tiles - one worth 2, the other worth 3 stones. Do I have to take the 3-stone-building, if I chose the Baumeister "4" ?
That would be the strict interpretation of the rule above.

Thread: Re: Master Builder -- MAY or MUST build as many stones as possible?

scottredracecar — 2008-09-02T03:45:28+00:00

Before playing it, I have to say that I'm not sure I like this ruling. Nonetheless, if I can get it to the table soon, I will be playing that the player must play their building tiles such that the maximum amount of stones are used. This might require a bit of puzzling in certain situations and might be (very) suboptimal for the person that played the builder, but it puts a little more tactical decisions into where to place the pillar markers.

I think this rule should be changed in the English translations to reflect the designer's intent.

Thread: Re: Master Builder -- MAY or MUST build as many stones as possible?

Pepsi4Me2 — 2008-08-15T14:10:08+00:00

The English translation states: "If there are existing pillars you must build on them, as long as stones are remaining."

This is not the same as "build all the stones you can".

If you have an opportunity to place a 3-stone building or a 4-stone building, you are not forced to place the 4-stone building.

Thread: Re: Master Builder -- MAY or MUST build as many stones as possible?

steveoliverc — 2008-04-13T13:52:29+00:00

Thanks!! and I completely agree. Also, it slows the game down a bit if you don't build all the stones you can.

Thread: You MUST build as many stones as possible !

Knutster — 2008-04-13T13:49:00+00:00

steveoliverc wrote:

My interpretation is that you must build as many stones worth of buildings as you possibly can. If you have six stones and play that Master Builder, you've got to (if there is room).

Exactly. As many as you possibly can.
During the development of the game, we also tested the possibility of skipping your turn or not fully using it. But since the whole game is driving by the idea that in order to improve your position and your amount of victory points you have to do something that helps others too. So we (Christian Fiore and me, as well as our test players) found it out of sync if you just skip your turn or only use part of it.

Knut
[BGCOLOR=#CCFF66]www.spielziel.com[/BGCOLOR]

Thread: Re: English Cards

steveoliverc — 2008-04-08T19:33:39+00:00

They are excellent! Thanks!

Thread: Master Builder -- MAY or MUST build as many stones as possible?

steveoliverc — 2008-04-08T19:31:16+00:00

Played this game over the weekend and had yet another "discussion" regarding the Master Builder. My friend speaks German and says the original rules are clear that when you play this card, you "may build up to the number of stones on the card" (such as 4, 5, or 6). We have had several instances where the player chooses to build nothing or only 2 or 3 stones worth of buildings, in order to deny the gondolier a bonus.

My interpretation is that you must build as many stones worth of buildings as you possibly can. If you have six stones and play that Master Builder, you've got to (if there is room).

The start player card also uses "may" so I can see where this is used elsewhere in the game. But somehow it seems as if you have to play the role which you selected.

How does everyone else play this?

Thread: Re: Passing cards???

Steve Cox — 2008-04-08T12:54:30+00:00

Nick Fisk wrote:
(Can't remember what it says here ... but I have a feeling it says "must not be placed", which makes the first playing of a Pechtunker card very tricky)

If the English 'translation' does read 'must not be placed' then I am guessing the German reads 'muss nicht'. However, the correct translation for this is 'need not'. This is the same as 'does not have to', which is the opposite of 'has to', the German for which is 'muss', so it is all quite logical.
The German for 'must not' is 'darf nicht'.
So the first player need not put markers on the just placed pillars/piles, which is consistent with the rules for other pile placers.

Image

szoffi — 2008-03-17T12:53:15+00:00

laminated cards w/ Hungarian text

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henk.rolleman — 2008-02-28T20:48:03+00:00

Close Up

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NigelStrong — 2008-02-07T02:45:34+00:00

Cards done in English

Thread: Re: Pillar markers

GeoMan — 2007-12-13T19:32:41+00:00

board_games_reno wrote:
Can pillar markers be placed on any open pillars? Or only on the ones player just played?

The english translation I received states the latter, but other posts here say the former...

Otherwise, Boardgamers of Reno give Columns of Venice a thumbs up...

Mike Snedeker, pres.
BGoR

Markers can be placed on any free pillar.

Thread: Pillar markers

board_games_reno — 2007-12-13T16:48:56+00:00

Can pillar markers be placed on any open pillars? Or only on the ones player just played?

