Overview

Caylus is a worker-placement game set in 1289 France where players are master builders constructing a castle for King Philip the Fair. Players place workers on buildings along a road to gather resources, build new buildings, and contribute to the castle. A key mechanic is the provost, a corruptible official whose position determines which buildings activate each turn. The player with the most prestige points wins.

Components

• 1 game board (road, castle, scoring track, favor table)
• 1 white bailiff cylinder, 1 white provost disc
• 30 one-denier coins, 10 five-denier coins
• 30 worker cylinders (6 per color: blue, red, green, orange, black)
• 100 houses (20 per color)
• 35 marker discs (7 per color)
• 140 resource cubes (30 each of food/pink, wood/brown, stone/gray, cloth/purple; 20 gold/yellow)
• 40 building tiles (6 neutral, 8 wooden, 9 stone, 8 residential, 9 prestige)
• Rulebook

Setup

1. Place the board centrally. Sort building tiles by type and place near the board.
2. Place the 6 pink neutral tiles randomly on the first 6 road spaces.
3. Sort resources and coins as the stock.
4. Each player takes pieces of their color, places markers on the turn order scale, passing scale bridge, all four favor tracks, and score track (0).
5. Randomly determine turn order. Player 1 gets 5 deniers; players 2-3 get 6 deniers; players 4-5 get 7 deniers. Everyone also gets 1 wood + 2 food.
6. Place the bailiff and provost on the last neutral building tile.

Turn Structure

Each turn has 7 phases:

Phase 1: Collect Income

Each player receives 2 deniers plus 1 per residential building owned, +1 for Library, +2 for Hotel.

Phase 2: Place Workers

In turn order, each player either:

• Passes (places marker on passing scale; first to pass gets 1 denier)
• Places a worker on a building or castle

Placement costs:

• Own building: 1 denier
• Other player’s building: cost = smallest unoccupied number on passing scale (1-5 deniers). Owner gains 1 prestige point.
• Special/neutral/basic building: same as other player’s building cost
• Castle: same cost as other player’s building

Phase continues until all players have passed.

Phase 3: Activate Special Buildings

Resolved in order: Gate, Trading Post, Merchants’ Guild, Joust Field, Stables, Inn.

Phase 4: Move the Provost

In passing order, each player may pay 1 denier per space to move the provost 1-3 spaces forward or backward. The provost cannot go before the bridge or beyond the last road space.

Phase 5: Activate Buildings

Buildings activate in road order from first building after the bridge up to and including the provost’s position. Buildings beyond the provost do NOT activate; workers there return without effect. A player may decline a building’s effect (except production buildings).

Phase 6: Build the Castle

Workers placed in the castle contribute resources. Each castle section requires specific resources. Contributors earn prestige points and may gain royal favors. The castle has 3 sections built in order: Dungeon, Walls, Towers.

Phase 7: End of Turn

The bailiff advances along the road. Check if game ends. Return to Phase 1.

Actions

Building Types

Production buildings: Generate resource cubes. Stone buildings (gray) give the owner a bonus cube when activated by another player.

Construction buildings:

• Carpenter: build wooden buildings (brown tiles)
• Mason: build stone buildings (gray tiles)
• Architect: build prestige buildings (blue tiles, on residential sites only)

The Lawyer: Transform neutral or your own craft buildings into residential buildings (cost: 1 cloth + 1 denier; gain 2 prestige). Residential buildings produce 1 denier income per turn.

Royal Favors

Gained from castle contributions, the joust field, and certain prestige buildings. Choose one track:

Favor Track	Benefit
Resources	Take 2 resource cubes (food, wood, stone, or cloth)
Money	Take 6 deniers
Building	Build one building without using a construction building
Prestige	Gain prestige points (2/3/4/5 for positions 1/2/3/4 on track)

Special Buildings Summary

Building	Effect
Gate	Move your worker to any unoccupied space at no cost
Trading Post	Take 3 deniers
Merchants’ Guild	Move provost 1-3 spaces in either direction
Joust Field	Pay 1 denier + 1 cloth for 1 royal favor
Stables	Change turn order based on stable placement position
Inn	Pay only 1 denier for all worker placements until driven out

Scoring / Victory Conditions

The game ends when the bailiff reaches a designated space on the road. The player with the most prestige points wins.

Prestige is earned by:

• Having others use your buildings (1 point per worker)
• Building new buildings (varies by tile)
• Contributing to the castle
• Royal favor (prestige track)
• End-game bonuses for gold cubes (3 prestige each) and favor track positions

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• The provost can be moved to empty/unbuilt spaces.
• Workers on buildings beyond the provost are wasted (no compensation).
• Players can discuss provost moves but are not bound by promises.
• Production buildings MUST be activated when the building resolves.
• A player can only place 1 worker in the castle per turn.
• The castle can hold multiple workers from different players.
• Residential buildings can be replaced by prestige buildings (losing the income).
• Neutral buildings that are transformed are permanently removed.
• 2-player rules include some modifications to building setup.

Player Reference

Turn phases: Income > Place Workers > Special Buildings > Move Provost > Activate Buildings > Castle > End of Turn

Placement costs: | Where | Cost | |——-|——| | Own building | 1 denier | | Other/neutral/castle | = smallest empty number on passing scale | | First to pass | +1 denier bonus |

Resources: Food (pink), Wood (brown), Stone (gray), Cloth (purple), Gold (yellow)

Castle sections: Dungeon > Walls > Towers (built in order)