La Loire

La Loire Rulebook

Table of Contents

Components

The numbered components are shown on the rules sheet as follows:

1: horse token
2: trader token (red)
3: messenger token (yellow)
4: team of 2 horses and 1 red trader
5: team of 1 horse and 1 yellow messenger
6: message token (small cube)
7: ship token (round marker)
8: farm
9: monastery
10: castle (created from 1 farm and 1 tower)
11: circus

Message cards: levels 1, 2, 3 and 4 (the level-4 card is the Abbey message).

Coin cards: 1, 5 and 10 coins.

Goods cards: wood, grain, cheese, wine and beer, each showing its sale price.

Board key (lettered on the rules sheet):

A: the market
B: market prices (buying prices)
C: market tiles
D: examining the circus position during its movement
E: the colour of the circus's new location
F: the cities of Nantes and Orléans
G: the ships' starting point on the Loire
H: villages
I: goods in the villages
J: shield tile on the villages
K: the circus's starting village
L: the circus's starting market tile

Symbols used on cards:

victory point scored at game end
ship moves one space on the Loire
message card
horse
trader and/or messenger

Character card anatomy: card name, victory points, cost, picture, who may use the ability, and a description of the special ability.

Building card anatomy: card name, victory points, cost, picture, who may use the ability, and a description of the special ability.

Setup

Place the board on the table.
Place shield tiles at random on the wood-framed holes of the villages. If two adjacent shields are the same colour, swap one of them with another shield so that no two neighbouring shields share a colour.
Place the market tiles at random on the market, one per space, with the shield side up.
Place the circus token on the village of Ussé, and turn over the market tile of the matching colour so that the circus is visible.
Place one horse token on each of the following villages (return unused horses to the box):
- For 1 or 2 players: Montsoreau, Ussé, Amboise, Langeais, Vendôme and Talcy.
- For 3 or 4 players: Saumur, Chinon, Villandry, Cheverny, Angers, Tours, Blois and Beaugency.
Sort the cards by type:
- Message cards: sort by level. The back of the 1-coin message card marks level 1, the back of the 2-coin card marks level 2, and so on. Shuffle each of the four decks separately and place them face down.
- Coin cards: group by value.
- Goods cards: group by type of goods.
- Basic building cards: the farm, monastery, castle, circus, Nantes and Orléans cards are reference cards; there is one of each. They do not belong to any player.
- Palace building cards: there are 4 different palaces for both Nantes and Orléans, with 2 copies of each (16 cards in total). Place the Nantes palace cards and the Orléans palace cards in separate rows.
- Character cards: use as many Banker, Apprentice, Helper and Mayor cards as there are players (for example, 3 each for a 3-player game). Of all other characters, there are 2 identical cards each (except the 5 unique Blue character cards). For 3 or 4 players, use every character card. For 1 or 2 players, use only 1 card of each character (return unused cards to the box). The 5 Blue character cards are always used, regardless of player count.

Sidebar, 3-player game: a diagram shows the initial trader and messenger layout (horses and tokens placed on Nantes and Orléans) for a 3-player game.

Turn

The active player moves the trader and the messenger in any order.

Moving is mandatory, and at least one space must be moved. After each move, the player may immediately perform one action. The exception is the trader in the two cities, Nantes and Orléans, where the trader may perform several actions (see the table below). Actions are optional, and which actions are available depends on the space where the token stopped. Actions must always be performed after the move.

Movement

The trader or messenger may move one more space than the number of horses in its team, and must move all of them. There are 20 spaces on the board in total (Nantes, Orléans and 18 villages) where the players' pieces may stop and perform actions.

Before moving, the player may remove any number of horses from the team; this reduces the distance moved. The removed horses remain on the space where the team is.
A player may add a new horse to a team if there is a free horse token on the trader's or messenger's starting space (the Blacksmith may take a horse from any location). However, at most one horse may be added per turn (except for the Squire), and a team may contain at most 2 horses (except for the Scout).
The trader or messenger token moves together with its horse tokens, so the whole team travels together.
Moving is mandatory: at least one space must be moved. A player moves only one space if the trader or messenger has no horses.

Sidebar examples: a team of 2 horses moves exactly 3 spaces; a team of 1 horse moves exactly 2 spaces; a team with no horses moves exactly 1 space.

When the trader or messenger starts its movement in Nantes or Orléans, the player may freely choose the direction of travel. That direction must be kept until the token reaches the other city (Orléans or Nantes). The player must move exactly the required number of movement points to stop in Nantes or Orléans; the team may not stop earlier, and all other movement rules must still be followed (except for the City Guard).