The english translation I received states the latter, but other posts here say the former...

Otherwise, Boardgamers of Reno give Columns of Venice a thumbs up...

Mike Snedeker, pres.
BGoR

Thread: Re: Ideas for the extra card?

steveoliverc — 2007-12-11T00:40:07+00:00

I like it! Especially the "split" idea because I could see wanting the Mayor early when you had a specific tile in mind (and there were more to choose from), and the Doge later when you didn't mind sacrificing a pillar token.

Thread: Re: Ideas for the extra card?

board_games_reno — 2007-12-11T00:14:13+00:00

We had two, but with only one extra, we made it a "split" character

DOGE / MAYOR

Player must declare which character he is using when exposed.

MAYOR: Same as the "councilman" with a stone value 6. Allows player to go thru stack to pick tiles vs. picking top one.(Courtesy of game designer)

DOGE: Place one four square tile only on pillars. Coat of arms value is double, it is "safe" from saboteur, but player sacrifice one of his pillar markers to denote tile as a sactuary.Place pillar marker on tile for rest of game.

Mike Snedeker, pres.
Boardgamers of Reno

Thread: Re: rules for two player

steveoliverc — 2007-12-10T05:48:58+00:00

Just remove the cards that apply to games with more players.

Thread: rules for two player

belbutcher — 2007-12-09T21:42:51+00:00

Does anyone know if is there any special rule for two players?
THANK YOU!

Thread: Re: English Printing?

SiddGames — 2007-11-24T22:39:50+00:00

Yeah, I like it enough (and my Dad and brother-in-law and friend who went to BGGcon with me do as well) that I think I'll have to get it in German and make some nice paste-ups. I just didn't want to bother with it if an English version was coming down the pike.

Thanks for the reply!

Thread: Re: English Printing?

steveoliverc — 2007-11-24T15:10:04+00:00

Not sure why they have an English name listed for the game since there are no plans for an English printing that I've ever heard of.

I've played this game with at least ten different people, some of whom are very light gamers, and the text has never been a problem. I printed out several of the references from the file section, but it would also be easy to print out the text in English and paste it onto the cards, and then put the cards in sleeves (a good idea anyway since the cards get handled a lot). This game is a lot of fun especially if your wife enjoys games such as Citadels, so maybe you can work around the German text somehow.

Thread: Re: English Printing?

SiddGames — 2007-11-24T06:07:03+00:00

BUMP. I see this has "Columns of Venice" listed as an alternate name in the database - anyone know if that means an English printing has happened or is in the works? While the rules are simple enough, it would be an uphill battle getting my wife to play this in German, and I think she'd like it if I could get it in English.

Thread: Re: Size of the cards?

Huxley — 2007-11-05T20:52:12+00:00

Thanks Steve.

Thread: Re: Size of the cards?

steveoliverc — 2007-11-05T15:38:59+00:00

The cards fit nicely into the 2 5/8" by 3 5/8" sleeves, the cards themselves are 2 3/8" by 3 5/8".

Card sleeves are a good idea even without paste-ups because, even though the cards are a fine quality, they get passed around and handled so much they are getting a lot of wear.

Thread: Size of the cards?

Huxley — 2007-11-04T17:18:38+00:00

I ordered this game a few days back (the order is held up until the new El Grande ships), and I'm looking to paste up the cards.

I'd like to know their size so I can buy some card sleeves to apply the sticker to, rather than putting it straight on to the card.

Thanks for the info.

Thread: Re: Passing cards???

keith hunt — 2007-09-07T11:39:47+00:00

The English translation of the rules says you MAY steal a random card, making it optional.

Thread: Re: Passing cards???

steveoliverc — 2007-09-06T12:50:14+00:00

Moviebuffs wrote:
* SP steal a card blind (if req'd)

Why do you say "if required"? Doesn't the start player have to steal a card at the start of the round, before everyone has selected their card? Or is it optional for the start player to steal a card?

Thread: Re: Passing cards???

Moviebuffs — 2007-09-06T07:03:47+00:00

frogmind wrote:
The rules translation is a little rough, in respect to the broken english. I believe I have everything down except for the rule on passing cards, which also affects the playing of the spy. When do players pass cards? Is it at the end of each turn (after all cards resolved) or when all five cards played? I am also wondering if these cards are also kept face up in front of the new owners? i ask this because in the translation for the spy, one is allowed to look at a players' already played cards or cards in hand (how does this work if cards are continuously passed). All in all I am confused over the passing of cards aspect in all regards, and how they get cycled back into play. If anyone can clarify I offer many thanks.

