If you love the feeling of building an empire from scratch, Orléans: Big Box is your go-to. Imagine yourself in medieval France, assembling the ultimate team to achieve supremacy through trade, science, and construction. But this isn't just simple worker placement; the heart of the game is bag building. You recruit followers — such as farmers, knights, and monks — and toss them into your bag. When you draw who will work, that's where strategy meets chance.

Each follower type brings a unique skill: farmers and boatmen provide money and goods; knights expand your action range and secure mercantile expeditions; craftsmen build trading stations and tools; scholars push scientific progress; and traders unlock new locations. And of course, don't ignore the monks, because having the church on your side makes you much less likely to fall prey to fate.

The Big Box is the definitive edition, collecting everything released up to 2025, including heavy expansions. There's the 'Invasion' cooperative mode, where players unite against a common enemy; the 'Trade & Intrigue' module, adding layers of competition and goods delivery; and the dreaded 'Plague', which fills your bag with corpses and forces you to use indulgences to survive. On top of that, the component quality is top-notch: heavy metal coins, wooden followers, and a custom inlay that removes all the stress of setup. It's a medium-heavy game where you'll always want to take more actions than possible, forcing you to prioritize what truly matters for victory.