The direction of travel may not be changed if the trader or messenger stops in a village. Road markers are placed on both sides of each village to help remember which way the player's piece is heading. The player's team must travel on the side of the road where the matching arrow is. The road sign on the left side of the road shows the direction (left-hand traffic).

Actions

An action is performed by the trader or messenger immediately after its move, depending on the space where it stopped. Actions are never mandatory.

Space	Trader	Messenger
Village	Buy 1 goods.	Deliver 1 message (level 1, 2 or 3).
Nantes or Orléans	Sell goods, build 1 building, and sail on the Loire (6 or 10 coins for 1 or 2 spaces).	Buy 1 message (level 1, 2 or 3). Deliver one level-4 message.
Circus village	Buy 1 goods 1 coin cheaper, OR hire 1 character.	Hire 1 character.
Village with a farm	Buy 1 goods 1 coin cheaper. The farm owner moves 1 space on the Loire with their ship.	The farm owner may buy 1 message (level 1, 2 or 3).
Village with a monastery	Buy 1 goods 1 coin cheaper, OR the owner may buy 1 beer. The monastery owner moves 1 space on the Loire with their ship.	The monastery owner may buy 1 level-4 message.
Village with a castle	Buy 1 goods 2 coins cheaper. The castle owner moves 1 space on the Loire with their ship.	The castle owner may buy 2 messages (level 1, 2 or 3).

Action: buy 1 goods

Performed by: the trader. Where: in a village.

If the trader stops in a village, the player may buy 1 goods item. The goods available in each village are drawn on that village. The price equals the market price of the matching shield tile.

The player pays the coins to the supply and takes the goods card from the supply. The goods acquired are kept face up in front of the player so that everyone can see them.

Important: a player may carry only 1 beer, 1 wine, 1 cheese (except the Dairyman) and 1 grain (except the Grain Farmer). Any amount of wood may be carried.

The goods card supply is limited: if a particular goods type runs out, that goods type cannot be bought.

A player may buy only one goods item per turn (except for the Lumberjack).

Action: sell goods

Performed by: the trader. Where: in Nantes or Orléans.

If the trader stops in Nantes or Orléans, the player may sell their goods. Sold goods are returned to the supply. The sale price is shown on the goods card. The player takes the coins from the supply.

The player is not required to sell all their goods; they may sell some or none at all.

Sidebar examples (sell and buy):

The red trader stops at Saumur and buys cheese for 1 coin.
The red trader stops at Nantes and sells 1 wood and 1 cheese, receiving 2 + 5 = 7 coins.

Action: sail on the Loire

Performed by: the trader. Where: in Nantes or Orléans.

The player may move their ship one space forward on the Loire by paying 6 coins (worth 1 point); or may pay 10 coins to move the ship 2 spaces along the river (worth 2 points).

A player may not use this action more than once per turn. That is, the player may not pay 10 + 6 = 16 coins to move the ship (1 + 2) = 3 spaces.

If a player's ship reaches the target position, that triggers the end of the game (see End of the Game). A ship may not move past this point.

Sidebar example: the red player pays 10 coins and moves their ship 2 spaces forward on the Loire.

Action: buy 1 goods in a village with a farm

Performed by: the trader. Where: in a village with a farm.

The same rule applies as for an empty village, but the goods price is 1 coin cheaper for the trader. This discount applies to all players, not only to the farm owner.

If any trader buys goods in a village with a farm, the farm owner gets 1 point on the river (that is, their ship moves 1 space forward). If the farm owner buys in their own farm village, they also receive the 1-coin discount on the goods, and the 1 point on the river.

The price of a goods item may be zero, but may not go below zero. The player's ship still moves 1 space forward on the Loire even if the purchase price is zero.

Only 1 goods item may be bought per turn.

Sidebar example: the red trader stops at Saumur and buys cheese for free (1 from the market, minus the 1-coin farm discount). The yellow player receives 1 point on the Loire.

Action: buy 1 goods in a village with a castle

Performed by: the trader. Where: in a village with a castle.

The same rule applies as for an empty village, but the purchase discount is 2 coins. The castle owner gets 1 point on the river.

The price of a goods item may be zero, but may not go below zero. The player's ship still moves 1 space forward on the Loire even if the purchase price is zero. Only 1 goods item may be bought per turn.

Action: buy 1 goods in a village with a monastery

Performed by: the trader. Where: in a village with a monastery.

The monastery is the only place where beer may be bought. The price of beer is double the normal market price of that place. Only the player who owns the monastery may buy beer at that place.