Larry has it spot on.

* SP steal a card blind (if req'd)
* All play a card face-down
* All reveal cards
* All take action clockwise, starting with SP
* All pass cards and add them to hand.

The spy will get to choose one of four cards.
The Beggar will choose one from those lying face-up

Watch out for the biggest error in the translation here:

When you play the Pechtunker card, you place the indicated columns and markers, but the markers do not have to be placed onto the coloumns that you just placed.

(Can't remember what it says here ... but I have a feeling it says "must not be placed", which makes the first playing of a Pechtunker card very tricky)

N.

Thread: Re: Passing cards???

larryjrice — 2007-09-06T02:17:18+00:00

From the rules translation I have the way we've played, all players select a card to play from their hand and place it face down as the first action (assuming the start player does not use his/her special ability of drawing a random card from anyone's hand and giving that person back one of your own cards). Then, everyone turns their card over face up. Starting with the first player and going clockwise, everyone takes their action. Upon completion of everyone's actions, everyone passes their used card to their neighbor on the left.

If you play a spy, when its your turn to take your action, you choose an opponent and look at their remaining 4 cards in their hand, takes one and plays that card as his action, and gives the spy to the person from whom he stole the card.

Thread: Passing cards???

frogmind — 2007-09-06T01:29:53+00:00

The rules translation is a little rough, in respect to the broken english. I believe I have everything down except for the rule on passing cards, which also affects the playing of the spy. When do players pass cards? Is it at the end of each turn (after all cards resolved) or when all five cards played? I am also wondering if these cards are also kept face up in front of the new owners? i ask this because in the translation for the spy, one is allowed to look at a players' already played cards or cards in hand (how does this work if cards are continuously passed). All in all I am confused over the passing of cards aspect in all regards, and how they get cycled back into play. If anyone can clarify I offer many thanks.

Thread: Re: English Cards

Guantanamo — 2007-07-02T20:29:53+00:00

I hate you all. As my 6 year old would say "you are as mean as a witch" (no offense to wicans).

I had not put it on my 'must have' list because I thought there was to much text. When I saw his comments related to the card text, I figured it might not be important text.

Great another game for me to think about buying. It's getting to hard to pick out a game to buy.

Thread: Re: English Cards

GeoMan — 2007-07-02T17:49:10+00:00

Guantanamo wrote:
Why do you say 'Not that they are required'?

I've been looking at this game. I see it's been tagged as language dependant 0 AND language dependant 1. But, with the amount of text that looks like is on the cards, it seems like there would be a lot of down time trying to figure out what each card is used for. Or is the text mainly flavor and does it have mostly symbols on the cards to denote actions?

It is actually very easy to remember the cards just from the pictures and icons on them. We had no trouble remembering them after a few turns.

Thread: Re: English Cards

asmiles — 2007-07-02T17:23:09+00:00

The text on the cards is mostly a sentence describing the information that is also listed on the cards with symbols.

There are 11 different kinds of cards. There are 3 major characters, which are easy to understand after a few turns. There are the 3 characters who score points when those 3 main characters are played. The only mans that you have to look at your cheat sheet for the 5 characters with special powers, and even these aren't hard to get used to.

While having the cards in english would definitely help, the game is VERY playable with the translation in the files section.

Thread: Re: English Cards

Guantanamo — 2007-07-02T16:33:50+00:00

Why do you say 'Not that they are required'?

I've been looking at this game. I see it's been tagged as language dependant 0 AND language dependant 1. But, with the amount of text that looks like is on the cards, it seems like there would be a lot of down time trying to figure out what each card is used for. Or is the text mainly flavor and does it have mostly symbols on the cards to denote actions?

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GeoMan — 2007-06-23T16:10:29+00:00

4 player game - the end

Thread: Re: Caution -- Construction Ahead!

steveoliverc — 2007-06-20T16:02:41+00:00

Knut,

Thank you for the clarification on the Spekulant. 12 points did seem like a lot but it was awfully exciting when it got played.

Steve

Thread: Re: Caution -- Construction Ahead!

Knutster — 2007-06-20T14:09:53+00:00

steveoliverc wrote:
I've played Die Saulen von Venedig several times this week and I'm enjoying it a lot.

