Columba

About this board game

Columba is a tile-based strategy game for 2–4 players, with games lasting about 30 minutes. Build dovecotes, claim pigeon flocks, expand your territory, and avoid the falcons sent by your opponents.

Each player begins with 2–4 dovecotes, depending on the player count. These structures are used to claim flocks as your own, while a larger dovecote doubles the score of the flock it claims. Players use tiles to grow their own flocks or those of their team.

At the beginning, your goal is to catch one pigeon of each of the four breeds. To catch a needed pigeon, place a tile so it covers the square or squares containing it. Each captured pigeon provides a tile for your goal card, but you cannot capture pigeons from a flock already claimed by an opponent.

• Place tiles to capture pigeons and expand flocks.
• Complete goal cards to free and use their tiles.
• Build dovecotes to claim flocks and increase your score.
• Breed falcons that can reduce an opponent’s flock.

When a goal is complete, place its tiles on your mat, optionally take a new goal card, and play the newly freed card. The tiles can then be positioned wherever you wish to make an eligible flock larger, provided you or your partner has built a dovecote for that flock.

You can also discard tiles to breed falcons. Two tiles create a baby falcon, and two more on a later turn mature it into an adult that can prey on an opponent’s flock. When no more goal cards can be drawn, unfinished goals cost four points. Count the tiles or squares in the flocks claimed by your dovecotes; the highest-scoring player or team wins. Columba combines territory building, changing objectives, scoring opportunities, and direct disruption in one compact game.