Get ready to travel back in time and dive into the vibrancy of Brussels in 1897! The setting is the World's Fair, where the Art Nouveau style is turning the city into an open-air gallery. Your goal? To cement your name in the history of art. To achieve this, you'll need an artistic eye and diplomacy: construct stunning buildings, create and sell artworks, and, of course, network with the local nobility to secure your prestige.

Bruxelles 1897 is essentially a compact and clever version of the original Bruxelles 1893. The brilliant part is that the strategic depth of the original board game has been preserved, while the mechanics were streamlined for a smoother experience. The game unfolds over 4 rounds, where managing your Architects is the key to success. Each player starts with 5 Architect cards (valued from 1 to 5), which act as your 'workers'.

Actions are split between two main areas. In the Art Nouveau area, you replace action cards with your Architects, paying the card's value to execute the task. In the Brussels area, actions are free, but they require an increasing number of Architects to activate — and be careful: if you're too ambitious, you risk seeing your architect end up in prison!

At the end of each round, the position of your Architects in the Art Nouveau area determines who holds the majority, granting bonuses and victory points. Additionally, there are progress tracks that reward different strategies at the end of the game. The player who best balances construction, art, and political influence will emerge victorious. It's the perfect game for those who want the complexity of a Eurogame but in a more agile and visually elegant format.