Limes

About this board game

Limes is a 1–2 player board game that takes about 20 minutes, set on the borders of the Roman Empire two thousand years ago. Build a growing landscape of grain fields, lakes, woods, and watchtowers while managing the people who make your frontier prosper—and protect it from fires and barbarian attacks.

Each player has a deck of cards. One player reveals a card at random, and every player adds the same card to their own area. Cards must be placed adjacent to, or touching the corner of, a previously placed card, gradually forming a shared-pattern personal landscape. After each placement, you may add a figure to the new card or move one already on your board.

Once placed, figures cannot return to the supply. They can move between adjacent territories, such as from woods to a lake or from grain fields to woods. The game ends as soon as any player completes a 4×4 grid of 16 cards.

Your final score depends on the roles you assigned:

• Farmers score one point for each connected grain field.
• Fishermen score one point for every house directly adjacent to their lake.
• Watchmen score one point for each patch of woods visible in a straight north, east, south, or west line from their tower; other watchtowers block the view.
• Woodcutters score one point for every territory to which they can deliver wood, including each different adjacent territory.

The player with the most points wins, with ties going to the player whose single figure achieved the highest score. Based on the designer’s game Cities but featuring different tile layouts and scoring, Limes offers a distinct card-placement and figure-movement experience.