Florence
Florence Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
How This Rulebook Works
Throughout, we've formatted the rules to make learning and teaching easier:
The important rules are written like this. You can learn the basics of the game by reading these.
Clarifications, explanations and examples are written like this.
Game Overview
In a game of Florence, you will:
Climb the social ladder: Dispatch your family members to parties around the city – everyone's going to be there, but it'll take cunning if you want to be remembered.
Flirt with the Medici: They're the most powerful people in the city! Getting some face-time with Cosimo, Contessina, and Giovanni will be crucial if you want to get anywhere around here.
Lavish them with gifts: What do you buy the people who have everything? It doesn't matter, as long as you bought them more than anyone else!
Secure the city: Who knows what drunkards are wandering around on a night like this? Deploy your guards to patrol the streets, keep out the riff-raff and spy on your rivals!
Brag about your power: What's the point in being powerful if nobody knows about it? Make sure you make plenty of toasts and speeches tonight – if you time it well, the Medici might just give you something in return.
Components
If any of the following is missing or damaged when it arrives with you, please email [email protected] with your name, address, phone number, and where you bought the game.
- x1 Noble Dial
- x5 Player Boards
- x1 Main Board
- x5 +100/200 VP Tokens — Keep these nearby. When a player's score passes 100, they take one. Later, if they pass 100 again, they flip the marker over (to show the +200 side.)
- x8 Time Tokens
- x9 Location Tokens
- x27 Queue Blocker Tokens
- x3 Destination Markers
- x9 Brag Tiles
- x1 First Player Token
- x3 Carriages
- x36 Scandal Cards (Three sets of 12, each with 1 of the depicted backs and 3 copies of each of the 4 Noble Abilities, see back cover)
- x6 Scheme Cards (With matching backs and 6 unique fronts.)
- x10 Solo Cards
In each player colour (x5):
- x1 Score Tracker
- x6 Gifts
- x6 Brag Markers
- x5 Debutants
- x3 Donnas
- x1 Maestro
- x6 Guards
- x1 Pass Rings (Their shapes vary, but function remains the same.)
Game Design: Dean Morris. Game Development: Dann May, Lewis Shaw. Art & Design: Dann May, Lewis Shaw. Solo Mode: Dávid Turczi, Xavi Bordes, David Digby. Rulebook Editing: Jonathan Bobal. Sculpting: Andrew Forster. Publisher: Braincrack Games Ltd. First Edition, 2021 © Braincrack Games Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
Special Thanks go to Emily Shaw, Miles Giddings, Paul Spencer, Nicolas Oury, Fabio Lopiano, Brenna Noonan, and Playtest UK.
Setup
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Each player chooses a colour, then takes a player board, and the following components in that colour:
- 3 Gifts (there will be 3 left, see step 5)
- 6 Brag Markers
- 6 Guards
- 1 Pass Ring
Each player sets the Time dial on their player board to 12, and places the following pieces of their colour onto the matching spots:
- 5 Debutants
- 3 Donnas
- 1 Maestro
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Place the main board in the centre of the table (with each player's score tracker on '0').
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Deal 1 random Scheme card to each player (return the rest to the box). You may look at your card, but they are kept a secret from other players.
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Shuffle the Brag tiles and deal 1 face-up (randomly) onto each location on the main board.
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Place the Noble Dial nearby. Turn it so the arrow on its edge points to the space marked by '1.' Place the remaining Gifts in each player colour nearby.
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Draw 3 random Location tokens, then randomly place 1 Noble Carriage on each corresponding spot on the board.
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Shuffle these 3 Location tokens and place them in a face-down pile. Shuffle the remaining 6 tokens separately, and place them face-down on top to make a pile of 9 face-down Location tokens.
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Shuffle all Time tokens, then place them together in a face-down pile.
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Deal 2 Time tokens and 3 Location tokens face-up onto the visible corresponding spots on the Noble Dial. Do not place a Time Token covering the first slot with a '12' printed on it.
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Place each Destination Marker on the corresponding location on the board, as indicated by the Noble dial (in the example, Cosimo is going to 8, Contessina is going to 6, and Giovanni is going to 9).
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Separate the Scandal cards into 3 piles, according to the different coloured Seals on their backs (12 of each.) Shuffle each pile separately; then, place each pile (face-down) on their corresponding spot, at the top of the main board.
If there are 3 or fewer players:
- On the board, the queue of available spaces at each location has several numbered spots. At each location, cover the spots that show a number higher than the number of players with Queue Blocker tokens.
