Potemkin Villages
Potemkin Villages Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Components
- 16 Character cards (in four sets)
- 2 Aid cards
- English Rules
- 45 numbered cards (nine cards in five colors, numbered 1–9)
Like most trick-taking games, Potemkin Villages is best played with four players, and the rules are written for this player count. Adjustments for two- and three-player games can be found at the end of the rulebook.
Setup
- Choose a set of Character cards you want to play with. The game includes four sets (A, B, C, and D), and the A set is considered to be the entry-level one.
- Each player chooses or randomly picks one Character card and places it in front of them, white side up. The other side of the card (with a multi-colored background) is used in three- or two-player games.
- Shuffle all 45 numbered cards and deal ten to each player. Players keep these cards in hand, hidden from the other players.
- From the remaining cards, deal four face-up in a row in the middle of the table. These cards represent the first Potemkin villages along the Dnieper. Place the last card face-down, under the leftmost Potemkin village. This card (to which more cards will be added throughout the game) represents the boat of Catherine the Great on her journey to Crimea.
How to Play
Important: During the game (including the setup), players must not reveal to other players which cards they hold in their hands – you can discuss any strategy freely, but you cannot name any card numbers or colors in your hand, nor can you pass any information that directly leads to those (do not say something like "I can't win the trick if you start with a blue card.").
The game starts with the player controlling the Character marked with a symbol. They play a card from their hand to lead the first trick. The other players, in clockwise order, each play one card. Then, the trick is resolved, and the winner activates their Character's ability.
After resolving the Character's ability, move the boat of Catherine the Great one step downstream (to the right) and begin a new round. The player who has won the last trick will be leading this one (unless the Character ability states otherwise).
Players can freely examine any villages or other face-up cards. The boat can be examined only through the special ability of some Characters, since the cards are face-down.
Trick-taking
At its core, the game is a trick-taking game. In the first round, the player controlling the Character marked with a symbol leads the first card. Players must follow suit: If they hold a card of the same color as the led card, they must play it (but they decide the number of the card they follow with). If a player can not follow suit, they may play any card.
Winning a trick: The highest card of the led suit wins, unless the trump suit was played, in which case the highest trump suit wins.
Trump cards: There is no trump at the start of the game. However, some Character abilities allow placing a trick or card(s) nearby Catherine's boat, setting that color as the trump. From this moment on, all cards of that color are trump and beat any other suits. There can be multiple cards here, when players change the trump color multiple times during the game, but only the top card sets the trumps.
Discard pile: Unlike other trick-taking games, Potemkin Villages does not have a regular discard pile. Anytime the game asks you to discard any cards, put them face-down on top of the boat. The boat needs to have at least one card on it at any time. A player cannot take any action that causes the boat to "disappear".
Downstream and Upstream
In the game, the term downstream refers to the direction on the right side of Catherine the Great's boat, including the rightmost space and any spaces between villages (cards). The term upstream refers to any villages and the spaces between them located on the left side of Catherine the Great's boat, including the leftmost space.
Victory or Defeat
Potemkin Villages is a cooperative game: All players win or lose together. If players complete a full round and no player has any cards left in their hand, they all immediately win the game. Anytime Catherine's boat moves to a space with no village in the upper row, Catherine sees through the deception, and the players immediately lose.
Note: This also happens when Catherine's boat is moved past the leftmost upstream village.
Special Effects of Numbered Cards
If a player wins a trick with a 9, immediately move the boat one space downstream (right). If a player wins a trick with a 1, immediately move the boat one space upstream (left).
Be aware that at the end of the round, the boat will move one space downstream as usual. That means if you win with a 9, the boat will move twice during that round!
Note: Now you know why the 9s are dangerous, and the 1s are valuable. During the game, try to play any 9s in such a way that they don't win a trick. On the other hand, if you manage to win a trick with a 1, you gain valuable time. This can happen if it's a led suit that no other player can follow or if it's a trump suit.
Rules for Three and Two Players
In a three-player game, one player controls two Characters. In a two-player game, each player controls two Characters. When one player controls two Characters, their abilities are triggered based on the color of the winning trick. For example, if a player wins a trick with a blue card, they will activate the abilities of their Character with a blue background. That Character is considered the winner.
Three-player Game
During setup, flip all Characters onto their multi-colored side and choose two Characters with different backgrounds, for example, the Sapper and the Stagehand (set A); these will be controlled by one of the players. The other two players each take one of the remaining Characters and flip them to the regular white side.
Remove all 9 white numbered cards from the game; they will not be used. Shuffle the rest and deal ten to each player. Use the remaining cards to prepare the villages and the boat just like in a four-player game – except that the boat now starts with two cards.
