Barcelona: The Rose of Fire

About this board game

Barcelona: The Rose of Fire is a board game for 2–4 players that takes about 90 minutes, set during Barcelona’s late-19th-century expansion beyond the old city walls.

The medieval walls have been torn down, opening the way for Cerdà’s plans for the Eixample. In this period of prosperity, players compete for social prestige and personal wealth by shaping the new city and constructing increasingly notable buildings.

On each turn, players use cards to build their influence and place building tiles outside the old walls. More spectacular construction brings greater notoriety, but the city’s growth also attracts workers seeking employment and affordable places to live. High-class buildings can reward their builders while increasing unrest among the popular classes.

• Use cards to expand your influence and construct buildings in the Eixample.
• Balance prestigious developments with buildings for the popular classes.
• Manage the growing tension between prosperity and the workers’ revolutionary movement.
• Watch the era-end draw from a bag containing workers and peacekeeping soldiers.

During construction, the types of buildings you create determine how workers are placed in the Raval zone. At the end of each era, these figures join the soldiers in a bag. The current level of unrest determines how many figures are drawn, and the player whose color appears most often suffers a strike.

In Barcelona: The Rose of Fire, every ambitious project has consequences. Pursue wealth and recognition, support the city’s inhabitants, and try to prevent strikes and riots from turning Barcelona’s prosperity into revolution.