Locations
The board has 9 Locations. Each has a space for a Brag tile (A), a Number (B), and 7 spaces for player pieces, 1 of which is highlighted (C) – this is the front of the queue, known as Prime Position.
A number of Queue spaces at each Location are numbered. These spaces are unavailable when the player count is lower than the printed number (see step 12 of Setup.)
There is also a blue Shield icon next to each queue, where Guards are placed via the Giovanni Gift Action (p. 9).
Before the First Round
Give a random player the 1st player marker. Then, from the last player (to the right of the 1st) going counter-clockwise, each player places a Debutant from their player board on any Location that does not already have a Family Member placed there.
Example: In a 3-player game, turn order is Blue (1st player), Green, then Orange (last player). Starting with the last player (Orange), and proceeding in reverse-turn order: Orange places a Debutant, then Green, then finally Blue.
Game Structure
The game has 9 rounds, each of which is split into the same 5 phases. The phases are summarised here:
1. Gain Time
All players gain the amount of Time on this round's Time token, then discard it.
The 1st space with a printed 12 is why players start with 12 time! Subsequently, the amount ranges from 2-9. Discarded Time Tokens are never used again.
Keeping time: Actions in Florence cost time. You track your supply of time using the dial on your player board.
You can have up to 12 time, and no less than 0. Any extra you gain is lost.
Each player starts with 12. You can gain time by discarding Scandals (p. 9).
2. Perform Actions
From the 1st player going clockwise, each player performs 1 action (p. 8-9). Continue until all players have chosen to Pass.
3. Noble Movement
After all players pass, the active Noble (and only the active Noble) moves to the location indicated on their Location token.
Arrows (right) on the board show the route the Noble takes to reach their destination.
When a Noble enters a location, the player that has a Family Member on the Prime Position spot gets victory points, and the player with the best Brag gets a Scandal card from the active Noble's deck.
This happens whether the Noble is just passing, or arriving at their final destination. This scoring is detailed further on p. 10.
Once done, return the Location token on the Noble Dial to the box.
4. Queue Scoring
Complete the Queue scoring detailed on the active segment of the Noble dial.
This is explained on p.10-11. It's unique to each Noble, but generally rewards players on their Destination.
5. Cleanup
After Queue Scoring, perform the following steps in order. You can skip this at the end of round 9.
- Pass the 1st player marker to the next player in clockwise order
- Retrieve Pass Rings from the board
- Rounds 3 & 6: Gain the amount of Gifts in your colour as indicated at the bottom of the active segment of the Noble dial
- Rounds 1-6: Rotate the Noble dial, covering the just-resolved segment. Place a random Time and Location token into the newly revealed slots
- Rounds 1-6: Move the Destination marker of the Noble that just moved to their newly revealed Destination. Rounds 7-9: instead, remove it - this Noble will no longer be moving.
How the Game Ends
After 9 rounds, the game ends.
Players gain points from their Scheme cards, and unspent time. For more info, see p.12.
The player with the most Victory Points (VP / 🏆) is the winner!
Game Concepts
Family Members
Each player has 5 Debutants, 3 Donnas and 1 Maestro. References to Family Members refer to any of these.
Debutants are deployed directly to the board. They can be replaced with a Donna via the 'Promote' action. A Maestro replaces a Donna in the same way.
Guards
Each player also has 6 Guards. These are not Family Members. Guards are deployed by Gift Actions (p.9) and some Scandal Cards (p.9).
Rules of Society
When moving or being deployed to locations, Family Members must observe a strict code of conduct in order to preserve their social standing.
Priority: The 1st Family Member on a location is placed on Prime Position (👤).
Latecomers join the end of the queue. When someone leaves, anyone who was behind them move up to fill the space, in order.
Example: A Purple debutant arrives. Blue and Orange debutants are already there, so Purple joins the queue. When Blue leaves, Orange and Purple move up one space to fill the gap.
Seniority: When Family Members of different ranks share a location, they queue in order of seniority (Maestros, Donnas, then Debutants.)
When arriving at a location, higher ranks queue in order of Seniority and Priority. Junior family members move down to make space, and the piece joins the queue behind equal or higher ranking pieces who arrived earlier.
Example: A Blue maestro arrives, and joins the queue behind Orange's maestro but in front of all other inferior family members.
Control: A player with the most Family Members on a location controls it.
