Alfonso X, who was called the Wise or the Astrologer, ruled Castile and Leon in the XIII century. He was an extraordinary monarch: being engaged in the publication of laws and economy, poetry and writing, he was also obsessed with stars.
At the very beginning of his reign, Alfonso X invited the best astronomers and asked them to compile detailed astronomical tables with coordinates of celestial objects. The Alfonsine tables laid the foundation for scientific works of Copernicus and revolution in astronomy.
In 1283 under his leadership the translation of the Arabic composition “Libro de los Juegos” (“Book of games”) was completed into Spanish and this brought chess and many other board games from East to Europe. Among the translated rules were “astronomical games”. One of them is right in front of you.

In the game Astrum you will become stargazers who make up the atlas of the starry sky commissioned by Alfonse X Astrologer.

Your goal is to fill your personal playing board with figures of various constellations so as to satisfy the requirements of the enlightened king.
Each board is divided into 4 colored sectors, which corresponds to one of the stacks of constellation figures. By placing a figure on one of colored sectors at your board, you determine the color for figure that the next player will take. However, he is also free to place this figure anywhere on his board.
Each figure combines several bright stars on the board and has 1 or 2 external connections, allowing you to continue the constellation. When you finish the constellation (it has no longer open external connections), you get victory points by the number of bright stars in it.

When one of figures’ pile ends, all players lay out a new pack and complete the round. At the end of rounds 1, 3, and 5, King Alfonso pays a visit to astronomers and checks their work. Before the start of the game, players open cards of King’s vagaries, which determine the conditions for obtaining victory points in the rounds.

—description from the designer

Astrum

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