If the monastery owner buys beer, they receive 1 point (space) on the river.

The other option is for the player to buy the goods item assigned to that place (even if they do not own the monastery) with a 1-coin discount. The owner of the monastery's ship moves 1 space forward. The price of the goods may be zero, but may not go below zero. The player's ship still moves 1 space forward on the Loire even if the purchase price is zero. The monastery owner must choose whether to buy beer or the normal goods.

Only 1 goods item may be bought per turn.

Sidebar example: the red monastery is at Saumur. The player may buy cheese for free (1 coin, minus the 1-coin discount), or beer for 2 × 1 = 2 coins. Then the red ship moves 1 space.

Action: buy 1 goods in a village with a circus

Performed by: the trader. Where: in a village with the circus.

The circus gives an extra 1-coin discount on the purchase price. All other discounts also apply. For example, if the trader buys goods in a village with both a farm and a circus, the discount is 2 coins. With a circus and a castle, the discount is 3 coins. If the player buys beer in a village with a monastery, the coins are deducted after the market price has been doubled. All other rules apply. The price of a goods item may be zero, but may not go below zero. Only 1 goods item may be bought per turn.

Market change

After each goods purchase, the market must be shifted. The market tile matching the place where the goods were bought is moved to the right edge of the market. The new price of the goods of that place is then 4 coins. All other market tiles are shifted to the left.

For example, if the goods were bought in a village with a blue shield, the blue market tile is moved to the right edge of the market. The other market tiles (yellow, purple, red, green and white) each move one place to the left.

Sidebar captions: "Before the market purchase", "After the market purchase", and "Circus match" illustrate the market shift.

The circus movement

When the market is shifted, every market tile moves. Each market tile has two sides. One side shows only the shield; the other side shows a shield and the circus picture. This shows that the circus token is in a village with that shield. Only one market tile at a time may show its circus side.

If, after the market has been set, the circus market tile lands on the middle space of the market (where the circus is drawn on the board), the circus token changes location. The new location of the circus must have a shield of the same colour as the first (leftmost) market tile. Several villages may have shields of that colour. The active player decides which of these villages the circus moves to. After the circus token has been moved, the two market tiles must be turned over so that they show the circus's current location.

Sidebar caption: "The market tile turns over, and the circus token moves to a black-shield village."

Action: building purchase

Performed by: the trader. Where: in Nantes or Orléans.

Each player may build only 1 building per turn (except for the Economus).

Farm. The player pays 4 coins and 1 wood, and places a farm token on an empty village (a village with no other building; the circus does not count as a building). Important: there are two roads on the board, one on each side of the river. The player should try to spread their buildings evenly between the two roads. That is, the difference between the number of their buildings on the two roads may not be greater than 1 (except for the Surveyor). For example, if the player has 1 building on one road, the new farm must be placed in an empty village on the other road. The third farm may be built anywhere.

Monastery. The player pays 4 coins and 2 wood. A farm of their own must already be built on this village. The farm token is replaced by a monastery token, and the farm is returned to the player.

Castle. The player pays 6 coins and 1 wood. A farm of their own must already be built on this village. A tower token is placed next to the farm token: the two tokens together represent a castle. The number of towers is limited, so this action may not be used once all towers are on the board.

Note: the farm, monastery and castle tokens are placed on the board; the building cards are information only and do not belong to any player.

Palace. The player pays 4 coins and takes 1 palace building card of their choice that they do not yet own. (The Nantes bank and the Orléans bank count as different buildings.) No token is placed, but the player takes the card and keeps it in front of them. The effect of a palace card applies only from the start of the turn after it was purchased, and affects only Orléans or Nantes respectively.

Action: hire a character

Performed by: the trader or the messenger. Where: in a village with a circus.

If the trader or messenger stops where the circus is, the player may hire a character. This is the only way to acquire character cards (except for the Palatium Balivi).

The player may hire only 1 character per turn, even if both the trader and the messenger stop at the circus in the same turn. The player may not hire two identical characters. The character's price is shown on the card. The player pays the coins to the supply and places the character card face up in front of them, where everyone can see it. The effect of a hired character applies immediately and lasts for the rest of the game. The number of character cards is limited: once a character card runs out, it can no longer be hired.

Action: buy a message

Performed by: the messenger. Where: in Nantes or Orléans, in a village with a farm, castle or monastery.

Only the messenger may acquire messages. This is possible in Nantes or Orléans, or in a village where the player owns a farm, castle or monastery. The player may not acquire messages from opponents' farms, castles or monasteries.

