Cranio Creations
Golem
Game Description
Immerse yourself in 16th-century mystical Prague with Golem, a fascinating engine-building board game that thrusts you into the heart of an ancient legend and strategic challenges. Designed by the renowned trio of authors Simone Luciani, Virginio Gigli, and Flaminia Brasini, already acclaimed for masterpieces such as Grand Austria Hotel and Lorenzo il Magnifico, Golem promises a deep and engaging gaming experience. Step into the shoes of a wise rabbi, intent on bringing to life and empowering anthropomorphic clay creatures, the Golem, inspired by the legend of the Golem of Prague created by Rabbi Loew. Your goal is to guide these powerful entities through the city's districts, controlling them through your students, but beware: an overly powerful Golem could sow destruction.
Your strategic skill will be put to the test as you manage your creations. You can choose to sacrifice your powerful Golem to gain valuable bonuses, an element of strategy and risk that adds depth to the gameplay. In addition to managing the Golem, you will need to dedicate yourself to creating mystical artifacts and acquiring knowledge by collecting ancient books, crucial elements for your development. The heart of the game lies in an innovative action selection mechanism based on colored marbles: at the beginning of each round, the marbles are shuffled in an evocative 3D synagogue, distributing themselves into five lines corresponding to the main available actions.
Each line of marbles defines the power of the chosen action, making every turn a weighty decision. The innovative actions you can take thanks to the 3D synagogue include:
- Work: Activate Golem positioned in the city to gain bonuses, by paying Knowledge.
- Golem: Obtain clay to create new Golem and improve developments on your personal board.
- Artifact: Collect coins and gold to build artifacts that grant permanent bonuses and update developments.
- Spells: Acquire Knowledge and cast powerful spells, with a scoring system linked to book collection.
- Mirror: Perform an action of your choice by paying one coin.
With an average duration of 120 minutes, for 1-4 players, Golem (2021) is an experience rich in choices and with high replayability, published by Cranio Creations. Prepare to shape your destiny and that of mystical Prague.
Cranio Creations
Visit website
Rules - Golem
"Golem" is an engine-building game for 1 to 4 players, set in 16th-century Prague. Players are rabbis who create and manage clay Golems. The goal is to move the Golems around the city, develop their game engine with artifacts, acquire knowledge through books, and upgrade their player board. Golems that are too powerful can cause destruction, but it's also possible to "kill" them to gain strategic bonuses.
The game is played over four rounds, each consisting of seven phases that occur in sequence:
- Refresh
- Golem Movement
- Actions (2 marble actions and 1 rabbi action)
- Turn Order
- Influence Character
- Income and Development
- Golem Control
At the beginning of each round, colored marbles are randomly distributed from the 3D synagogue into five lines, each corresponding to a main action. Players choose a line of marbles to perform one of the following actions: Work (activate Golems), Golem (gain clay and upgrade), Artifact (gain coins/gold and build artifacts), Spells (gain knowledge and cast spells), or Mirror (perform an action of your choice). The number of marbles in the line influences the power of the action, and the chosen marble is collected, influencing future actions. This marble selection system is the core of the worker placement and engine-building.
Ready to play Golem?
Join the community, find players in your area and start your adventure!