Troyes Dice

You lead a wealthy family in medieval Troyes, filling a personal sheet with buildings, coins and influence over nobles, citizens and clergy. After a fixed number of rounds you total the points your sheet has earned from the cathedral, the markets, the prestige buildings and the events you fought off. Each round a handful of dice lands on a ring of coloured spaces, and the space decides each die's colour and price. Every player picks one of those same dice and writes the result into their sheet, so nobody waits. A black die brings an event that costs you if ignored. It keeps the feel of the big Troyes board game in a small box, so it suits a couple who want real decisions in under half an hour. Shared dice mean a large table never slows down, and it is one of the better solo games on our Strategy shelf.