Ceylon cover
2018BGG rank #2,823

Ceylon

by Chris Zinsli, Suzanne Zinsli · Ludonova

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Players2–4
Time60m
ComplexityMedium-Light
Age10+

About the game

What is Ceylon?

During the second half of the nineteenth century in what was then Ceylon, today known to all as the nation of Sri Lanka, a deadly fungus killed off all the coffee plantations on the island thus causing a serious economic crisis. The Scot James Taylor, and later many other entrepreneurs, set about substituting tea plantations for coffee plantations and hence creating what many connoisseurs today consider to be the best tea in the world. In Ceylon, players take on the role of the pioneers who developed the Ceylon tea industry. As such, they build plantations in different districts and at different altitudes. They produce tea and try to sell it to the most important export companies. To favor this task, they must win the favor of the counselors of each district and develop the necessary technology that allows them to get ahead of their competitors. At the end of the game, players score points for having plantations in each district, for meeting demands that have been set, for the level of technological development reached, and for the amount of money collected. In the end, the player who has the most points wins. —description from the publisher

How it plays

Mechanics

Area Majority / InfluenceContractsGrid MovementSet CollectionVariable Phase Order

On the shelf

Categories

FarmingIndustry / ManufacturingTerritory Building

Questions players ask

Questions to bring to BoardGameBrain

  • How do setup and the first turn work in Ceylon?
  • When does scoring happen and what ends the game?
  • How should the table resolve an unusual timing or rules interaction?