''Villa Paletti'' is a

board game Board games are tabletop games that typically use . These pieces are moved or placed on a pre-marked board (playing surface) and often include elements of table, card, role-playing, and miniatures games as well. Many board games feature a co ...

of physical skill designed by Bill Payne and published in 2001 by

Zoch Verlag The Zoch Verlag is a Munich-based publisher of games. Its pivotal point is games of skill made out of wood - or with a high proportion of wood — for children and families. In addition, it has games in which the tactical skills of the players ar ...

. Players compete to build the

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

highest using columns from lower floors without collapsing the structure. A double-size version of the game, ''Palazzo Paletti'', is also available.

Gameplay

Each player chooses a colour (in the case of two-player games, each player chooses two colours). They then take their wooden column pieces - three thin, one medium, and one wide - and arrange them on the base mat. The players must then agree on a fair placement of the first "floor", which must lie completely above the base mat and which cannot partially cover any column. Each player in turn must take one of their columns from any level except the highest, and place it on the highest floor. If they cannot remove one of their columns, they may ask to place the next floor. Each opponent may challenge this decision; if they choose to do so and are successful, they may remove that piece from play, and the player misses their go. If no opponent challenges the player, they may place the next floor on top of the pillars of the current highest floor - again, it must lie completely above the base mat and cannot partially cover any column. Once a column is placed on the second floor, the player with the most column points (one for thin, two for medium, three for large) on the highest level is the leader. If the tower is collapsed by any other player, the leader has won; if they collapse the tower, the previous leader wins. If the tower collapses before a column is placed on the second floor, or if the first leader collapses the tower, no-one has won.

Awards

''Villa Paletti'' won the

Spiel des Jahres The Spiel des Jahres (, ''Game of the Year'') is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the purpose of rewarding family-friendly game design, and promoting excellent games in the German market. It is thought that the existence ...

2002, the Games 100 Top dexterity award, the Tric Trac gold medal 2001, Belgian game of the year 2003, finalist in Switzerland, Japan, Finland and more. The

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The ...

picked it as their top game for 2004.

References

External links

* Zoch Verlag'
''Villa Paletti'' homepage
* {{Spiel des Jahres Board games introduced in 2001 Games of physical skill Spiel des Jahres winners