Galenus

About this board game

Galenus is a worker placement game for 1–4 players, with play lasting about 120 minutes. Set in Imperial Rome, it places you among doctors competing through medical knowledge, published works, and reputation.

The game is influenced by humorism, the theory that illness results from an imbalance of four fluids: black bile, yellow bile, phlegm, and blood. Galenus’s writings dominated Western medical science for more than 1,300 years, and players must decide whether to follow his influence or challenge it.

Each round, you plan up to six actions before deciding when and how to resolve them. This creates an unusual rhythm: while one player is already resolving actions, others may still be planning their own. Careful timing is central to making the most of your opportunities.

• Recruit and treat patients to gain knowledge in one of the four humors.
• Publish works based on the knowledge you have developed.
• Acquire herbs to support your medical work.
• Rejuvenate in the baths or adopt a new philosophy.

At the end of each year, doctors compete in medical contests, spending focus and knowledge to gain reputation. Your decisions across the year determine how much impact you make on the medical world and how strongly you can contend with your rivals.

If you publish enough notable works—or otherwise make the biggest impact on Galenus—you will earn his respect and enter his inner sanctum. With its mix of action planning, delayed resolution, medical knowledge, and competitive contests, Galenus turns Imperial Roman medicine into a contest of influence and ambition.