Scandinavian Deluxe Big Box

Scandinavian Deluxe Big Box includes Copenhagen and Helsinki in their Deluxe editions, each with two expansions!

The Danish city of Copenhagen is crisscrossed by canals and ports, and part of it, “Nyhavn” (the new harbor), is famous for its colorful gabled houses lining the water.

In Copenhagen, players design new facades for these houses so that they fit perfectly into this beautiful harbor setting. On their turn, a player can choose to take two adjacent cards from those on display (they can never have more than 7 cards in their hand) or use cards to purchase facade tiles of different shapes and colors.

All tiles can be purchased, but you get a discount if you place a tile in contact with another tile of the same color. Building on certain spaces or completing designated rows gives players new abilities that make their task easier. Completing a row or column earns the player points (double if it consists only of windows), and the goal of the game is to reach 12 points.

The famous Senate Square in the center of the Finnish capital is surrounded by government buildings, the university, the cathedral, and the Sederholm House. Players are tasked with designing pavilions on the square to protect pedestrians from the rain. Helsinki is based on the design of Copenhagen, created by the same team of designers, but with added complexity.

The central board represents Senate Square with 8 squares (two on each side) and 8 cards, each card being connected to two squares. On their turn, players move their token 1 to 3 squares forward, then must choose to take cards or build a pavilion.

Each space is connected to two face-up cards, and the player can choose to add them to their hand (making sure to stay within the limit of 7 cards, a key challenge of the game). The cards come in 5 different colors and represent shapes ranging in size from 2 to 5. To build a pavilion, the player plays a card representing the piece they want to play, then must play an additional number of cards of the same color corresponding to the size of the piece.

Finally, the piece must be “slid” onto their game board (which also represents the Senate square) from the side of the square where their token is located on the main board. Covering certain spaces allows players to obtain a coat of arms, which can be used to perform one of 15 special one-time actions.