The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Let me state the bad news up front: this game is not published in English, and it probably won't be for some time. There is an English translation on the author's site: http://faidutti.free.fr/jeux/citadelles/citadelles.html. If you're interested at all, check it out. (Thanks to Akke Monasso for sharing this knowledge with me). I'm reviewing the Dutch version here.
Without further ado, the review:

The Package

The game comes with 65 district cards, 8 character cards, 7 summary cards, 30 "gold pieces" (tokens) and a crown card with foot, all in one small solid box. The cards are pretty thick and of good quality. The illustrations, done by Julien Deval, Florence Magnin and Jean-Louis Mourier, are full color and create a suitable atmosphere. The graphics are not stunning but good nevertheless. The card layout it clear: you know the abilities of a card (cost, color, etc) in a glimpse.
The Dutch rules are a bit vague, but, again, they get the job done. The leaflet is rather badly organized.

Summary of the game

I'm not going to review every single rule here: if you want to how the game is played exactly, follow the link above.
The goal of the game is to build the largest city. In game terms, this translates to playing 8 district cards. Every district card has a number of gold icons on it, from 1 to 6. If I want to play my 'tavern' district card, which has 2 gold icons on it, I will have to pay 2 gold. Districts are divided by color: yellow (Nobility), blue (Religion), green (Trade), red (War) and purple (Wonders). Wondrous districts have special abilities, like "You get one 'gold coin' if you discard a district card from your hand."
Every cycle, a player selects one character from the 8 character cards. Every character has it's own abilities: the Assassin can select another character which has to skip this turn, the Bishop gets income from his blue districts, and so on. The characters are redistributed every turn, so while I have the King this turn, this is no garantee I'll obtain the King the next turn as well. Your character card also dictates when it is your turn: the Assassin always begins the cycle, and the King is always fourth in line. This is one of the most interesting assets of the game and makes it very dynamic.
When any player has 'built' 8 district cards, the current cycle will be finished and the game will be over. Victory points are awarded for each 'gold icon' on each district card. Additional victory points are earned by players who built all 5 kinds of districts, the players who have built 8 districts and the player who was first in doing so.

Thoughts after playing

Machiavelli is easily learned. The rules of the Dutch edition are, as I said, badly organised, so if you're the first in your group to learn the game, you're out of luck. But, if your friend already knows the rules, you can have it under your belt in about ten minutes. One session can take from 45 minutes to two hours. Most of this time goes into choosing characters each cycle.
I've played quite a few sessions now, and Machiavelli is still fun. I'm not saying that the sessions are always different. Very much depends on the people your playing with, and how many times the people have played with each other.
Machiavelli is an excellent game to train your second-guessing. "I want to do this, but everyone expects that, so I'll do that." "I think that they think that I think ..." For every strategy, there is a counter-strategy.
The game is best played with 5 or 6 players while the author ecommends 5 participants. Although it can be played with as little as 2 or as much as 7 players, this is not as much fun.

Conclusion

Machiavelli is a fun little game, with nice pictures on the cards. The rules are a bit vague but you can still learn it in a quarter of an hour. Every session is different. The replay value is tremendous. I recommend this game to everyone who's looking for a card game. Machiavelli is different and it isn't expensive.

Machiavelli
Machiavelli Playtest Review by Jake de Oude on 20/03/01 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty) A card game that you can learn quickly, and has a lot of replay value. Product: Machiavelli Author: Bruno Faidutti Category: Card Game Company/Publisher: 999 Games Line: Cost: 25 NFL (about 12 Euro) Page count: n/a Year published: 2000 ISBN: SKU: n/a Playtest Review by Jake de Oude on 20/03/01 Genre tags: Historical Diceless Other	Let me state the bad news up front: this game is not published in English, and it probably won't be for some time. There is an English translation on the author's site: http://faidutti.free.fr/jeux/citadelles/citadelles.html. If you're interested at all, check it out. (Thanks to Akke Monasso for sharing this knowledge with me). I'm reviewing the Dutch version here. Without further ado, the review: The Package The game comes with 65 district cards, 8 character cards, 7 summary cards, 30 "gold pieces" (tokens) and a crown card with foot, all in one small solid box. The cards are pretty thick and of good quality. The illustrations, done by Julien Deval, Florence Magnin and Jean-Louis Mourier, are full color and create a suitable atmosphere. The graphics are not stunning but good nevertheless. The card layout it clear: you know the abilities of a card (cost, color, etc) in a glimpse. The Dutch rules are a bit vague, but, again, they get the job done. The leaflet is rather badly organized. Summary of the game I'm not going to review every single rule here: if you want to how the game is played exactly, follow the link above. The goal of the game is to build the largest city. In game terms, this translates to playing 8 district cards. Every district card has a number of gold icons on it, from 1 to 6. If I want to play my 'tavern' district card, which has 2 gold icons on it, I will have to pay 2 gold. Districts are divided by color: yellow (Nobility), blue (Religion), green (Trade), red (War) and purple (Wonders). Wondrous districts have special abilities, like "You get one 'gold coin' if you discard a district card from your hand." Every cycle, a player selects one character from the 8 character cards. Every character has it's own abilities: the Assassin can select another character which has to skip this turn, the Bishop gets income from his blue districts, and so on. The characters are redistributed every turn, so while I have the King this turn, this is no garantee I'll obtain the King the next turn as well. Your character card also dictates when it is your turn: the Assassin always begins the cycle, and the King is always fourth in line. This is one of the most interesting assets of the game and makes it very dynamic. When any player has 'built' 8 district cards, the current cycle will be finished and the game will be over. Victory points are awarded for each 'gold icon' on each district card. Additional victory points are earned by players who built all 5 kinds of districts, the players who have built 8 districts and the player who was first in doing so. Thoughts after playing Machiavelli is easily learned. The rules of the Dutch edition are, as I said, badly organised, so if you're the first in your group to learn the game, you're out of luck. But, if your friend already knows the rules, you can have it under your belt in about ten minutes. One session can take from 45 minutes to two hours. Most of this time goes into choosing characters each cycle. I've played quite a few sessions now, and Machiavelli is still fun. I'm not saying that the sessions are always different. Very much depends on the people your playing with, and how many times the people have played with each other. Machiavelli is an excellent game to train your second-guessing. "I want to do this, but everyone expects that, so I'll do that." "I think that they think that I think ..." For every strategy, there is a counter-strategy. The game is best played with 5 or 6 players while the author ecommends 5 participants. Although it can be played with as little as 2 or as much as 7 players, this is not as much fun. Conclusion Machiavelli is a fun little game, with nice pictures on the cards. The rules are a bit vague but you can still learn it in a quarter of an hour. Every session is different. The replay value is tremendous. I recommend this game to everyone who's looking for a card game. Machiavelli is different and it isn't expensive.