Ties are broken in favor of the player with the highest Priority in the queue. Regardless of the Family Member type, they are all considered equal when determining control of a location.
Example: Blue has more pieces here, so controls the location. In another example, Orange and Blue are tied. Blue has a piece further ahead, giving them control.
When Family Members are Promoted, adjust their position immediately.
Example: Orange promotes a Debutant to a Donna, and moves it to the front of the queue. Blue has lost control.
The Nobles
There are 3 Nobles in the game – Cosimo, Contessina and Giovanni. References to Nobles mean any of these 3.
Each Noble has a Carriage, Destination Marker, and deck of Scandal cards. The Carriage marks their current position, while the Destination Marker indicates where they'll move next.
Cosimo is the patriarch of the Medici. At social occasions, he will always grant an audience if someone can get there in time to talk to him. Friends of Cosimo find life in Florence a lot easier, with access to his unrivalled knowledge of shortcuts around the city.
Contessina may be a Medici by marriage, but to the noble families of Florence, she is as legitimate as any other. A veteran of high society, Contessina has developed a distaste for anyone who she sees as 'below' her.
Giovanni is Cosimo and Contessina's youngest son, but he is by far the most successful. Many fear the power is going to his head. While Giovanni revels in his power, he is wary of sycophants. Take time to gain his trust before trying to gain his favour.
Actions
During the Perform Actions phase, players spend time on actions. Starting with the 1st player and going clockwise, each player performs exactly 1 action, until all players have chosen to Pass.
On a turn, a player chooses 1 of the actions described here, and pays the indicated amount of time.
Pass (0 time)
Take your ring and place it on 1 of the board Locations (unless you're the last to pass, in which case the round ends.)
Place the ring so the Location number is visible. You cannot place it on a Location where someone has placed their ring, but you may place it where there is a Destination Marker or Carriage.
Once you have passed, you cannot perform more actions this round.
The 1st player to pass each round gains 2 time. If it would become your turn again after you have Passed, pick 1 of the following bonuses:
- Swap 1 Family Member you have on your ring's Location with an adjacent Family Member (respecting Seniority)
- Gain 1 Time
- Gain 1 VP
Move (-1 time)
Move 1 of your deployed Family Members from their current location, along a path with a Shield icon on it, to an orthogonally adjacent location.
You can move along any path along the board that has a shield on it – i.e. all roads except the diagonal path through the park in the top left, which is only used by Nobles.
When you arrive at the new location, follow Priority & Seniority rules (p.7). If a location has no empty spaces, you may not Move there.
Immediately after leaving an area, remaining Family members (if any) at that location move up to fill the queue (as needed).
Rush (-3 time)
Move 1 Family Member twice, or 2 Family Members once, following the above rules.
When moving 1 Family Member twice, you may pass through a location that has no empty spaces, provided you don't stop there.
Brag (-1 time)
Perform a Brag. Each Brag rewards VPs based on how many times you've met its criteria. You may only Brag if all of the following are true:
- You have 1 or more Family Members on the same location as the Brag tile
- You must have at least 1 Brag marker
- You don't have a marker on it already
Each Brag is described at the back of this rulebook.
When you perform a Brag, gain the corresponding VPs, and place a Brag marker in your colour on the spot next to the point range that includes the amount of VPs you scored.
If the position matching your VPs is occupied, place your marker on the next lowest empty spot. If there are no such spots, you may not choose to take this action.
You may perform a Brag even if you score 0 VPs - as long as the bottom space is available.
You only have 6 Brag markers, but there are 9 Brags! Once placed, they can't be removed / moved, except by using a Scandal card.
Example: The pictured Brag grants 2 VP per location where you have at least 1 Family Member. Orange has 5 such locations, so they score 10 VPs, and put their marker on the '7-12' space. Blue also performs the Brag, and scores 8 VPs. As the '7-12' spot is already occupied, they place their Brag marker on the '0-6' spot instead.
Dispatch (-4 time)
Move a Debutant piece from your player board onto any Location with a vacant queue space on the main board.
The Debutant always goes to the back of the line on the location, following the rules on p7.
If all your Debutants are on the main board, you may not perform this action.
Promote (-5 time)
Replace a deployed Debutant with a Donna, or a deployed Donna with a Maestro.
You may not directly replace a Debutant with the Maestro.
Give a Gift (-2* time)
Give a Gift to a Noble.
You must have a Gift (you start with 3.)
