In Citadels, players take on new roles each round to represent characters they hire in order to help them acquire gold and erect buildings. The game ends at the close of a round in which a player erects their eighth building. Players then tally their points, and the player with the highest score wins.
Players start the game with a number of building cards in their hand; buildings come in five colors, with the purple buildings typically having a special ability and the other colored buildings providing a benefit when you play particular characters. At the start of each round, the player who was king the previous round discards one of the eight character cards at random, chooses one, then passes the cards to the next player, etc. until each player has secretly chosen a character. Each character has a special ability, and the usefulness of any character depends upon your situation, and that of your opponents. The characters then carry out their actions in numerical order: the assassin eliminating another character for the round, the thief stealing all gold from another character, the wizard swapping building cards with another player, the warlord optionally destroys a building in play, and so on.
On a turn, a player earns two or more gold (or draws two building cards then discards one), then optionally constructs one building (or up to three if playing the architect this round). Buildings cost gold equal to the number of symbols on them, and each building is worth a certain number of points. In addition to points from buildings, at the end of the game a player scores bonus points for having eight buildings or buildings of all five colors.
Originally released in 2000, Citadels pitted players against one another as they competed for the coveted title of Master Builder by using the local citizens to acquire gold and build districts to complete their city. A deluxe edition with new art and brand new content put the game into a much larger box. Now, this Citadels Revised Edition repackages the deluxe edition of the beloved game into a more streamlined and portable package. The box is small, and previous tarot-sized cards resized to standard to make this edition far easier to carry from place to place. Additionally, the punch-out pieces have been replaced with mini-cards, ensuring an easier, more efficient storage and setup. It’s not all cards though—the plastic gold pieces continue to shine in this edition, along with the 3D plastic crown to pass between players. All of these changes are reflected in an affordable price tag.
