Orléans Stories is based on the bag-building mechanism of Orléans, where this mechanism has been further developed into a story in which players go through different eras and face different challenges. Instead of focusing on the city of Orléans and trade with the surrounding villages, the player now settles in the Loire Valley. Players must produce resources, found villages, and build forts and churches. They will experience times of prosperity and success, but also times of hardship; they must brave hunger and plague, fight for their land and perhaps conquer foreign lands to secure the lives of their settlers. But ultimately there is peace and joint governance of territories and villages.
The game contains two stories: "The First Kingdom" and "The King's Favor". "The First Kingdom" is an epic story spanning eight so-called eras, and each era has different conditions and emphases. Sometimes knights settle, with whose help you can conquer foreign territories, sometimes the plague threatens to decimate the settler population unless they have all worked together to develop medicine.
"The King's Favor" is shorter, simpler and more suitable as an introduction to the game. In five eras, certain tasks must be completed, and those who fail will be mercilessly eliminated. The threat of having to end the game prematurely creates a constant thrill, but all tasks are achievable, so (usually) all players reach the end. But you certainly shouldn't focus solely on these tasks... more is needed to win!
The different eras influence both the game parameters and the game rules, creating new strategic possibilities. This challenges players to constantly adapt to the current circumstances, giving you the impression of experiencing a story. The legacy game is replayable and you can play it as often as you want. The changes from era to era require a new way of looking at things from a distance, but this is made easier by a storybook in which players not only find all relevant information and peculiarities of rules, but also hints on how to prepare.
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