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?
In Buru, you are a noble of the 14th century Majapahit empire, a powerful thalassocracy (maritime kingdom) that presides over the Indonesian archipelago.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Action Drafting
Choose actions from a shared supply before opponents can claim them.
Auction/Bidding
Bid against other players to determine who receives an item, action, or priority.
Contracts
Complete specific requirements to earn rewards, income, or victory points.
End Game Bonuses
Earn additional points for meeting conditions evaluated when the game ends.
Solo / Solitaire Game
Provide rules and objectives designed for a single player.
Read the full game description
In Buru, you are a noble of the 14th century Majapahit empire, a powerful thalassocracy (maritime kingdom) that presides over the Indonesian archipelago. At the orders of the king Hayam Wuruk and his vizier, the great Gajah Mada, you have set out across the sea to expand the great mandala of Majapahit through commerce and diplomacy. You and your fellow nobles have recently arrived at the remote island of Buru, eager to earn your place in history. Here, you will dispatch your parties to the island to explore, trade, and pay your respects as you compete to win over Buru's residents and ultimately gain the favor of the King himself. Buru is a mid-weight, Euro-style board game for 1-4 players. Over five game rounds, you and your fellow players secretly deploy explorers to the four different regions of the island in order to gather resources, recruit islanders, set them to tasks, and pay tribute to the spirits revered there. The object of the game is to win the islanders' esteem. You can earn esteem in many ways, primarily by paying tribute, but also by pleasing elders, tasking local nobles, fulfilling the king's decrees, and holding a totem when any player pays tribute to that spirit. At the end of the game, the player with the most esteem wins and is declared the new governor of Buru! -description from designer