Gifts stay on the board for the entire game and cannot be taken away or moved. If you've already placed all your gifts, you can't perform this action.
You must have a Family Member at the location of the Carriage of the Noble you are giving the Gift to.
You aren't restricted to the active Noble, e.g. if Contessina is active, you may still give gifts to Cosimo or Giovanni.
The cost of this action varies, according to the number of Gifts you've already given the Noble in question.
The first Gift you give to each Noble costs 2 time. Subsequent gifts cost +1 time per gift you've already given that Noble.
For example, giving your 3rd gift to a Noble will cost 4 time.
Spend the time and place 1 of your gifts onto the Noble's gift area on the board:
Place 1 Guard piece of your colour onto 1 unoccupied Shield space of the Noble's colour. Each Noble offers a unique effect:
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Cosimo lets you place a Guard as an Escort. His shields mark the paths on the board. If you move a Family Member along a path occupied by an Escort of your colour, gain 1 time. If another player does the same you gain 2 VP (they do not gain any time.)
You must have the time to spend on the movement before you do it (i.e. you cannot use the time gained from moving to pay for the movement if you have 0 time.)
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Contessina lets you place a Guard as a Spy. Her shields mark the Brag tiles. When any Noble passes through or ends movement on a Location where you have a Spy, you gain a Scandal card of their colour (as well as the person with the best Brag.)
Spies do not block Brag spaces. Your hand limit of 5 Scandals must still be respected – if you would gain further Scandals, you instead gain 1 time. You can gain 2 cards from 1 Location at once: 1 from the Spy, another from your Brag, if it is the highest.
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Giovanni lets you place a Guard as a Bouncer. His shields are next to each queue. When a Family Member enters a Location with a Bouncer of the same colour, it advances as far ahead in the queue as possible, while respecting Seniority.
The effect occurs whether Moving, Promoting or Dispatching. It may occur when using a Scandal card to move, promote or dispatch a piece. There must be an empty space in the queue – you cannot use Bouncers to displace Family Members!
Play a Scandal (? time)
Play 1 Scandal card, pay the time cost on it (if any) and perform the action on it.
This counts as your 1 allowed action. When cards are played, form a discard pile for each Noble. When a Noble's Scandal deck empties, shuffle the discard to replace it.
Trading Scandals for Time
At any time, without using an action, you may discard 1 Scandal to gain 1 time.
You do not perform the action listed on the card.
Scandal Cards
Scandal cards represent the valuable information you can gain by flirting with the Medici – and the effects that information can have. There are 3 piles, 1 per Noble, each with different cards.
You can hold up to 5 Scandals at once. For each Scandal gained over your limit, instead gain 1 time.
Scandal cards are gained by having the highest Brag on each location visited during the Noble Movement phase (and from Contessina's spies, see left.) When gaining Scandals this way, they are always taken from the pile of the active Noble.
Their effects are explained on the back cover.
Noble Movement & Scoring
Noble Movement
After all players have passed during the Perform Actions phase, the active Noble (and only the active Noble) moves to their destination.
On the board, the arrows (pictured right) show the direction that the Noble will travel. The Noble follows this path until they reach their destination marker, then they stop.
Only the active noble (i.e. the one whose Carriage is printed on the current segment of the Noble Dial) moves. Each Noble moves 3 times per game: first Cosimo, then Contessina, then Giovanni.
Example: Cosimo starts on Location 7 and will end on location 2. Cosimo starts by moving to location 4, then location 1. He then comes back to location 5, then proceeds to location 2, and stops.
Prime Position Scoring: When a Noble enters a location the player with a piece in Prime Position there immediately receives the VPs listed on the Noble Dial.
Prime Position is the 1st space in the queue.
They do not need to Control the location.
The Noble does this whenever they enter a location, whether they are passing by or arriving at their destination. They don't give VPs for the location they started at. No VPs are given at empty Locations.
Example: At Location 2, Cosimo gives one of his Scandal cards to Orange, but not Blue.
Example: Cosimo visits 4 locations in the above example. He offers 1 VP to each occupied Prime Position. He awards it once to Orange, twice to Blue.
Brag Scoring: Whoever has performed the best Brag on the location the Noble has just entered (i.e. the player whose Brag marker is higher than anyone else's) draws 1 card from the Active Noble's Scandal deck, as long as they have a Family Member present there.
The Noble does this every time they enter a location, whether they are passing by or arriving at their destination.
Players with a Brag marker beneath the highest gain nothing. As with Prime Position, if no markers are present, no reward is given.
