Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
How it plays
How does it play?
2 de Mayo is an abstract game of the terrible incidents that took place in Madrid on May 2, 1808. On that date, civilians in Madrid — and a few Spanish army units — rebelled against the French occupation troops of Napoleon.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Area Movement
Move pieces between connected regions rather than along individual spaces.
Paper-and-Pencil
Record choices and results directly on a personal sheet.
Hand Management
Time and sequence a limited hand of cards to preserve future options.
Simultaneous Action Selection
Choose actions secretly or concurrently before revealing them together.
Simulation
Model a real or imagined system through detailed cause-and-effect rules.
Read the full game description
2 de Mayo is an abstract game of the terrible incidents that took place in Madrid on May 2, 1808. On that date, civilians in Madrid — and a few Spanish army units — rebelled against the French occupation troops of Napoleon. 2 de Mayo is a bilingual (English and Spanish) boardgame for two players, in which each player controls the forces of one side, either Spanish or French. The game lasts 10 turns and takes about 20-30 minutes to play. Each turn is divided into four phases: Preparation Orders Movement Resolution At the end of Turn 10, the French player achieves victory if all the Spanish forces have been eliminated, all the access areas to Madrid are French garrisoned and has not lost four or more cubes. If a French victory does not apply, the Spanish player wins. The game includes: board showing the old map of Madrid, divided in 21 areas or zones 41 wooden cubes: 30 blue (representing the French troops), 10 red (representing the Spanish civilians and troops), and 1 unpainted used as the turn marker. 22 event cards, 11 French (blue back); and 11 Spanish (red back) 2 player aid cards 1 turn track card rulebook, including historical commentaries and a full example of play