Hamlet is a village-building, pick-up-and-deliver game.
Work together to construct a shared town, while still competing for the most points.
Hamlet: The Village Building Game Overview
Players take turns expanding a shared village with oddly-shaped tiles that connect roads, buildings, and resources in creative ways. Each tile you place might change how goods move through the village, opening up new routes or blocking old ones.
On your turn, you’ll usually place a tile, move your villagers, and take actions at buildings. Buildings let you produce or refine resources (wood into planks, stone into bricks, grain into bread) and you can transport those goods across connected roads. The roads are communal, so everyone benefits from their placement.
As the game grows, the village becomes more complex, and you’ll need to plan routes carefully to get goods where they’re needed. You can also donate resources to help build the central cathedral, which earns points and contributes to ending the game.
How Do You Win?
When the cathedral is complete, the game ends. Players then total their points from building tiles, donated resources, completed contracts, and any bonus objectives.
The player with the most points becomes the most celebrated builder of the hamlet.
Main Mechanisms
Pck u0p and Deliver is the main part, you need to move those recources to where you need them.
USP
The shared, ever-changing village and the irregular hex-like tiles give Hamlet a distinctive look and feel. The communal village setup is the clever part. Everyone contributes to the same space, so your decisions always affect other players.
Theme
The theme of building a growing medieval hamlet and constructing a grand cathedral comes through well in the visuals and structure. Mechanically it’s abstract, but the sense of a living town expanding together is strong.
Setup
Lay out the starting tiles to form the beginnings of the village, shuffle the rest of the building tiles, give players their villagers and carts, and you’re ready to build.
Components & Artwork
The odd-shaped tiles are great and they make the village look organic and unique each time you play. The wooden resources are solid and the overall table presence is excellent.
The artwork fits the medieval tone without being too dark or cluttered.
Ease of Teaching
There’s a lot to explain on the first play because of how resources move and how tiles interact, but it flows once you’ve seen a few rounds.
Similar Games
Keyflower for the pick-up-and-deliver in a similar time period feel. Also, Pillars of the Earth but only because the game ends when the cathedral is built.
Hamlet: The Village Building Game Review
Positives
A nice spatial puzzle that keeps you thinking.
Interesting gameplay with meaningful decisions every turn.
Looks great as the village builds out across the table.
Negatives
Can feel a bit bland overall.
One of many medium-weight Euro games that blend together after a while.
Summary
Hamlet: The Village Building Game is a clever shared-space puzzle with a strong table presence and engaging gameplay. It’s enjoyable and smartly designed, even if it doesn’t do quite enough to stand out in a crowded genre.