Even a player with a Brag marker on the lowest spot can get this reward if no other markers are present.
Queue Scoring
After the Noble Movement phase, the Active Noble (who just moved) awards victory points to players with Family Members on their destination, according to the current segment of the Noble Dial.
Only the active Noble will perform Queue Scoring. The others do not.
All Prime Position and Brag scoring must be completed before Queue Scoring can start.
Each Noble scores a little differently, but for all of them, the victory points they award increase as the game progresses.
Cosimo awards varying VP to the owner of each Family Member in the queue, based on their position.
A player is awarded VPs for each of their Family Members on the Location (as such, players can score multiple times.)
Example: Round 1. Cosimo scores Location 2. Orange occupies the 1st and 3rd spaces, while Blue occupies the 2nd and 4th. Orange scores 15 VP (11 + 4) and Blue scores 9 VP (7 + 2).
Contessina believes certain people simply aren't worth her time. Her scoring works the same as Cosimo, except she will not award VPs to Debutants.
VP that would be awarded to a Debutant is simply ignored. It is not distributed to other Family Members in the queue.
Example: Round 2. Contessina scores Location 5. Black occupies the 1st and 2nd spaces with a Maestro and Donna. Orange has the 3rd space, but with a Debutant, so they do not score. Black scores 22 VP (13 + 9).
Giovanni prefers to award players who Control a location – but only if they spend time to talk to him!
When Giovanni scores, the player who controls that location (see p.7) may spend the indicated time to get the 1st score.
If they do, the player with the 2nd most Family Members present may take the 2nd score by paying the corresponding amount of time, and the 3rd such player may do the same with the 3rd score.
Example: Round 3. Giovanni scores Location 3. Orange occupies the 1st and 2nd spaces, while Blue occupies the 3rd. As they have the most pieces present, Orange controls the Location. Orange spends 4 time to score 20 VP, and Blue spends 2 time to score 12 VP.
If a player cannot (or chooses not to) pay the required time, the next ranked player has the opportunity to claim that reward (paying the time as required); this repeats, until a player chooses to claim the reward, or all players pass on it.
Each player may only gain one award from Giovanni; thus, if you claim the reward of a player ranked higher than you, you do not receive your original reward anymore; it is deferred to the player ranked below you.
Similarly, you may not relinquish your prize to claim a lower one instead – it would be too embarrassing!
Resolve ties using the Priority & Seniority rules (p.7.)
Cleanup Phase
As summarised on p.6, at the end of rounds 1-8 there is a Cleanup Phase before the next round begins.
The 1st player marker (right) is handed to the next player in clockwise order.
The player with the 1st player marker is the 1st player to act in each Perform Actions phase.
In rounds 3 & 6, the players gain the amount of Gifts in their colour indicated at the bottom of Giovanni's segment.
This is 2 Gifts in round 3, and 1 in round 6. These gained gifts are taken from those set aside during setup, not from those given to Nobles (those are never removed.)
In rounds 1-6, the Noble Dial is rotated 1 space, so the segment that was just resolved is covered.
Once done, place new Time and Location tokens face-up onto the newly revealed slots.
Time and Location tokens from the previous rounds are returned to the box, and will not be used again this game.
Move the Destination marker of the Noble that activated this round to the Location on the newly placed Location token (or remove their Destination Marker from the board if it is round 7-9, as they won't move again.)
The Carriage should be left in place, so that players can still give Gifts to that Noble.
All players retrieve their Pass Rings from the board, if used.
Game End
After round 9, the game ends. Players gain additional VPs before a winner is declared.
As with the rest of the book, Victory Points are abbreviated to VPs here. In-game, VPs are represented by this icon: 🏆
Score Remaining Time
Each player scores 1 VP for every 2 Time they have remaining on the dial on their player board, rounded down.
E.g. If you have 3 time, you would score 1 VP.
Score Scheme Cards
Each player scores VPs from their Scheme card, according to how many Family Members they have on the indicated locations at game end.
Each player is dealt 1 Scheme during setup. Each shows a map of the board, with 4 highlighted locations.
If the player has 4 or more Family Members across those locations, they score the corresponding VPs. It is possible to score 0, but not more than 35.
If you have fewer than 4 Family Members on the indicated locations, you score nothing.
The player does not need to have a piece on all 4 locations, nor do they need to control or be in Prime Position on any of them.
