In Medieval times, a rondel was a dagger with a tapering needle point. In the 14th century, a rondel was a type of French lyrical poetry. In the 16th century, a rondel was a round piece of armor used to cover vulnerable joints.
In gaming, a rondel is a round, wheel-shaped mechanic that typically represents the actions available to players—actions that are restricted by the necessity of taking actions in a circular order around the rondel.
If you haven’t played a game that uses a rondel, here are some great games to try.
Transmissions
Players share Matt Dixon’s mechanical creatures and move them around a rondel, collecting resources. Build up your robots, build pipes, and collect birds and butterflies for points.
Dreams of Tomorrow
Space Park
Maracaibo
Set sail on a round course through the 17th century Caribbean to take actions or deliver goods to have the greatest influence after four rounds.
Disney Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Mining cards move clockwise, from shaft to shaft, interacting with the contents. You might find water, you might find gold and ore, or you might find the Red Ball of Fate.
Glen More
Each player is the leader of a 17th century Scottish clan looking to expand their territory. By moving around a rondel, you’ll collect territory tiles, but you also may be limiting your overall number of turns.
Glen More II: Chronicles
Merlin
Stefan Feld’s game of the titular wizard and the knights of the round table—a round table that also acts as the rondel for moving knights and taking actions.
The Red Cathedral
Prove yourself to be the greatest builder in the city by going around the rondel that is The Red Cathedral to gather resources , gain favors, and go to market.
Viscounts of the West Kingdom
Construct buildings, write manuscripts, work the castle, and acquire deeds to gain victory points, all by “going around” the kingdom as you gain influence in the different parts of society.
Teotihuacan: City of Gods
Move around a modular board, gaining an action and a worker upgrade or powerful bonuses, all as you work to build the great Pyramid of the Sun.
Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done
Spread the influence of your order by moving around an upgradeable rondel that dictates your actions in the game.
Patchwork
Uwe Rosenberg’s game about quilting. Choose which polyomino to add to your quilt based on the available pieces each turn, pieces that are set out in a rondel around the scoring board.
Finca
You’re a Mallorcan farmer, working to harvest as many tropical fruits as possible, fruits based on your location on a rondel and their location on the map.
Glasgow
Randomly set out a ring of townspeople, then travel from person to person in a clockwise manner to get the resources each one offers. Build factories to receive the goods they produce, build the right combination of buildings to score points.
Heaven and Ale
Brew the best beer as the head of an ancient cloister by collecting the right resources from the common rondel and adding them to your monastery board.
Iki
Travel the streets of Edo, meeting the merchants, street vendors, professionals, and artisans while working to find the greatest balance of urban life.
New York Zoo
Uwe Rosenberg’s game of zoo building. Travel around the rondel to select polyominoes of animal enclosures to add to your zoo board.
Although it is not presented in a circle, the primary mechanic for Empyreal: Spells and Steam is a rondel. You work from the left side to the right. After you perform the end-of-the-line action, you return to the start-of-the-line to continue down the range of actions again.
Empyreal is one of my favorite games! The way the rondel works — with spell (rail) cars being added into the slots of each space in the rondel, creating more opportunities — is quite fun to attempt to optimize as you play. Great game.
Thanks for list of games to check out!