Rialto Variant for Two Players

Hey there! Have you ever played Rialto, the popular strategy board game? If you enjoy a challenging game night with your close friend or family member, you’re going to love the Rialto variant for two players!

This exciting variant allows you and your opponent to experience the rich world of Rialto in a unique way. You’ll have to employ cunning strategies and adapt to your opponent’s moves to come out on top.

In this Rialto variant, you’ll explore the magnificent city of Venice, showcasing your skills as a city planner. The game is played over several rounds, where each player takes turns choosing and placing different cards on the board. These cards represent different parts of the city, such as buildings and canals.

Your goal is to create the most prosperous and influential districts of Venice. To achieve this, you’ll need to carefully consider your actions and make wise decisions based on the resources available to you. It’s all about balancing your choices and timing your moves just right.

The Rialto variant for two players provides an engaging and strategic gaming experience. With its clever mechanics and intricate decision-making, you’ll find yourself immersed in the world of Venice, strategizing and outsmarting your opponent.

So gather up your gaming partner, set up the board, and let the battle for Venice begin. May the best city planner win!

Hey there! So you already know how to play the standard 2-player game, right? Well, if you’re looking for a bit more competition and a bigger challenge, I’ve got a variant for you. It’s a version where you and your opponent go head-to-head, but with a twist – you also have to contend with a neutral player.

This neutral player doesn’t earn any victory points, but they’re right there on the Doge track, competing for those sweet stage bonuses in phase II, and even placing councilmen in the districts. It adds a whole new level of strategy to the game! Now, before you dive right in, I’d recommend playing a few rounds with the regular rules to get the hang of it.

Setting Up and General Rules

• When we play the game, there is a neutral player (NP), who starts the game. We randomly determine which player will sit on the left side of the NP. The player on the left will get 1 gold coin, while the other player gets 2 coins. We also lay out 3 rows of cards.
• The NP has all of his councilmen in his personal supply, and we need to leave some space on the table for his cards.
• The NP doesn’t earn any victory points or coins, and he doesn’t build any buildings. However, he does have a counter on the Doge track.
• The NP also has another counter that marks the connection between district 1 and the adjacent district with the lowest number. This counter shows where the NP will build a bridge or gondola if he receives the corresponding bonus in stages D or E of phase II. Note: The players can also choose to build a bridge or gondola on this marked connection.

When we place a tile on a marked connection, we need to make sure to mark a new one. Here’s what you do: find the district with the lowest number that still has an available connection. Then, among the remaining connections, choose the one that leads to the district with the lowest number. Put your counter there. Easy, right?

Now, let’s talk about the game phases. In phase I, both players finish their turns. The National Player (NP) then draws 7 cards and lays them face-up, sorting them by type. Don’t forget to add the Jokers to the Councilman cards!

Phase II is all about the NP being a regular player. Here’s what happens:

– The NP’s counter moves along the Doge track if they have a Doge card.

– If the NP has a Gold card, they don’t take any action. However, they can prevent other players from getting the bonus.

– Similarly, if the NP has a Building card, they also don’t take any action but can prevent someone else from getting the bonus.

D Bridge: So here’s what you do if you get the bonus. Take the bridge and put it on the marked connection. Make sure the lower number points to the district with the lower round number. Then, move the counter to the next eligible connection based on the rules I mentioned earlier.

E Gondola: Now, if you get the bonus for this action, here’s what you do. Place the gondola on the marked connection. Then, the NP (that’s you) should put one councilman in each of the adjacent districts. After that, move the counter to the next eligible connection following the same rules as before.

F Councilman: This is a really important action. You, as the NP, get to place councilmen into the current district just like normal. This will have an impact on the final scoring. And here’s the cool thing – you have an unlimited supply of councilmen! If you happen to run out, you can simply use councilmen of another unused color instead to keep going.

Stage E/F: When the NP satisfies the necessary conditions for the district bonus, you should flip the bonus tile over.

Phase III

During phase III, the NP doesn’t perform any actions.