Declare the Winner
Once the above steps have been fully resolved, the winner is the player with the most Victory Points.
In the case of a tie, the player with the most Family Members on the main board wins. If a tie persists, the player who has given the most Gifts wins. If a tie still persists, players rejoice in their shared victory!
Solo Mode
Florence includes rules and cards for a solitaire mode. In this mode, you compete with Palla Strozzi – the richest of all Florentine nobles, a man with an insatiable appetite for wealth and power.
In these rules, he's referred to as 'Strozzi.'
These rules refer to the Nobles currently visible on the Noble Dial as Noble A, B and C:
Noble A: The active Noble in the current round.
Noble B: The Noble that will be active in the next round.
Noble C: The Noble that will be active after Noble B.
In Round 8, Giovanni is Noble B and C. In Round 9, he is all three.
Setup
- Set up the game as usual.
- Give Strozzi a player board with all Orange and Blue Family Members, Guards, Gifts and Brag tokens. Give him 1 score marker and 1 Ring (orange or blue). He does not get a Scheme card.
- Shuffle the solo cards into a face-down pile.
- Give yourself the start player marker.
- Strozzi starts with 3 Guards (either colour) on the board: 1 on the Cosimo shield immediately after his carriage's location (if Location 1, put it between Location 1 & 2), 1 on the Contessina shield on the Brag tile at Contessina's destination, and 1 on the Giovanni shield on Giovanni's destination.
- The rules for the 1st round still apply. As the 2nd player, Strozzi deploys his Debutants before you: 1 Orange Debutant on Cosimo's destination and 1 Blue Debutant at Giovanni's destination.
Gain Time
In the 1st Gain Time phase, Strozzi gets 6 time. In future rounds he gets the same as you, but never less than 4.
Perform Actions
When it's your turn to perform actions, rules apply as in the multiplayer game. When it is Strozzi's turn:
If he has 1 or more time: Draw a card from his deck, and discard into a face-up pile. Each has a time cost (2-3). When drawn, reduce his time accordingly before resolving. If it costs more time than he has, he loses all his time, and resolves it anyway.
If he has 0 time and hasn't passed: He Passes, placing his ring on the 1st Destination (from Noble A to C) where he has no Family Member in Prime Position and can swap pieces with you. If no such Location exists, look for any destination where he could swap pieces with you. If none exist, he keeps his ring.
In Giovanni's rounds (3, 6, 9) Strozzi Passes as soon as he has ≤3 time remaining, as long as he has a Family Member on Giovanni's Destination.
If he has already passed: He swaps the furthest behind of his pieces at the location of his ring 1 space ahead (if it is behind a piece of your colour).
If he couldn't place his ring, or he has made all possible swaps, he scores 1 / 2 / 3 VP in rounds 1-3 / 4-6 / 7-9.
Guard rules apply as normal to Strozzi when it comes to Contessina's Spies or Giovanni's Bouncers (other than the 2 VP gained when you move through him.) For each of your own Escorts you move through, score 1 VP (as well as 1 time.)
Noble Movement
Strozzi gains Prime Position VPs as normal. When Strozzi gains a Scandal card, discard the top card from the corresponding Noble and give him 1 time.
Noble Scoring
Strozzi scores Cossimo and Contessina normally. For Giovanni, he must spend the time indicated to get his reward. If he hasn't got enough time, he spends all his time and scores. If he has 0 time, he cannot score.
Cleanup Phase
Put aside the top 3 cards of Strozzi's deck, shuffle his discard pile together with the rest of the cards in his deck, and place the 3 cards you put aside back on top.
Perform the other steps of this phase as normal.
Strozzi's Cards
Cards 1-5: Deploy (3 Time)
These cards refer to the Destination of Noble A, B, or C. Perform the action from those below on the Location, according to whose destination it is.
Cosimo: Deploy 1 Debutant (of the indicated colour), and advance it to the highest possible space in the queue, respecting Seniority.
Contessina: Deploy 1 Donna of the indicated colour.
Giovanni: Deploy 2 Debutants (1 orange, 1 blue.)
If the Location is full, move to the next Noble Destination, cycling from C to A if needed. If no valid destinations exist, trace the Noble movement arrows back along a path from Noble A's destination until you find a Location where Strozzi can deploy.
If card 5 is drawn, place whichever colour Strozzi has fewer pieces of on the board. In a tie, you choose.
Card 6: Time to Party (0 Time)
Strozzi spends all his time, then Passes.
