Alma Mater

About this board game

Alma Mater is a board game for 2–4 players, with sessions lasting about 150 minutes, in which each player leads an independent university in the 15th century.

As a headmaster, you are responsible for strengthening your school’s reputation and standing. Success depends on developing the people and knowledge that can help your university earn distinction among its peers.

Players pursue several connected goals throughout the game:

• Recruit the best staff for their university.
• Attract outstanding students.
• Exchange knowledge with other schools.
• Become experts in the school’s four disciplines.

These aims place universities in competition while also creating opportunities for academic exchange. The schools around the table are not isolated: knowledge can pass between them as each headmaster works to improve their institution.

With its setting in the 15th century, Alma Mater presents university leadership as a contest of reputation, recruitment, knowledge, and expertise. Players shape their school’s progress by deciding how best to strengthen its standing and develop its command of the four disciplines.

Released in 2020, Alma Mater offers a substantial strategic experience for groups of two to four. Its focus on independent universities, academic development, and competition makes it a fitting choice for players drawn to historically themed games about building prestige and pursuing knowledge.