How about majority scoring with 2p?

Do you like majority scoring in a 2 player game? By now you should know that the rondel in Red Cathedral is brilliant, but what about its other main part, the majority scoring of the towers at the end of the game? Well it’s very tight and strict. Especially when playing 2p - the majority-leading player takes all the points from a tower and the 2nd only gets third of the points, so it’s quite all-or-nothing! Let’s take a closer look!

When you set up the game you draw a card that shows a layout with towers made up of base-, wall- and roof-cards. These are the cards that you can claim and build during the game. 🧐 Whenever you transport all of the required resources to a card it is immediately completed, earning you points and money, but it will also add points to the value of the tower.

Another important twist are the decorations - completed parts of the cathedral can be decorated with doors, windows and crosses, that add to the tower’s worth. Keep in mind you can also decorate sections that your opponents claimed! 😮

When the game is over, you add up how many completed cards are in a tower, these are all worth 2 points. Each decoration is worth 1 point. This way you can determine who contributed more to a tower (so won the majority). The tough thing is that the winner gets points even for cards and decorations of the opponent. A tie in a 2p game means no one gets any points.

💬 With this mechanic you really need to play better than your opponent. Take the right actions at the right time and be as optimal as you can, eking out ever so slightly more out of rondel actions and claiming sections cleverly. This is really a battle of wits that only the better player can win, which probably explains why Reni won the last 3 games. 😅

My biggest gripe about Red Cathedral before trying it was this majority aspect, and mainly it’s zero-sumness in 2p, but after playing multiple times I actually like it. It just makes competition that much more serious.