Viceroys

About this board game

Viceroys is a historical wargame for 1–7 players, with sessions lasting about 240 minutes, covering European explorations and colonizations during the 15th and 16th centuries.

The game’s worldwide map is directly based on a “wrong” historical map, giving its setting a distinctive foundation. Event cards cover just about every dimension of the period, while the underlying system combines strategy and negotiation with chaos.

The seagoing powers—Portugal, Spain, England, France, and the Dutch—each have national differences, along with their own advantages and disadvantages. Russia and Turkey can colonize overland, and the game also provides rules for general European war.

• Multiple scenarios offer different ways to explore the period.
• One- and two-player rules allow Spain and Portugal to participate as non-player powers.
• Each player has a game “job” that can occasionally provide a little income, including the Rules Lawyer, who is responsible for resolving disputes.

This unusual job system adds another dimension to the experience, alongside the shifting possibilities created by event cards, negotiation, and conflict. The result is a game that blends historical powers with strategic decisions and unpredictable developments.

In 1992, the Columbus expansion kit expanded Viceroys to support eight players by adding China, commemorating the 500th anniversary of Columbus’s initial voyage. It offers a larger version of the game’s exploration and colonization framework while preserving its distinctive historical-map premise.