Which Expansion

The Castles of Burgundy expansions

Base game: 1–4 players90 minalea / Ravensburger12 expansions checked
  1. #1 overall

    The Castles of Burgundy: Vineyard

    Worth it

    Meeple Mountain calls it one of the two best Castles expansions but notes hefty rules overhead and no player aid. Punchboard calls it big and 'really well done'.

    Needs: Just the base game

    Adds: A vineyard board on each duchy and a tile rack. You place double-hex tiles on it, and more tiles of the same type score more victory points.

    Fixes: No base-game flaw is cited by reviewers; it adds a second set of tile-placement goals rather than fixing something.

    Expansion1–4 playersAdds more rulesBest for experienced groups
    DetailsBuy:AmazonAwaken Realms
  2. #2 overall

    The Castles of Burgundy: 8th Expansion - Trade Routes

    Worth it

    Special Edition owners on r/boardgames say they always play with it; it buffs selling goods and adds little overhead. Evidence is a handful of forum posts, not a full review.

    Needs: Just the base game

    Adds: Trade-route tiles with 3 spaces each. Sold goods go onto the route, and you earn the bonus when a tile's number matches the space.

    Fixes: Gives selling goods a more varied payoff than the base game's fixed sale spaces.

    Mini expansion2–4 playersAbout the same rules loadFine for any group
    DetailsBuy:AmazonAmazon
  3. #3 overall

    The Castles of Burgundy: 2nd Expansion - New Hex Tiles

    Worth it

    Every Special Edition owner in the r/boardgames thread treats the extra tiles (white castles, crane, geese, extra monasteries) as default; they add variety without new procedures. Small sample.

    Needs: Just the base game

    Adds: 4 new hex tiles: a Park (any building), Goats (any animal), a Sequential Order tile that keeps you first in turn order, and a Worker tile that buys 2 workers for 1 silver.

    Mini expansion2–4 playersAbout the same rules loadFine for any group
    DetailsBuy:AmazonAmazon
  4. #4 overall

    The Castles of Burgundy: 5th Expansion - Pleasure Garden (White Castles)

    Depends on your group

    Reddit players use it as an always-in module, but one says all its tiles make the game 'a little wonky' because of two extra brown buildings. The tile count is debated.

    Needs: Just the base game

    Adds: 9 Pleasure Garden tiles and a knowledge tile. Placing one gives an immediate action using the white die, and each is worth 4 VP.

    Mini expansion2–4 playersAbout the same rules loadFine for any group
    DetailsBuy:AmazonAmazon
  5. #5 overall

    The Castles of Burgundy: The Shields

    Depends on your group

    Players disagree: some call shields #16 and #17 too impactful or broken, others see a fair catch-up mechanism. Meeple Mountain says the advantages are beefy with low rules overhead.

    Needs: Just the base game

    Adds: 18 shield tiles on the goods spaces. Roll doubles to take one instead of your two actions and place it on a castle for a power, paying 1 silver per shield each phase or losing it.

    Fixes: Gives a trailing player a way to pivot or catch up, and an alternative use of turns that would otherwise be poor.

    Expansion2–4 playersAdds more rulesBest for experienced groups
    DetailsBuy:AmazonAmazon
  6. #6 overall

    The Castles of Burgundy: 6th Expansion - The Cloisters (Inns)

    Depends on your group

    One Reddit Special Edition owner skips the Inns because they skew the early game toward big zones; another group always plays with them. Opinions split.

    Needs: Just the base game

    Adds: 5 Cloister tiles bought for 2 silver. Placed in any empty space, each counts as +1 to the size of that area for scoring.

    Mini expansion2–4 playersAbout the same rules loadFine for any group
    DetailsBuy:AmazonAmazon
  7. #7 overall

    The Castles of Burgundy: 9th Expansion - The Team Game

    Depends on your group

    Only for exactly 4 players. A Special Edition owner called the 2 vs 2 team mode fun (shared giant map, discussing moves) but another has never played it; no deeper review found.

    Needs: Just the base game

    Adds: Two teams of two, each with a shared team board. You cannot use your partner's dice or private tiles, and the two players' points are added.

    Fixes: Gives the 4-player game a partner mode.

    Mini expansion4 playersAbout the same rules loadFine for any group
    DetailsBuy:AmazonAmazon
  8. #8 overall

    The Castles of Burgundy: 10th Expansion - Solo

    Depends on your group

    Punchboard calls it a fun, engaging but tough puzzle rather than an Automa-style opponent. For a bot opponent, look at the Special Edition's Châteauma instead.

