Masons

by Rio Grande Games

Product Features

• 2 to 4 players
• 45 minutes to play
• Philippine trader theme
• Strategy game

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 2.9 x 12.4 inches ; 1 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000I3KK5O
• Item model number: 292RGG
• Manufacturer recommended age: 8 years and up
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,563 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

Product Description

From the Manufacturer

This expansion contains new game variants and two new bean types, the Cognac bean and the Field bean. With High Bohn, the players may spend their thalers on buildings located in Virginia City. These building have attributes that give the player’s new tactics for winning. The Plus part of this expansion adds order cards which allow players to earn extra thalers when they can fill very specific orders.

Product Description

In medieval times, famous masons competed to build the most beautiful and impressive cities. As we can see from what they left behind, they were perfectionists, but each had his own ideas about the best ways to design cities. Stately government buildings stand next to noble palaces with massive walls and guard towers surrounding the city to protect it from its enemies. In this beautiful game, the players take the rules of these master masons of old. At the beginning of the game, the board is empty, but quickly fills with houses, palaces, towers, and walls. The guild cards help guide the masons in their building and the special dice offer them the materials they need. Each player decides where to build his houses and palaces. Whenever walls enclose a city, it is scored. The game will determine which mason makes the best use of his materials and guild cards. But that will not be known until the final scoring, when the final scoring is complete and the players learn which of them has scored the most points to earn the victory as the greatest mason! At least for this game! Masons -- no walls, no power! Players: 2 - 4 Ages: 8 and up Playing Time: 45 minutes

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun Euro Game, July 14, 2010

By 

F. Carnahan "photogfr1" (Nixa, Missouri USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Masons (Toy)

I like Euro games and have pretty much downloaded every rules PDF I can find. Had never heard of this one and have to be honest, I was impressed initially by the very low price. The photo's implied a quality constructed game and it was from Rio Grande. I couldn't resist.

Two trial games later, with instructions opened and read as we went along, I was hooked. It's a fun little game with a unique rule set. The game piece colors have nothing to do with individual players. But you'll figure that out soon enough.

If you have experienced Euro games and the traditional quality of Rio Grande, you will most likely like the diversity this game adds to your collection.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic lightweight game of controlled chaos, October 4, 2010

By 

Caleb N. Diffell (Danbury, CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:1.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Masons (Toy)

Masons is a fantastic game of trying to barely control chaos. In Masons, you are seeking to fulfil scoring cards by manipulating the placement of walls, towers, and houses on the board. The trick is, the only decision that is completely in your control is where to place a wall. The color of the tower(s) and houses you must place is determined by the roll of three specialty dice. Sometimes you get to choose the color, but most often it's legislated to you by the dice.

As you place walls, you can place them in such a way that they complete a "city" (an area completely enclosed by walls). When this happens, it triggers scoring. Players can turn in up to 2 cards for points. The points are based on the features of the just-completed city or other elements on the board that are not (yet) part of a completed city. Instead of scoring, a player may discard a card and draw two new ones. The player in last place after each scoring round can discard any number of cards and draw an equal number of replacements.

The challenge of the game is in trying to manipulate the growth of the elements on the board so you can turn in cards for a high score. Because you can only impact certain elements, you're forced to "make do" with what the dice provide and what your opponents do. This is an exercise in trying to control chaos or "herd cats" so to speak. But there is a lot of room for clever play "at the margins" where a few points can be the difference between victory and defeat. Knowing when to forego scoring and instead dump a useless scoring card is also very important.

Masons is lightweight and has a lot of chaos and random elements, but they are very well balanced into a whole that is intriguing - the better player wins most often. Highly recommended for gamers who enjoy lightweight games that are a bit deeper than meets the eye, or someone wanting to move on past the monotony of Monopoly and find a game that's simple, quick-playing, and fun.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Masons is a fun, reasonably simple strategy boardgame., January 24, 2010

By 

Mason J. Rourman (North Yorkshire, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:4.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Masons (Toy)

I'm an avid boardgamer, and this one is definitely in the medium-level strategy category, and is always fun. It's a game of choices and area control, with the handicapping feature of giving most people points when each person scores. It's a fairly quick game, taking usually not more than 45 minutes to an hour. For much more info on this game (this is NOT an advert!), check out:
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