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Citadels is a card game by Bruno Faidutti. It has been available in Europe in French, German, and Dutch editions for several years, but the new Fantasy Flight Games edition is the first one in English.

Components

The FFG edition is similar to the others with a few changes in components (cardboard coin counters rather than, I think, plastic chips), but also contains bonus characters not available in earlier editions. What you get for your money: a whole bunch of district cards (I can’t find a reference to the exact number), seventeen character cards, gold tokens, a bunch of counters you can use to keep track of which characters are in the game, and a large crown with small plastic stand. The box is bigger than it really needs to be, but it looks nice on the shelf.

The Rules

In Citadels, each player is the ruler of a city, trying to make it larger and more grandiose than their opponents’. Players have a hand of district cards not in play (kept secret), and gold tokens gained through play. The game can accommodate 2 to 7 players. There are special rules for playing with 2 or 3; we found the 3-player game perfectly enjoyable.

Districts typically have a value between one and five, and a colour: red (military), blue (religious), yellow (noble), green (mercantile), and purple (special). You build your city by laying down these district cards, which costs gold equal to the value of the district.

All the districts except the purple ones are revenue-producing cards for the appropriate character. The Bishop, for instance, collects gold for each blue district in a player’s city. The purple districts instead have special abilities. e.g. the Smithy lets you spend gold to get extra district cards.

Each turn starts with a character selection phase. Starting with the player who has the crown in front of him, players secretly choose a character card from a set of 8, which will give them special abilities to use during the turn. The King, for instance, collects gold for noble districts, and gets to take the crown from whoever has it, giving that player the right to choose their character first in the next turn. An interesting wrinkle is that there are more characters than players, so not all characters will be in play each turn.

The bonus characters can be used to replace the standard characters in the game. So for one game, you might replace the Architect with the Navigator, and the Warlord with the Diplomat. The exception is the Queen, who you add to the game to allow 7 people to play.

After everyone has picked their character, the character with the crown calls out numbers one at a time, starting with 1. Each character card has a unique number on it from 1 to 8. When the number matching your character number is called (e.g. the Assassin is #1), you show your character card and take your turn. In your turn, you can use your special abilities, and you can either draw two gold, or go for a district card to add to your hand. You can then build one district card with your gold, if you have enough. Once everyone has taken their turn, a new one begins with character selection.

The game is over at the end of a turn in which someone’s city has grown to 8 districts. Winning is based on the total value of the districts in a player’s city, with some bonuses for city size and having all the colours.

Comments

I haven’t tried the new characters yet, but the standard character abilities are well balanced and create interesting play dynamics. If you are the King, you could almost always maintain your position by picking the King again … but this will make you an obvious target for the Assassin. If you build up a lot of revenue-producing districts of one colour, or get too far ahead of the competition, you make yourself a target for the Warlord, who can destroy districts. If you keep too much gold in front of you, the Thief may steal it all. And so on.

However, these abilities are limited. For instance, the Assassin and Thief go first in the turn, so if you take one them, you have to try to figure out who has taken which character this turn. Unusual character choices might make you hit someone other than your intended target.

Another thing I really like about the game is that (unlike some card games) it feels like you have some control and choices to make. When you draw a district card, you get your choice of two, and discard the other. If your position is bad in some way, you can try to do something about it – take a role that lets you earn gold, or one that lets you draw extra districts.

Although I haven’t played this game many times yet, I already consider it a real gem. Diehard players of the European editions might decry the cardboard gold counters, but I think the inclusion of the extra characters more than makes up for this; they should increase the replay value of the game immensely. It might be expensive for a card game, but compared with other games which have similar replay value, I think the price is reasonable. Highly recommended.

You can read more about the game at designer Bruno Faidutti’s website.