Example: Anna starts the trick with an orange 2. Thomas can't follow suit because he doesn't have any orange cards in his hand, so he decides to get rid of one of the 9s, which are dangerous cards. Charles wins the trick with an orange 7. Because he plays with two Characters, he checks their background colors. The Stagehand has an orange background, so he must use the Stagehand's ability. In this trick, he can not use the Sapper's ability, because that would have required winning the trick with a blue or red card.
Two-player Game
Each player controls two Characters with different backgrounds.
Shuffle all numbered cards and deal ten to each player for their hand. Then, deal another ten cards to each player. Each player divides these randomly into two piles of five cards and places them face-up above their two Character cards (only the small numbers in the upper corners need to remain visible).
In a two-player game, the first card played in the second trick and all later tricks must come from the cards of the Character (not the player's hand!) who won the previous trick. The winner is the Character of the winning player whose background color matches the winning trick's color. Consider the white color as wild for determining which Character's ability to use.
When a Character starts a trick, take the topmost card from their pile and use it as the first card in the trick. Next, the other player plays a card from their hand, and finally, the player whose Character started the trick plays a card from their hand. Both cards of that player (the one from the Character and the one from the hand) count as belonging to that player.
In a case where the Character should play a card, and there are none in their pile, play the top card from the second Character controlled by that player.
For the victory condition, do not consider cards above Characters as cards in hand. In other words, both players must play all the cards in their hands and complete the round to win the game.
Example: Charles starts a trick with the blue 5 played from the top of his previously winning Character (the Governor). Anna follows with the blue 1. It's a valuable card, but since it's the only blue card in her hand, she doesn't have a choice. Charles then plays the blue 8 from his hand. He wins the trick, and since the winning card is blue, the winning Character is his Builder. The Builder's ability gets triggered, and the first card in the next trick will be played from the Builder's pile. It's a dangerous white 9! Let's hope the players can manage to deal with it.
Historical Note
Catherine the Great can be perceived in quite different ways, depending on the perspective:
From the viewpoint of her own time, she was widely regarded as a powerful and effective ruler – an enlightened monarch who expanded her empire, strengthened its position in Europe, and supported culture, education, and the arts.
From today's perspective, her legacy is more complex. While she is still recognized for her achievements and influence, she is also criticized for reinforcing serfdom, ruling autocratically, and suppressing local autonomy in regions under her control.
If this topic is of interest to you, it's worth exploring – history rarely offers simple answers, and it's one of the best ways for us as a society to learn, reflect, and better understand the present.
At the same time, Potemkin Villages is first and foremost a game. Its goal is to provide an engaging and thematic experience, not to critically examine or fully reflect the historical complexities and controversies surrounding Catherine the Great.
Character Abilities
When a player wins a trick, they take the pile of cards, place their winning card on top, and use this pile to resolve their Character's ability. These abilities are mandatory unless explicitly stated otherwise. If an ability instructs you to build a new village, you always take the whole winning trick and use the winning card as the "face" of the village.
Unless you are specifically instructed to build an up- or downstream village, you are allowed to build in either direction. The boat marks the division, so the village above it does not count as either an up- or a downstream village.
If the trick is placed between two existing villages, shift the villages to the right or left, depending on the boat's position: If building downstream (right of the boat), shift the cards to the right. If building upstream (left of the boat), shift the cards to the left. Likewise, when you are discarding a village from the river, shift the other villages toward the boat so there is no empty space between the villages.
Set A
Sapper – After winning a trick, take any two villages from the river and discard them to the boat pile. Then build a new village with your winning trick anywhere you like. If you are forced to discard the village above the boat, you lose the game immediately.
Stagehand – After winning a trick, if there are at least two cards in the boat pile choose a card from the pile and place it below the boat on top of any previously placed card (if any). This will be the new trump color. You do not have to choose a card that matches your winning trick's color. But if it does, you build a new village anywhere you like. Otherwise, discard the trick on top of the boat.
Chancellor – Build an upstream village with your winning trick. In addition, if you won a trick by playing a trump card, all players discard a card from their hand onto the boat.
Scout – Whenever you win a trick, and there are at least two upstream villages, you choose one of them and move it downstream. Discard your winning trick onto the boat. If there aren't at least two upstream villages, you simply discard your trick and do nothing else.
Set B
Carpenter – After winning a trick, build a village within your player area (next to your Character card) using your trick. After that, you may move any of your villages anywhere on the river. The relocated village must have the same suit as all Villages to its left.
If you move a village matching the trump suit from your player area, you can consider it to have all suits. In other words, when you win a trick, you can always relocate a village matching the trump suit.