The price of a level-1 message is 1 coin, a level-2 message 2 coins, a level-3 message 3 coins, and the monastery message 4 coins. A player may acquire the monastery message only in their own monastery.

Only 1 message card may be bought per turn, except at a castle, where a player may buy two messages in the same turn (of the same or different levels). Message limits must still be observed.

The player draws the top message card from the deck of the chosen level (except for the Ducal Palace and the Spy) and places it face up in front of them. The card is turned over only after the message has been delivered.

A player may hold 2 undelivered messages (except for the Mayor). If the player already has 2 undelivered messages, they must deliver at least one of them before acquiring a new one. Delivery may be made in any order; for example, the second message may be delivered first. A message may be bought even if it cannot yet be delivered. For example, a player may buy a level-2 message even if they do not yet have an apprentice (but naturally cannot deliver it yet).

Action: deliver a message

Performed by: the messenger. Where: at the place shown on the message.

Each delivered message is placed face down and scores victory points at the end of the game. The victory points are shown on the message card.

Level 1 message: must be delivered to a specified village. To deliver it, the messenger must stop in that village. Only a level-1 message earns money: the player receives the coins immediately upon delivery. The amount of coins is shown by the market tile matching the destination village of the message.

Level 2 message: must be delivered to 2 villages. The shields' colours on the card show the destination places. The order of the shields is not important; the player may choose which village to deliver to first. Usually there is more than one choice, because more than one village has a shield of the same colour.

A level-2 message may be delivered only if the player has a red apprentice card. The player's message token (small cube) travels with the card.

When the messenger stops in one of the villages marked on the message, the message token is placed on that village, showing that the first destination has been reached. When the player's messenger stops at the village with the second shield, the level-2 message has been delivered: the card is turned over, and the message token is returned to the player.

Level 3 message: the same rule applies as for level-2 messages, but the player must also have a red apprentice card and a red helper card. The player needs 2 message tokens (small cubes), which must be placed in the first two villages of the message. When the message reaches the third village, the message tokens are returned, and the message card is turned face down.

A player may deliver only 1 message per turn. A message token may be used for only one message at a time. At any time, the player may decide to take back their message token from a village in order to use it for delivering a different message. If they do so, they must repeat the earlier delivery. A player may not start, in the same turn, a new delivery after having already completed one in that turn.

Level 4 message (monastery message): may be acquired only in the monastery that the player built. The destination of the delivery is either Orléans or Nantes. Only one monastery message may be delivered at a time, and it counts toward the message limit. The player does not need an apprentice or a helper to deliver a monastery message.

Coin limit in Nantes and Orléans

Minimum condition: if a player has fewer than 5 coins when their trader is in Nantes or Orléans, neither the trader nor the messenger may move or perform any action. The player receives 1 coin from the supply, and their turn ends. This must be repeated until the player reaches 5 coins.

Maximum condition: if a player has more than 10 coins when they leave Nantes or Orléans with their trader, they must discard the excess coins (except for the Banker). This check must be made immediately before the player moves their trader; by then, the messenger may already have moved. This limit does not affect the messenger.

End of the Game

The game ends when either of the following conditions is met:

One player's ship reaches the designated space on the river: space 20 for 1 or 2 players, space 17 for 3 players, and space 15 for 4 players.
A player has delivered a set number of messages: 15 for 1 player, 12 for 2 players, 10 for 3 players, and 8 for 4 players.

When one of these conditions is met, every player except the player who triggered the end of the game takes one more turn, and then the game ends.

Winner

The player with the most points wins. Points are scored for:

a) the ship's position on the Loire: each space is worth 1 point
b) delivered messages: the points shown on each message card
c) undelivered message cards: 1 point each
d) the points shown on hired characters
e) special points for the Blue characters
f) the points shown on built palace cards

If there is a tie, the tied player who owns the most castles wins. If the tie still remains, the player with the most buildings (including palaces, the monastery and the farm) wins.

Characters

Character cards are hired at the circus (see Action: hire a character). The effect of each hired character applies for the rest of the game.

Goods merchants: wood, grain, cheese and wine merchant. When sold, the matching goods cards give an extra 1 coin.

Banker. The trader may leave Nantes or Orléans with a maximum of 15 coins, instead of 10.

Master of Arts (Magister Artium). Every building purchase costs 1 coin less.

Mensor (Surveyor). The player may place a farm on either road, even if the other road has fewer buildings.

Blacksmith. The player may pay 1 coin (and only 1 coin) to buy 1 horse per turn from any location. Normally, the horse may be bought only from the location where the team stands. This horse also counts toward the number of horses the trader or messenger may buy per turn.