If this is the 1st card Strozzi reveals in a round, don't resolve it. Draw a new card, and shuffle this one back into the draw deck. If it is Giovanni's round, he will spend all time except 3, before passing.
Card 7: A Friend of Mine (3 Time)
Promote a Debutant (either colour) to a Donna on Noble A's Destination, if possible. Otherwise, do the same on Noble B or C's Destination.
If there's a Donna present at the Destination in question, no Debutant present, and / or no more available Donna pieces, promote the Donna to a Maestro instead.
See the rule in the boxout above in case of a piece shortage. If there are no Family Members on any of the Destinations, perform a Brag action (below) instead.
Cards 8 & 9: Brag (2 Time)
Strozzi performs a Brag on the 1st Location after Noble A's current position (following Noble arrows).
- In rounds 1-3, he gains the VP shown on the Brag Tile twice, and puts a Brag token of the indicated colour on the lowest space.
- In rounds 4-6, he gets the indicated VP three times and places the token on the middle space.
- In rounds 7-9, he gets the indicated VP four times and places the token on the highest space.
He doesn't need to meet the condition, or have a piece there.
If he can't Brag because the spot is occupied, move along the Noble Movement arrows until you find a Location with a Brag he can use.
Card 10: Deploy a Guard (2 Time)
Strozzi deploys a Guard on a shield of Noble B, at Noble B's Destination (or just before it, if it's Cosimo).
If the spot is taken, trace a path back along the Noble arrows until you find a Location where a Guard can be placed. If no such spots exist, or it's round 9, give Strozzi 2 VP instead.
End of the Game
You both score time (and you score your Scheme) as normal. If you have more VP than Strozzi, you win!
Difficulty Tuning
For an easier game, try some of these adjustments:
- Strozzi scores 1x / 2x / 3x for Brags instead of 2x / 3x / 4x
- Strozzi gains -1 Time per round (but still never less than 4)
- Strozzi doesn't get Time for Brags during the Noble Movement
- Strozzi doesn't place guards during setup
- Strozzi only scores ½ the VP if he hasn't got time to pay Giovanni
If Strozzi wants to deploy a piece of which he has none left:
- Move all deployed Family Members of that colour that aren't on a Noble Destination back to his supply.
- Place as indicated.
If no Family Members can be removed this way, do nothing.
If you find it too easy to beat, try these adjustments:
- If you pass 1st, you don't get a benefit when it's your turn again
- Strozzi gains 2 VP per remaining Time when he resolves Card 6
- Strozzi gains +1 time per round (but never more than 9)
- If Strozzi passes 1st, after doing his Pass action he gets 2 time
- In setup, give Strozzi a face-down Scheme to score at the end
- You cannot move along paths where Strozzi has a Guard.
Brag Tiles
Each Brag has a different condition. These are explained in detail below:
The Influencers: 5 VP for each Donna / Maestro you have placed on the main board.
Loudmouth: 3 VP for each Brag marker you've placed, including this one.
Scandalous: 3 VP for each Scandal Card in your hand, regardless of colour.
Life of the Party: 3 VP for each Prime Position you occupy.
Street Cred: 3 VP for each Family Member you have in the same row as this Location on the board (e.g if this Brag is on Location 7, 8, or 9, you score 3 VP for each of your Family Members placed on locations 7, 8, and 9.)
Upwardly Mobile: 3 VP for each Family Member you have in the same column as this Location on the board (e.g if this Brag is on Location 1, 4, or 7, you score 3 VP for each of your Family Members placed on locations 1, 4, and 7.)
Plus One: 4 VP for each Location where you have 2 or more Family Members.
Big Spender: 3 VP for each gift you've given (in total) to all Nobles.
Eyes Everywhere: 2 VP for each Location in which you have at least 1 Family Member.
Gameplay Example
Let's walk through one round of Florence to help show how it plays.
There are three players – Blue (first player), Orange and Purple. Before round 1, players deploy 1 Debutant each, without cost, in reverse player order: Purple, Orange, then Blue.
As Cosimo is headed to location 6 this round, Purple places their Debutant on 6.
Orange places on Location 5. As well as being near all 3 Destinations, it is along Cosimo's path, which will be useful during Noble Movement scoring.
Finally, Blue places a Debutant next to Cosimo's carriage, hoping to give him some Gifts early on to make use of Escorts.
Now, Round 1 can begin. Everybody starts the game with 12 Time.
