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Highland Clans box art
2005 Ranked #21,089

Highland Clans

A clan-building area game has players draw cubes, develop estates, raise followers, and raid opponents for points. Periodic scoring rewards different cube majorities, while a leading score threshold can suddenly end the contest.

Family Games Medieval Territory Building Tile Placement

Players

3-5

Play time

45-60 min

Age

8+

Complexity

2.13/5

Rating

5.53

Harder to teach Highly interactive Deep strategy

Overview

At a glance

Is this game right for my group?

ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.

Teachability 2.4/5

Harder to teach

Replay value 3.9/5

High replayability

Interaction 3.7/5

Highly interactive

Player scaling 4.0/5

Scales well

Strategic depth 4.5/5

Deep strategy

See all 5 specifications

How it plays

How does it play?

Take charge of your clan from the Scottish high country. In each round, a player first builds up his clan and landholdings, and then optionally conducts a raid on an opponent.

Core mechanisms

Key systems that shape the decisions players make.

Read the full game description

Take charge of your clan from the Scottish high country. In each round, a player first builds up his clan and landholdings, and then optionally conducts a raid on an opponent. You start by pulling six cubes from a bag. With green cubes you increase your ministers and potential to gain VPs at the end of a round. Yellow cubes attract warriors and permit you to hold more battle cards. The blue cubes are "pipers" used for combat support or possible VP generation. A blue cube can also be played as a "bard" to lure away opponents' followers. Finally, there are the red cubes, which represent cattle and generate VPs. You also use cubes to create new estates, where you can deposit cattle and groups of cubes (which are safer than those not on an estate). Raids are resolved simply. In three battle-rounds a card of value one to four is played by the two opponents; this value can be increased by a single blue cube. The one who wins the most battle-rounds wins the fight. The loser will then lose cubes while the victor gains a VP or two. After each round there is a valuation, in which the VPs are determined based on number of cubes. For example, the player with the most green cubes gets 3 VPs, while second most gets 2 VPs; if two players are tied for most, each gets only 1 VP. Another example: each red cattle tile is worth a VP, but if one player has the most he gets a 2 VP bonus. The estate tiles contain a number on the back. After each round a panel is turned. If the leading player has at least as many points as the number of the tile, the game ends. Bottom line: a fast game offering something for everyone: luck, tactics, and lots of interaction with your fellow players.

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Editions

Language and publisher variants currently recorded in the catalog.

Edition Year Language Publisher / Region
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Player resources

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Game and edition data

All specifications (5)

Play and group

Players
3–5
Best with
3–5
Play time
45–60 min
Age
8+
Complexity
2.1/5
Credits and catalog connections

Credits

Designers

1
Ralf Burkert

Artists

1
Hans-Jörg Brehm

Publishers

1
Queen Games

Linked items

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