Dairyman, Grain Farmer. The player may transport any amount of cheese or grain, respectively.

Lumberjack. The player may buy 2 wood instead of 1 in the same turn, at the same price. Any building owner receives only 1 point, not 2.

Witch. When the player hires a character, that character's cost is reduced by 1 coin (yellow characters become free). The reduction does not apply to the Witch herself.

Patron (Patronus). When building a farm, castle or monastery, 1 wood (and only 1) per building may be replaced by 2 coins.

Scout. Raises the maximum number of horses in one team to 3 (instead of 2).

Squire. Normally, a player may add only 1 horse to a team before moving. With the Squire, the player may add 1 or 2 horses (from the location where the team stands).

Blacksmith with Squire. With the Blacksmith, the player may buy 1 horse from any location.

Jester. The trader or messenger may finish its movement early (regardless of the number of horses) when it stops at the circus. It must still move at least 1 space.

City Guard. The trader or messenger may finish its movement early (regardless of the number of horses) when it stops in Nantes or Orléans. It must still move at least 1 space.

Mayor. The messenger may hold 4 undelivered messages, instead of the usual 2. However, only 1 of them may be a monastery message.

Apprentice. When the player hires an apprentice, they also receive 1 message token (small cube), and from then on they may deliver level-2 messages. Prerequisite for the Helper.

Helper. Can be hired only after the Apprentice. The player receives 1 message token (small cube), and from then on may deliver level-3 messages.

Lady-in-waiting. The player may hire 2 characters in one turn. The second character costs 2 coins more than usual. The second character may be hired immediately after the Lady-in-waiting is hired. Also applies to the Palatium Balivi.

Economus. The player may build 2 buildings in the same turn. The second costs 1 coin more than usual.

Vassallus. When the messenger buys a message, it may buy one more message (level 1 to 3), but not at the monastery. The message limit must still be observed. With the Post Office or the Mayor, the third message costs the normal price.

Spy. When the messenger chooses the message purchase action, it may draw 3 cards instead of 1 from the deck, choose 1 of them, and return the rest to the bottom of the deck.

Castle, Post Office or Vassallus. The player may choose 1 out of 3 several times.

Blue characters: Lover, General, Philosopher, Judge and Provost. Each of these cards marks a message type. The player receives an extra 2 points at the end of the game for each delivery of that message type.

Palace Cards

Reminder: the effect of a palace card applies only from the turn after it was purchased. Each building may be owned only once in Nantes and once in Orléans.

Ducal Palace. Normally, the player draws the first message card from the deck. With this palace, the player may search the entire deck (the deck of the chosen level) and select one card. The deck is then shuffled again. With the Post Office and/or the Vassallus, it may be used several times, with different levels.

Palatium Balivi. In addition to the normal action (before or after it), the trader or messenger may hire a red character card when it stops in Nantes or Orléans. This may be used only once per turn. With the Lady-in-waiting, a maximum of 2 red cards may be hired.

Post Office. When the messenger stops in Nantes or Orléans, it may buy a second message for 1 coin less (a level-1 message is free). The message limit must still be observed (a maximum of 2 in the basic game).

Bank. If the trader or messenger stops in Nantes or Orléans, the player receives 3 coins (6 coins can be received this way per turn). If, at the start of the turn, the trader stands in one of the cities with fewer than 5 coins, so that the turn ends, the bank pays nothing.

Variants

Casual game

A simpler version of the game for casual players.

Cards are not used (the basic building cards remain as information sheets). The circus token is not used, and every market tile is placed with its non-circus side up. Each player starts with two message tokens (small cubes) and may deliver a message of any level.

However, a player may not deliver more level-2 messages than level-1 messages, and may not deliver more level-3 messages than level-2 messages. For example, if the player has already delivered one level-1 and one level-2 message, they may deliver a level-1 or level-3 message, but not a level-2 message. Only once a second level-1 message has been delivered may the player deliver a level-2 message, and so on. A level-4 message is delivered as usual, independently of the other levels.

All other rules remain unchanged.

Solo game

For playing alone, when you cannot resist the game.

Set-up is the same as the 2-player game. The game lasts a maximum of 60 turns. The game ends if the player's ship reaches 20 points on the river (as in the 2-player game), or if the player has delivered 15 messages.

Use the 3 unused ship markers to count turns. At the end of each turn, move one of these ships, starting from the start space, until it reaches space 20. Then move the second ship until it reaches 20, and then the third ship. If the third ship also reaches space 20 on the Loire, the game ends, and this is also the end of the 60th turn.