The Lungarno area of Pisa is the financial and cultural heart of the city. Powerful families and wealthy merchants rub elbows here. If you hope to dominate the Lungarno and prove yourself the greatest merchant in Pisa, you will need to attract them to your business.

In the game, you will need to balance two things: building and merchant placement. The Lungarno begins the game empty: a simple river crossed by three bridges, dividing the area into eight districts. Each district is large enough to hold exactly six buildings. Filling these districts with buildings is the way you attract the four ruling families to do business with you.

You start with a small hand of tiles. Most of these tiles are buildings you can construct. Each building shows one or two coats-of-arms, representing some of the four great families that rule the city. Placing a tile in a district attracts the matching family to do business there. You also have five merchant pawns. Placing a merchant on a tile allows you to trade with that family, earning „Florins” based on the number of matching tiles in the district. The Florins are your victory points, so you’ll want to collect many of them.

Unfortunately, you will often find reason to spend your Florins too! You can spend them to purchase better tiles. Or to take an extra action on your turn. Since you are spending your victory points, you must be careful to make sure that every investment is worth what it costs you!

When a district is filled, merchants on palaces in that district score points and can be used again later. Merchants on towers or plazas, however, must wait until the end of the game to score. Should you focus on higher long-term profits, or hope to score repeatedly with quicker, smaller gains?

You’ll also have to keep an eye out for special tiles. A well-placed shop can enhance your profits, but your rivals might build a church or graveyard nearby to limit your merchants’ market!

Careful investment of your Florins and clever tile play is the key to victory in „Lungarno”. Do you have the skills to become the richest merchant in all of Pisa?