Sunday, April 14, 2024

#56: Royal Turf (Mark's Top 100 2024)


Royal Turf

  • rank: 408
  • rating: 6.9
  • published: 2001
  • designer: Reiner Knizia
Print Status
  • very out of print
Why It's On The List
  • Another great example of Knizia using math to make fun instead of dry as dust slogs (I'm looking at you, Auf Heller und Pfennig/Kingdoms.) It's horse racing with actual gambling & great levels of player involvement. It plays well with 4-6 players and I've never had a dull game of Royal Turf.
Tips & Tricks:
  • Play with the "zero"/bluff bet variant & face-down bets. Trust me on this one.
  • If you're in the lead, make sure your bets are on the better odds horses... and with the players who are closest to you in score.
  • If you're behind, leave the leader on his own on a couple of horses. (This takes working together... which doesn't always happen.)
Extras
  • There have been three versions of the game - my favorite is Royal Turf, but Winner's Circle may be easier to find.
  • Here's what I wrote about Royal Turf for The One Hundred.

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