Hamburg

About this board game

Hamburg is a card-driven city-building game for 1–5 players, played over eight rounds in roughly 90 minutes. Set in the late 19th century, it casts players as mayors competing to develop the city while pursuing objectives and avoiding disasters.

Each round begins with six colored dice being rolled. Results of 5 or 6 give players threat markers, while the black die acts as a wild threat and may reveal another threat type. Collecting three threats of one type brings a penalty, making careful planning essential.

Players can spend coins based on the dice showing 1s and 2s to advance on the mayor’s track. The black die also activates the clergy in St. Michael’s Church, which marks the passing rounds and rewards certain building types with endgame points.

• Play five cards from five color-based stacks during your turn.
• Use cards to build the city wall, activate boats when a 3 or 4 is rolled, start building plots, or construct buildings.
• Constructed buildings provide new abilities or endgame scoring conditions.
• Compete for bonus points by being the only player to achieve one of five conditions in a round.

Every card offers five different uses, so each decision involves weighing immediate needs against future opportunities. The cards represent thirteen categories of locations around Hamburg, with seventeen individual cards in each category.

At the end of the eighth round, players total their points from accomplishments, buildings, and bonuses. The highest score wins. Hamburg is a reimplementation of Bruges that includes content from The City on the Zwin and Pets, alongside new content and moderate rules enhancements.