Lords of Florence

Lords of Florence recreates the battle for political control of the Republic of Florence in the time of the Renaissance, a period famous for bankers, spectacular art, literature, betrayal and bloody conflict.Players control powerful families and individuals who together ruled the Republic during its 300 year history, as members of the Signoria (the ruling council of Florence), together they compete to gain enough political power (VPs) to overthrow the Republic and be named Duke.

Over 6 turns, players race to earn the most political power (VPs), if any player earns 50 political power, at the end of any turn before the end of turn 6, they automatically win.

In a turn, players spend their resources to complete shared projects, which in turn provide resources and VPs when completed. Projects are expensive, so players are encouraged to cooperate to complete them; yet the assymetric player powers mean some projects are more beneficial for some players than others. Therefore players must consider carefully whether to cooperate or not. In addition, each turn players may blind bid for intrigue cards, which provide opportunities to attack other players, disrupt projects they have completed, steal resources or even provide alternative victory conditions. However, players who focus too much on attacking others will not only fail to complete projects that would benefit them, but also risk triggering the shared loss condition. Failing to complete projects comes with a price - increasing the threat of the shared loss condition (known as instability), as the people of Florence become angry that their demands to complete projects are disregarded. If instability rises too far, the players all lose, forcing players to cooperatively complete at least some projects every turn to avoid defeat.

Player resources and intrigue cards are hidden behind player shields, allowing players to bluff, extort and hide their true strategies. The game rewards careful planning, timing and ruthlessness – all qualities critical to political success in the cutthroat World of Renaissance Italy

—description from the publisher