Blue pays 2 Time to give a Gift to Cosimo. This lets them place a Guard as an Escort between 4 & 5. They wager Purple and Orange will move to 4, earning Blue 2 VP each time.
Orange pays 4 Time to deploy a Debutant on 6. As well as being the next Destination, this helps towards the Street Cred Brag (see left) on Location 5.
Purple pays 4 Time to deploy another Debutant on 6. They want to make the most of this scoring! Because Orange already placed there, Purple's Debutant joins the back of the queue.
After those actions, Blue has 10 time, Orange and Purple both have 8.
Blue moves their Debutant to 2 for 1 Time – it's along Cosimo's route to 6, so they'll get a bonus for being in Prime Position here.
Orange cashes in on their deployments with a Brag action for 1 Time. The Street Cred brag on 5 gives 3 VP for each Family Member Orange has in that row of Locations – in this case, 3 for 9 VP.
There are 3 slots free for a Brag token. Orange places theirs in the centre slot, for Brags worth between 7 - 12 VP (they scored 9.) Blue or Purple will need to score 13+ VP with this Brag to go in the higher slot, but they can still score the same amount or less and occupy the slot below. This won't get them anything during Noble Movements though!
Purple passes – they want to save some time for the next round, and don't want Orange to use their Pass ring on Location 6 and steal their Debutant's position!
Now, Blue has 6 Time, Orange has 3, and Purple has 3.
Everyone has made 1 action, so Blue can now go again. They give a 2nd Gift to Cosimo. Having already given him one before, the cost is now 3 Time (2 + 1.) This time they put the Guard between 5 & 6, hoping to make the most of Purple and Orange moving to meet Contessina.
Orange needs to remain on Location 5 to get the Scandal Card from their Brag when Cosimo arrives, so they pass.
Purple has already passed, so gets a bonus. They decide to gain 1 Time.
Blue has 2 Time, Orange 3, Purple 4.
Next, Blue passes.
The Action Phase ends as soon as Blue passes, so Orange and Purple don't get a bonus this time.
The Noble Movement Phase is next.
Blue still has some time, so they pay 4 to deploy a 2nd Debutant on 3, and secure another Prime Position bonus.
Cosimo moves to Location 6 via:
- Orange gets the Prime Position bonus (1 VP) and a Scandal Card from Cosimo's deck for their Brag. 2, 3. Blue gets 1 VP for Prime Position.
- Purple gets 1 VP for Prime Position.
Noble Scoring is next.
Cosimo grants points unconditionally to pieces gathered at his destination.
Purple has a Donna in Prime Position, and a Debutant in 2nd Position, worth 11 and 7 respectively. Purple gets 18 VP.
Orange has a Debutant in the 3rd spot, so they get 4 VP.
At the end of the first round, Blue has 2 VP (but stands to gain up to 14 VP from their Escorts next round!), Orange has 14, and Purple has 19!
Scandal Cards
Cosimo (Figlisto)
Figlisto, -2: Place a Guard anywhere on the board, even if another player's Guard is already there. You may place any of the 3 Guard types. The existing Guard's effect is unchanged.
Figlisto, -2: Move 1 of your deployed Family Members to any Location (any number of spaces away.) Ignores Escorts.
Figlisto, -3: Move 1-2 of your Family Members 1-3 spaces each.
Figlisto, -2: Deploy a Debutant at any Location where you already have a Donna or a Maestro.
Contessina (Carissima)
Carissima, -2*: Gift a Gift to any Noble, regardless of Location. Pay the normal cost (2 + 1 per Gift you've given the Noble.) You do not need to share a Location with their Carriage to do this.
Carissima, -3: Swap 1 of your Family Members with a lower-ranked piece at an orthogonally-adjacent Location. The replaced piece joins the queue as if they moved there.
Carissima, -3: Promote a Debutant to a Donna.
Carissima, -2: Move 1 of your Family Members as far ahead in their queue as they can while respecting Seniority.
Giovanni (Messere)
Messere, -2: Remove 1 of your Brag tokens from the board, and put it back in your area. You do not lose the VP you gained when you completed the Brag.
Messere, -2: Swap any 2 Family Members in a queue, respecting Seniority rules.
Messere, +3: Permanently remove 1 of your Family Members from the board. Note that this card gains you 3 time, instead of costing time. You may not redeploy the Family Member, so do not return them to your player board.
Messere, -1: Perform any Brag on the board, regardless of Location. You do not need a Family Member present. There must still be an available spot.