Palenque

About this board game

Palenque is a 2011 board game for 2–6 players, with games lasting about 60 minutes. Players take the roles of Maya kings opposing Pacal, the king of Palenque, as they compete to control the resources of the Yucatan.

Across the game, players use ten different resource cards and spend action points to expand their empires. Influence helps them dominate the 14 kingdoms of the Yucatan, while control markers represent their growing authority across the region.

Players can shape the struggle for power in several ways:

• Expand their empires across the Yucatan kingdoms.
• Use control markers to establish influence.
• Exchange opponents’ control markers.
• Reserve control markers for later use.
• Build Temples and alter borders.

Scoring takes place whenever any player plays a Score Card, making each scoring round an important test of accumulated control. The player who has amassed the greatest amount of control over the Yucatan Peninsula in each scoring round is the winner.

With its combination of resource cards, action points, shifting borders, control markers, and Temple building, Palenque focuses on the changing balance of influence among rival Maya kings. Every decision contributes to the contest for authority across the kingdoms, as players seek to establish themselves as the greatest king of the Maya.