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Heavy Euro (dice worker placement)2010
Troyes box art
Heavy Euro (dice worker placement)

Troyes

A medieval brain-burner where you can literally buy the dice off your opponents.

3.7 out of 53.7/5

Designed by Sébastien Dujardin, Xavier Georges, and Alain Orban · 2010

Players2-4
Play time90 min
WeightHeavy
Ages12+
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The verdict

One of the smartest dice games ever made, as long as you don't mind a heavy euro that makes you earn every point. The dice-buying hook still feels fresh after fifteen years.

Best for: Experienced euro players who want dice with real decisions and bare-knuckle interaction

The full review

What it is

Here's the hook that makes Troyes worth your table. Everyone rolls a shared pool of colored dice (white for the church, red for the military, yellow for civic stuff), and on your turn you can pay to buy dice straight out of your opponents' hands. That high white die someone was saving for the cathedral? Yours now. You spend influence to reroll or flip your own dice, build the cathedral for points, fight off event cards, and chase secret goals that reshape your whole plan.

The catch

Now the honest part. This is a heavy game, and it plays like one. Reviewers consistently warn about the learning curve and the glazed looks new players get staring at nine action cards. Money is brutally tight, so expect to feel poor the entire time. The art is authentically medieval and, depending on who you ask, authentically ugly, and that cover has scared off plenty of people who'd actually love the game inside. There's no solo mode either.

Who it's for

So who's this for? Players who like their dice attached to real decisions and don't flinch when someone steals the exact die they needed. Troyes mitigates luck better than almost anything in its weight class, which means the better player usually wins, and that's the whole point. If your group enjoys friction and won't melt down over a 90-minute think-fest, it's an easy keeper. Skip it if you want light or cozy.

What other players say

This write-up is grounded in real reviews and player discussion, not just one opinion. A few worth reading:

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