    Needs: Just the base game

    Adds: A double-sided solo duchy board (beginner and advanced sides). You play 25 rounds, removing a tile from the depots each round, aiming for 50 points.

    Fixes: Gives the game a solo mode.

    Mini expansion1 playersAbout the same rules loadBest for experienced groups
    DetailsBuy:AmazonAmazon
  9. #9 overall

    The Castles of Burgundy: 4th Expansion - Monastery Boards (Border Posts)

    Depends on your group

    One Reddit owner lists extra monasteries among always-in modules, but no reviewer discusses it in detail. Only for groups that already like the base game.

    Needs: Just the base game

    Adds: 4 double-sided boards with three monasteries. Linking monasteries with a 5-tile line earns 5 VP, and the first to link all three gets a bonus, for up to 22 extra points.

    Mini expansion2–4 playersAbout the same rules loadFine for any group
    DetailsBuy:AmazonAmazon
  10. #10 overall

    The Castles of Burgundy: 1st Expansion - New Player Boards

    Most groups can skip

    Adds alternate duchy boards with a connection rule. No review or forum praise found; only available via the Special Edition. Take it only if you want the variety.

    Needs: Just the base game

    Adds: Double-sided duchy boards with a new rule: every tile must touch a castle directly or through same-colour tiles. You can spend 5 points to retrieve a set-aside castle.

    Mini expansion2–4 playersAbout the same rules loadBest for experienced groups
    DetailsBuy:Amazon
  11. #11 overall

    The Castles of Burgundy: 3rd and 7th Expansion - German Board Game Championship Boards (2013, 2016)

    Most groups can skip

    Two extra duchy boards with no new rules, created for German championship qualifiers; no player discussion of its value found. Cosmetic variety only; not in the 2019 edition.

    Needs: Just the base game

    Adds: Two extra duchy boards (one each for 2013 and 2016), no new rules.

    Mini expansion2–4 playersAbout the same rules loadBest for experienced groups
    DetailsBuy:Amazon
  12. #12 overall

    The Castles of Burgundy: Special Edition

    Depends on your group

    Hardcore fans like it, but it is a $149 big box. If you only want the 20th Anniversary content, the cheaper 2019 edition has Shields, Trade Routes, Team and Solo.

    Needs: Complete game: base game plus every expansion above, Vineyard and the Châteauma solo bot. Does not need another copy of the base game.

    Adds: Redesigned art and deluxe components (double-layer boards, metal coins, plastic castles), the earlier expansions, the new Vineyard expansion and the Châteauma solo bot.

    Fixes: Fixes fiddly setup and tiles shifting on the board (frames, bags) and adds a bot for solo play.

    Big box1–4 playersAdds more rulesBest for experienced groupsPrice: $100+
    DetailsBuy:AmazonAwaken Realms

Need the base game?

Buy:Amazon

Stuck between two?

The Castles of Burgundy expansions: quick answers

Which The Castles of Burgundy expansion should I buy first?

The Castles of Burgundy: Vineyard. Meeple Mountain's reviewer calls Vineyard and Shields 'pure awesomeness' and, of all the Castles of Burgundy expansions, 'these two are the very best', but says Vineyard has a hefty rules overhead and no player aid (you must look up how many points a group of grapes scores in the rulebook). Punchboard says it is a 'big, newer expansion' with a whole new set of pieces and that it is 'really well done'. A BGG poster picked the Special Edition over the 2019 edition partly for 'a new significant expansion (vineyards)'. A Reddit poster who played it twice said it 'felt a little off' (post text only; comments not read).

Is The Castles of Burgundy: Vineyard worth it?

Our verdict: worth it. It adds: A tile rack beside the main board and a vineyard sideboard on each player's duchy board (4 vineyard boards, 51 double hex tiles, 1 vineyard depot, 1 vineyard store, 1 cloth bag per the Special Edition rulebook). Double hex tiles are placed on your vineyard board, and the more tiles of the same type you place, the more victory points you gain.

The Castles of Burgundy: Vineyard or The Castles of Burgundy: 8th Expansion - Trade Routes: which first?

We’d buy The Castles of Burgundy: Vineyard first. See the side-by-side comparison for what each adds and needs.

Other games’ expansion guides

Rankings are our editorial picks, built from the reviews linked on each expansion page. Last checked 2026-10-09.