Nouvelle-France

About this board game

Nouvelle-France is a strategy game for 2–4 players, with a play time of about 60 minutes, focused on building three historic sites and earning the most points.

Each turn, draw a card showing a construction-block type and take the indicated piece from the stock. Place it in the military redoubt, church, or seigneurial mill while following the building rules: walls may be no more than three cubes high, blocks must stay within the foundation limits, and a block cannot be inserted beneath one already in play.

Every newly placed cube of your colour earns a point. You also score for cubes of the same colour already in play that the new block touches, making careful positioning essential. Ally cards and colourless blocks provide additional ways to improve your score, while strategic choices can help hinder your opponents.

• Build the military redoubt, church, and seigneurial mill.
• Score by placing blocks and connecting cubes of your colour.
• Use ally cards and colourless blocks to influence the scoring.
• Adapt as snowdrifts reduce the space available in each building.

Three snowflake cards interrupt construction and trigger major scoring moments. The first tallies the first level of each site, the second scores the second level, and the third scores the final level before the game ends. Points depend on the number of your cubes in the level being counted, with tally sticks showing bonuses, penalties, and double-score effects.

After each snowfall, snowdrifts are added around and over the scored level, hiding it and limiting the remaining building space. In Nouvelle-France, every placement matters: build efficiently, create valuable connections, and finish with the highest score to claim the title of Royal Engineer for New France.