Tips & Strategy

How to teach Tiletum, advice for a first game, player counts, the solo Cardinalbot and Prospect for Silver, and where videos differ from the rulebook.

Advice, not rules — the rulebook pages always win.

How to teach it

• Teach the Game is the script. Teaching videos start from the theme and the four-round, five-phase structure, then the die draft, then the six Actions and the free Tasks, and finish with the King phase, the Fairs and the end (Tiletum - How to Play Board Game, Meeple University). A learn-while-playing first round also works well (Tiletum - Learn While Playing!, Getting Games).
• Leave out the variable Action tiles in a first game, as the rulebook advises.
• Expect a slow first round: fourteen dice in a four-player game is a lot of choice.

Your first game

• Choose dice by the Action first. A 1 or 2 is a huge Action with few Resources; a 5 or 6 is a Resource haul with a token Action. Paying 2 Gold to shift a die is often the best Gold you spend.
• Go where the Fairs are. Fairs are a large share of the points. A House in an upcoming Fair Town scores every time that Town hosts one; otherwise end your Merchant there.
• Contracts release Pillars, full Buildings release Houses. Houses × Pillars at the end grows fast: 5 × 5 is 25 points. Keep both rising together.
• Complete Buildings early. Characters plus a Crest give you extra Action Points for the rest of the game, and Completed Buildings score at the end. The cheap Crest spaces still cost Food: keep a pink die in mind.
• Do not ignore the King track. Corruption pushes everyone down three times a round; the red spaces cost points and turn order. A cheap King Action now and then is usually enough.
• Keep a Storehouse space free. A full Storehouse blocks Bonus tiles, Characters and Contracts.
• Plan combos. Tasks and Helpers can interrupt your Action: fulfil a Contract mid-turn to free a Pillar, then place it with your remaining Architect points.

Player counts

• Two players is quick, with little waiting between turns and fewer House spaces in play.
• Four players gives more interaction and more downtime: the wheel changes a lot before your turn comes back, so keep a plan B.

Solo

• Learn the multiplayer game first: the Cardinalbot needs its own booklet and decision lists (Tiletum - Solo Mode - Board Game Review, The Broken Meeple). The summary on the back of the solo booklet covers most turns.
• The Cardinalbot loves Crests and wins position ties on the King track: take the Crests you need early.
• It scores every Fair even without a House in the Town — you cannot block it there.

Prospect for Silver

• Build Mines early: each one pays Silver now and in every King phase (Tiletum: Prospect for Silver - Tutorial & Playthrough, Gaming Rules!).
• Opening a second Underground map is a Task that only costs Silver; maps need not be opened in order.
• Silver buys Technologies and every tier scores at the end — pick the Technologies that fit your plan rather than one tier of everything.
• With the Scoring overlay, Mines can stand in for Houses or Pillars: a strong Underground position feeds the end-game multiplier.

Host game

Before the first turn, count out the four Action Points from a value-3 die and demonstrate Blue’s Frankfurt–Nurnberg–Prague Architect route. Physically spend one counter per move, tile or Pillar. Leave the Pillar in place and ask what is still needed to build the Cathedral. On the first three turns, check Storehouse room before collecting a tile and check that the player gained the die’s Resources as well as its Action Points.

Videos versus the rulebook

• Some playthroughs say no Task may come before you take a die. The rulebook lets you pay Gold to change a die just before taking it, and the publisher allows Helpers that change the die colour or give Resources before the die (BGG thread).
• One expansion video suggests only your highest Technology tier scores. The rulebook scores every tier you unlocked (1, 2 and 3 points).
• Silver cannot be bought with Gold or exchanged: it is not a Resource.

Sources

• Tiletum - How to Play Board Game — Meeple University
• Tiletum - Learn While Playing! — Getting Games
• Tiletum - Tutorial & Playthrough — Gaming Rules!
• Tiletum - Solo Mode - Board Game Review — The Broken Meeple
• Tiletum - Solo Playthrough — slickerdrips
• Tiletum: Prospect for Silver - Tutorial & Playthrough — Gaming Rules!
• Tiletum - General Strategy Analysis — Show Me How To Win
• BoardGameGeek Rules forum