Hamlet: By the Lake Expansion

About this product

Take your Hamlet village lakeside with fishing, boats, lakes, seasonal meals, and new building strategy.

A Hamlet expansion for players who want more control, more variety, and a fresh lakeside twist.

Hamlet: By the Lake is an expansion for Hamlet that adds lake tiles, boats, fishing, seasonal menu cards, new buildings, and new ways to move resources across your growing village.

Product Description

Hamlet: By the Lake expands Hamlet with lakeside village life. Form lakes between buildings, place boats, go fishing, feed your villagers seasonal meals, and use new buildings to create more personal control over resources and strategy.

Why you’ll love it

• Adds lakes to your village when building tiles create enclosed spaces.
• Boats create new movement routes across water for workers and transported materials.
• Fishing adds a fresh villager action with common, uncommon, and rare fish tiles.
• Seasonal meal cards give villagers helpful abilities during the game.
• New buildings add more control with Storerooms, Aquarium, Beach, Dockyard, and Cliffside.
• More replay value for Hamlet fans with extra variability, customisation, and strategic choices.
• Solo rules included so solo Hamlet players can enjoy the lakeside expansion too.

Quick Details

• Product type: Board game expansion
• Base game required: Yes, requires Hamlet: The Village Building Game
• Players: 1–4 players
• Recommended age: 10+
• Play time: Around 25 minutes per player
• Difficulty: Medium / Medium-Hard
• Theme: Lakeside village building, fishing, boats, seasonal meals, resource control
• Game style: Tile-placement strategy expansion
• Designer: David Chircop
• Expansion design: David Chircop and Johnathan Harrington
• Publisher: Mighty Boards
• Solo mode: Yes
• Expansion available: This is an expansion for Hamlet: The Village Building Game

Good to Know

• This is not a standalone board game.
• Requires Hamlet: The Village Building Game to play.
• Adds 30 lake tiles, 30 fish tiles, 20 fish tokens, 10 boat tokens, 9 menu cards, 6 new building tiles, 4 Villagers’ house tiles, 4 flags, and a canvas bag for fish tiles.
• New lake rules let empty spaces become lakes when building tiles enclose them.
• Boats can help your workers and materials move across lakes.
• Fishing lets villagers collect fish that can be sold for gold or used for seasonal menu abilities.
• New buildings give players more personal control, especially through Storerooms and player-owned lake buildings.
• The game can also end when a player places their last flag on a building or boat.
• Best for players who already enjoy Hamlet and want more strategic depth, more variety, and more control over resources.

Care & Maintenance

Store lake tiles, fish tiles, fish tokens, boats, menu cards, and building tiles neatly after play.
Keep the irregular tiles flat and separate the expansion pieces from the base game pieces so setup stays easy.