Citadels
Citadels Playtest Review by Chris Camfield on 03/05/02 Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 4 (Meaty) A very good card game of "bluffing, diplomacy, and city-building" Product: Citadels Author: Bruno Faidutti Category: Card Game Company/Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games Line: Cost: 19.99 Page count: 4 Year published: 2002 ISBN: 158994030X SKU: MA04 Comp copy?: no Playtest Review by Chris Camfield on 03/05/02 Genre tags: Fantasy Generic	Citadels is a card game by Bruno Faidutti. It has been available in Europe in French, German, and Dutch editions for several years, but the new Fantasy Flight Games edition is the first one in English. Components The FFG edition is similar to the others with a few changes in components (cardboard coin counters rather than, I think, plastic chips), but also contains bonus characters not available in earlier editions. What you get for your money: a whole bunch of district cards (I can’t find a reference to the exact number), seventeen character cards, gold tokens, a bunch of counters you can use to keep track of which characters are in the game, and a large crown with small plastic stand. The box is bigger than it really needs to be, but it looks nice on the shelf. The Rules In Citadels, each player is the ruler of a city, trying to make it larger and more grandiose than their opponents’. Players have a hand of district cards not in play (kept secret), and gold tokens gained through play. The game can accommodate 2 to 7 players. There are special rules for playing with 2 or 3; we found the 3-player game perfectly enjoyable. Districts typically have a value between one and five, and a colour: red (military), blue (religious), yellow (noble), green (mercantile), and purple (special). You build your city by laying down these district cards, which costs gold equal to the value of the district. All the districts except the purple ones are revenue-producing cards for the appropriate character. The Bishop, for instance, collects gold for each blue district in a player’s city. The purple districts instead have special abilities. e.g. the Smithy lets you spend gold to get extra district cards. Each turn starts with a character selection phase. Starting with the player who has the crown in front of him, players secretly choose a character card from a set of 8, which will give them special abilities to use during the turn. The King, for instance, collects gold for noble districts, and gets to take the crown from whoever has it, giving that player the right to choose their character first in the next turn. An interesting wrinkle is that there are more characters than players, so not all characters will be in play each turn. The bonus characters can be used to replace the standard characters in the game. So for one game, you might replace the Architect with the Navigator, and the Warlord with the Diplomat. The exception is the Queen, who you add to the game to allow 7 people to play. After everyone has picked their character, the character with the crown calls out numbers one at a time, starting with 1. Each character card has a unique number on it from 1 to 8. When the number matching your character number is called (e.g. the Assassin is #1), you show your character card and take your turn. In your turn, you can use your special abilities, and you can either draw two gold, or go for a district card to add to your hand. You can then build one district card with your gold, if you have enough. Once everyone has taken their turn, a new one begins with character selection. The game is over at the end of a turn in which someone’s city has grown to 8 districts. Winning is based on the total value of the districts in a player’s city, with some bonuses for city size and having all the colours. Comments I haven’t tried the new characters yet, but the standard character abilities are well balanced and create interesting play dynamics. If you are the King, you could almost always maintain your position by picking the King again … but this will make you an obvious target for the Assassin. If you build up a lot of revenue-producing districts of one colour, or get too far ahead of the competition, you make yourself a target for the Warlord, who can destroy districts. If you keep too much gold in front of you, the Thief may steal it all. And so on. However, these abilities are limited. For instance, the Assassin and Thief go first in the turn, so if you take one them, you have to try to figure out who has taken which character this turn. Unusual character choices might make you hit someone other than your intended target. Another thing I really like about the game is that (unlike some card games) it feels like you have some control and choices to make. When you draw a district card, you get your choice of two, and discard the other. If your position is bad in some way, you can try to do something about it – take a role that lets you earn gold, or one that lets you draw extra districts. Although I haven’t played this game many times yet, I already consider it a real gem. Diehard players of the European editions might decry the cardboard gold counters, but I think the inclusion of the extra characters more than makes up for this; they should increase the replay value of the game immensely. It might be expensive for a card game, but compared with other games which have similar replay value, I think the price is reasonable. Highly recommended. You can read more about the game at designer Bruno Faidutti’s website.