Dear Steve,

it is reactions like yours which makes developing boardgames so exiting. My co-author Christian Fiore and me own a lot of board(and card)games and we also have our favourite ones. Great to hear that "Die Säulen von Venedig" seems to belong to your favourite games......

steveoliverc wrote:
Don't underestimate the Spekulant! He came out 3 or 4 times in our game last night, and the first 3 times he struck out completely, but the last time he scored 12 points as both of the other plays chose the Baumeister!! That was a huge jump in points and it came at a crucial time right at the end of the game. That player only lost by a couple of points in a very close finish.

I would also recommend to use the Spekulant (and also the Erfinder and the Händler - which work the same way but are a little tougher to predict than the Spekulant).
It earns you points (only 6 by the way, even if more than one other player plays a Baumeister - we tested it the way you played it, but our test players considered it too tough if someone scores 12 points on it) while no one else does. If you play the Baumeister, you will most likely hand out points to someone else who has his pillar markers there, if you play the Pechtunker you help someone to play his Baumeister ..... but the Spekulant helps only you, which makes this card so attractive.
One the other hand, you better guess right when to play the Spekulant

Knut Happel
www.die-saeulen-von-venedig.de
www.spielziel.com

Thread: Re: Will this have an English Release?

steveoliverc — 2007-06-17T16:32:08+00:00

There is a great card reference you can print from the files section. That helps the first game or two and after that you will easily remember what the card do. This is a very fun game, sort of like Citadels meets Arkadia, so I wouldn't wait for an English version to play it.

Thread: Re: Will this have an English Release?

larryjrice — 2007-06-17T12:35:20+00:00

the symbols on the cards make this really easy to play and practically language independent. Or just have a card key in front of you as there is only around 12 different types of cards.

Thread: Caution -- Construction Ahead!

steveoliverc — 2007-06-15T16:08:24+00:00

I've played Die Saulen von Venedig several times this week and I'm enjoying it a lot. Here's a couple of do's (and don'ts) I've noticed:

Do give this a game a try with only 2 or 3 players! I've read a few comments that the game needs more players, and I agree that it plays differently with 5 than with 2 or 3, but it's still very good with fewer players. In fact it is very tense with only 2 players.

Don't let another player sit on the gondola too long! Especially if they manage to steal back the Gondoliere card, then they will sit on the gondola and collect 2 points here and there which really add up. It takes a concerted effort by the other players to steal the card away from them. It can be especially good for the gondola player if they also have the Spion since that means the only way to steal the Gondoliere is to pick at random as the start player. Which leads to...

Do remember to save a pillar marker in reserve! We were in a situation where a player was sitting on the gondola but had stolen back the Gondoliere and also had the Spion. I went to a lot of trouble to get the start player card by playing a Ratsherr (who has the >> symbol and forces the start player to rotate), then used the start player's ability to steal a card which I had to do a couple of times, but finally stole the Spion. In my next turn I used it to steal the Gondoliere and I was so excited! But when I went to reach for my pillar marker to place onto the gondola.... What?? where are all my pillar markers? In my greed to be the master builder of Venice I had placed them all onto the pillars and hadn't left one to use for placing onto the Gondola! So not only had I lost 3 or 4 turns to get that card, but now it wasn't going to pay off, and in fact, the lead player was still sitting on the gondola! argh.

Don't underestimate the Spekulant! He came out 3 or 4 times in our game last night, and the first 3 times he struck out completely, but the last time he scored 12 points as both of the other plays chose the Baumeister!! That was a huge jump in points and it came at a crucial time right at the end of the game. That player only lost by a couple of points in a very close finish.

Do consider putting the cards into sleeves. They get a lot of handling in the game and mine are already getting some notched corners and bends. The cards are good quality (everything in the game is) but even the best cards can't hold up to that much action. Tiles might almost have been a better choice, but since I'm going to put them into sleeves I might also print up the English cards that someone has kindly posted here on the Geek and use those (although the German cards haven't stopped us from enjoying the game).

Thread: Ideas for the extra card?

steveoliverc — 2007-06-13T15:45:00+00:00

Has anyone thought of a way to use the extra character card?

Thread: Re: The Bag

lexen — 2007-05-22T02:45:16+00:00

Even if you don't "feel" the contents of the bag, you can still count the pillars on the gameboard so you know how many are remaining.