Artist – After winning a trick, place the cards from the trick one by one on top of any villages, including the ones in the Carpenter's player area. You can place multiple cards on top of one village. Or, if there is a trump set, you may discard your trick on top of the boat to move the trump (all cards in that pile) as a new village anywhere on the river.
Secretary – You set a new trump – if there is none – with your winning trick. Put the winning trick below the boat.
If there is a trump already set, you move any upstream village that has a lower number than your winning trick to become a new downstream village. Then use your winning trick to build a new village in the emptied space. If you cannot do that (because there aren't any villages with a lower number), simply discard your winning trick to the boat and do nothing.
Cossack – During setup, choose one card from your hand as a Redeployment card and place it into your player area. The card is considered to be in your hand for all game purposes.
When you win a trick, you may deal one card from the winning trick to any other player (but not yourself). That player then discards one card from their hand onto the top of the boat; it can be the same card the player just received. Discard the rest of the winning trick onto the boat.
If you win a trick with a Redeployment card, move the boat below a village with the same number as the Redeployment card (If there are multiple villages with that number, you can choose which one.). Then discard your winning trick and all villages from the river that match the suit of the Redeployment card, and place them onto the boat.
Example: The Artist has won this trick with his blue 8. Since the trump card is not set, he places 3 blue cards on the Villages alongside the river and the last one on the Carpenter's Village in his player area. If he wins the next trick, he's set to build a new Village downstream on the river.
Set C
Commissary – First of all, send a winning trick with a winning card on top to the Wagonmaster, who keeps it in his player area as a village that he can later relocate on the river. In the next trick, cards with the number 1 are the highest cards in the game. That means 1 beats 9 or any other number. Remember that the 1s have a special effect which moves the boat one space upstream.
Chamberlain – When you win a trick, look through the boat pile. If there are at least two cards (remember that you cannot make the boat "disappear"), choose one as a new trump. It can be the same color as the previous trump. Simply put your chosen card below the boat on top of any previous cards (if there are any). Then, discard your winning trick on top of the boat, along with any villages from the river and Wagonmaster's player area that match the trump color.
In case you cannot set a new trump, simply discard your trick on top of the boat.
Officer – When you win a trick, choose an upstream village and send it to the Wagonmaster. He keeps it in his player area for later relocation. If there are no upstream villages, you do not send any. If you have won with a trump, you also send your winning trick with a winning card on top to the Wagonmaster (so you are sending him two villages in one go). In case there are no upstream villages, but you won by trump color, you send only your winning trick.
If you cannot send your winning trick to the Wagonmaster (because it doesn't match the trump color), discard it on top of the boat.
Wagonmaster – You can receive the winning tricks sent to you by both the Commissary and the Officer as a new village; the officer can even send an upstream village to your player area (next to your Character card).
Anytime you win a trick, you can relocate any number of the villages from your player area anywhere onto the river. After that, put your winning trick on top of any village, including a village in your player area.
In case you do not have any villages in your player area and you win a trick, simply put your trick on top of any village and do nothing.
Example: The Wagonmaster has won this trick with his orange 7. From the previous rounds, he received 1 village from the Commissary and 2 villages from the Officer, who won with the trump card. So he can build 3 villages downstream on the river from his player area and put his trick on one of the villages.
Set D
This set was originally part of the free print-and-play version of the game that won several awards during the "54-Card Game Design Contest" on BoardGameGeek. As a thank you to all playtesters, this set is included in the box for convenience.
Builder – Place the winning trick face-up on the river as a new village. It may be placed between cards or in the leftmost or rightmost spaces. The new village must always have a higher number than all villages to its left. Alternatively, instead of building a new village, the Builder can place his trick on any existing village.
Painter – Place the winning trick under the boat. The top card determines the new trump suit. If there is a trump pile already, move it to any downstream space to form a new village. Next, you must determine which other player is to be the first player in the next round.
Note: In 2-player game, you are deciding for a new Character to start the next round. It can be your second Character or any Character of the other player.
Governor – Shuffle all upstream village cards and deal one to each player. Discard the remainder onto the boat. If there are not enough cards to deal one to every player, simply discard all of them. Next, use the winning trick to build a new village downstream in any space. There are no restrictions on building. Next, you must determine which other player is to be the first player in the next round.
Note: In a 2-player game, you are deciding for a new Character to start the next round. It can be your second Character or any Character of the other player.
Commander – If your winning card in the trick has the same color as the leftmost upstream village, build a new village from your winning trick in any space. If your winning card in the trick does not match the color of the leftmost upstream village, discard your trick and the leftmost upstream village on top of the boat.