I agree, however you have to be the starting player to pull this off first hand, otherwise someone could taken over the lead before you can end the game...
believe me this has happened! so in a 2p even a 3p game it's possible but with a 4-6P game this is far less likely.
This is not a game where you have someone take a big lead anyway.
Cheers
lexen

Thread: Re: The Bag

GeoMan — 2007-05-21T11:43:56+00:00

lexen wrote:
However you do not know if you still can pull 4 or 5 out and thus not end the game.

Even if you don't "feel" the contents of the bag, you can still count the pillars on the gameboard so you know how many are remaining.

Thread: Re: The Bag

lexen — 2007-05-21T03:31:08+00:00

it is to hide how many are left and without really "feeling" the bag you could be mistaken in how many are left. everyone knows the end is near. However you do not know if you still can pull 4 or 5 out and thus not end the game. Again unless you feel around a bit and count which is something you're not really allowed to do since that's what the bag is for.
So in short: if you play with those kind of players that like to have a counting advantage over others don't use the bag (because one way or another they'll count the pillars)!
However, If you play with players that like to just have a blast, then play with the bag!
You do not really win the game in the end but during the game, but the endgame could matter if someone is ahead and wants to end the game to secure his victory.

Thread: Re: Simple Rules Question - Placing Pillar Markers

Rino — 2007-05-18T11:13:34+00:00

"Es müssen keine in diesem Zug gebauten Pfähle sein" actually means:
They don't have to be pillars built this turn.

Well, that's a relief, the game is so much better this way !

I think the game really suffers from translation errors : all rules I've read are wrong, be they in French or in English... English rules say option a) (only on pillars built this turn), French rules say option b) (not on pillars built this turn). The worst is option b) since the game is broken this way...

(By the way there's another error in the French translation of the "Spy" card, where it's unclear that you get to choose the card and see the other player's hand, it just says you pick a card...)

Well, so I think there are quite a few people that don't play this game with the correct rules, and don't appreciate it as much as they could.

Thread: Re: English Printing?

Bobby4th — 2007-05-10T22:22:58+00:00

I looked for an announcement of a U.S. printing and couldn't find anything. I recently ordered my copy from Game Surplus (http://www.gamesurplus.com/site/product.cfm?id=2E2DA666-DEF3...).

Thread: English Printing?

RecklessJester — 2007-05-10T22:14:08+00:00

Does anyone know if there are plans for an English printing? Or of any place to get this in the US?

Image

henk.rolleman — 2007-05-10T21:56:58+00:00

Pechtunker

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henk.rolleman — 2007-05-10T21:56:16+00:00

Baumeister

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henk.rolleman — 2007-05-10T21:55:44+00:00

Ratsherr

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henk.rolleman — 2007-05-10T21:55:13+00:00

Startspieler

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henk.rolleman — 2007-05-10T21:54:37+00:00

Erfinder

Thread: Re: English rules?

gunnaronthesaw — 2007-04-15T10:01:53+00:00

Hello Josh,
as You can find in the rules section , the author (Happel) explains that when You place pillar markers You are free to set them on all free pillars, not only the newly placed. So please change this in Your translation.
I was not forwarded to Your mail adressed when clicking so I have to take it this way instead.

Thread: Re: Game Review

Goodsound — 2007-04-06T12:22:13+00:00

Ian, you wrote a detailed review which is great. I can accept that in the end you're not fond of the game, but some of your reasoning is odd.

iansc wrote:

This is the first problem with the game. You may be desperate to place columns, but if you don’t possess the right card you can’t do it, nor can you influence whether your right hand neighbour will pass the card to you. The only tough choice in the game is whether to play the Gondolier card.

This is only part true. The game can't go on if nobody ever plays a Pitch Dipper. As they are played they go around players hand and will also come to you. So it's only one or two rounds that you wait for a Pitch Dipper. However I don't agree that the only valuable alternative is to play the Gondolier:
Play the Beggar to copy the Pitch Dipper another player has used.
Play the Spy if another player tries to keep those Pitch Dippers.
Play the Councillor to build up your stock of city tiles. You don't get many victory points with pilars but with building city tiles.

iansc wrote:

This is also a blind action game, and beyond guesswork there’s no way to tell which cards your opponents will choose. This makes the effect of the Trader, Inventor and Speculator cards very random.

It's not that random. You just have to think how valuable would it be that player X plays in the next round a councillor or master builder. You have to read the situation on the map and think of the cards that were passed along in the round before. If you're not able to outthink whar your adversaries will play then it will seem random to you.

iansc wrote:

The biggest problem, however, is that the board is simply far too big. There are around one hundred squares for a game with just sixty columns.
Again, this is not a problem because it was done on purpose: a smaller board would cause the Canale Grande to be shorter and weaken the function of the Gondolier.
Another reason: If the board was only sixty squares big, many city tiles could not be built because the shapes wouldn't fit anymore in the gaps in the end game.

iansc wrote:

This means that each player inevitably tends to concentrate on a separate locality, reducing any interaction between plays.

Why should they do that? It's counterproductive! If you put your markers only on your own pilars other players will not build onto yours because they don't want to give you points. But if you want to win, you need earning points from your markers, therefore you should spread them. Leaving only a few on your pilars to invite other players to build on them. If you don't understand that mechanism you will never succeed in this game and therefore find it only a mediocre experience.

iansc wrote:

Interestingly, the district tiles also cover more than a hundred squares, leaving the impression that the designers intended to include more columns, but the budget wouldn’t stretch to it.

This approach is not correct either (imho). They included that many tiles for it is not possible to become a tile monopolist during the game. This was done for balancing issues.
Imagine a player not stocking up himself with tiles of all shapes but only as many as he can from one shape. If he'd own all such tiles he would severely screw his fellow players.

iansc wrote:

When I played Die Säulen with my gaming group, the verdict was rather a neutral one and no one expressed any great desire to play again. The bottom line is that if you want a straightforward tile-laying game with some attractive wooden components, then you’ll like this. If you want a demanding game formed of difficult decisions and much player interaction, then there’s little to excite here.
My rating: 6.

Your conclusion tells me that your group didn't get all the opportunities the cards do offer. Maybe a fact given to the German language or that you wrote this review after just one play.
Myself I don't rate the game that much higher than you but your reasoning just seemed to me following a wrong approach.

Thread: Re: Will this have an English Release?

Skyjack — 2007-03-18T13:27:51+00:00

Which is exactly why we would want an English version.
If it is language independent and cheap to ship it stands
to reason a language translation would not be as vital. It is
when you can't read the cards and it is too expensive to ship that
a consumer would really want a translated version.

Terry Sr.

Thread: Just pick one from the top ......

Knutster — 2007-02-20T19:28:04+00:00

Jim_P wrote:
Though not specifically stated in the rules are the tiles shuffles by type, dealt, and stacked face down?

We have been playing this way, but someone checked the rules translation and could find no mention of how the tiles are stacked. If you gain a two-square tile can you search through the stack for the one you want, or do you get a random pick?

Dear gamers !

In "Die Säulen von Venedig" the tiles/ quarters are sorted according to forms in piles, the individual piles are shuffled and placed openly on the game board.

Who plays the actioncard Ratsherr (councilman), takes himself one or more quarters from the general supply.
The quarters are taken from the top of the piles and put openly to the personal supply.

By the way, during the design of the game we had test rounds in which we allowed players to search through the stacks for specific tiles.
While this turned out to be a nice tactical feature, it did not really impress the casual gamers amongst or testers, and hence that rule twist did not make it into the final game design.

Knut Happel
http://www.die-saeulen-von-venedig.de

Thread: Re: Tiles

skeletodoc — 2007-02-19T23:11:55+00:00

The box cover bottom shows the tiles face up...........I assume that's the way to play. I do not believe you can search the piles.

Thread: Tiles

Jim_P — 2007-02-19T21:51:13+00:00

Though not specifically stated in the rules are the tiles shuffles by type, dealt, and stacked face down?

We have been playing this way, but someone checked the rules translation and could find no mention of how the tiles are stacked. If you gain a two-square tile can you search through the stack for the one you want, or do you get a random pick?

Thread: Re: The Bag

fellonmyhead — 2007-01-30T11:17:53+00:00

From some of the pictures here, from my own experience but not from the English translation that is exactly what it is for.

I don't think it is for hiding how many pillars are remaining, just to make it convenient for players to take what they need and pass the rest on.

Thread: The Bag

GeoMan — 2007-01-30T10:02:39+00:00

Do you use the included bag to hide the pillars during the game or do you only use it for storage?

It doesn't seem to be of much use during the game since near the end of the game a player who draws pillars can easily determine how many are remaining.