Game of the Week: Citadels
This past week the game was Apples to Apples but we don't want to talk about it. Abigail chose Apples to Apples because she's not as on board with this increased game playing as all the other family members are and she thought choosing a game that her mom and dad do not like playing would give her a break from all the forced family fun. Well, we played A LOT of Apples to Apples last week anyway. But the game two weeks ago was way more fun so I thought I'd share it here. Two weeks ago the game of the week was Citadels, a quick and fun card game that requires more thinking and strategy than you realize at first.
We were first introduced to Citadels about six years ago by Shaun and Chanda Frost, the friends we most often played games with while stationed at Ramstein. This is another game that gets packed in suitcases and brought along on vacations. It takes up almost no space in a bag and can be played by up to seven players. Finding a good game that our entire family can play together is difficult so it's always been a good choice for us.
Like I said, Citadels is a pretty simple game. There are two phases to each round of the game. First, everyone chooses their character (but no one else knows what you've chosen) and then everyone takes their actions based on the character they've chosen. Players build districts on the table in front of them to develop their city by paying the cost in gold plastic coins about the size of a button. The object of the game is to be the player who has spent the most money on their districts - for example, a district that costs 5 coins is worth 5 points - at the end of the game. The game ends at the conclusion of the round in which one or more players complete their eighth and final district.
In addition to district cards, there are character cards that are pretty important. Each round, every player chooses a card telling them which character or role they'll play for that round only. Their characters play in a certain order. In most card games play proceeds around the table in order but in Citadels, you play based on the order of your character, not where you happen to be sitting. A round always begins with the assassin, followed by the thief, magician, king, bishop, merchant, architect, and finally the warlord.
As none of the other players know which character you are until you announce it on your turn, a big part of the game is being able to read people and guess which character they might choose. The characters take their turns in a certain order and each character has special abilities and can earn extra money based on the districts that are already in the player's city. For example, if someone has a lot of mercantile districts (green cards) they might want to be the merchant because they will earn one extra coin for every green district in their city. On your turn, you can choose to take two coins from the bank or one card from the district pile (choose two and keep one). Then you can play a single district card to the table by paying the number of coins on the card. At any point during your turn, you can choose to use your character's special ability.
Citadels kind of has another layer where you have to think about what your opponents are thinking and planning and about what they think you are going to do. To win the game you have to play the best districts from your hand because they're worth the most points at the end of the game. But you also have to accumulate enough coins to purchase those districts and hope the thief doesn't choose to steal from your character before you can spend your coins, or the assassin doesn't kill you causing you to miss an entire round of the game, or maybe the magician will force you to switch hands with them leaving you with zero district cards to build while they have your entire hand, or perhaps the warlord will destroy one of you hard-bought districts. There's a lot to consider for a simple little card game and you not only have to have a strategy for your own game, but you also have to be aware of what the other player's strategies might be as well.
I love the artwork in this game, it's one thing that for me takes a game over the top. The districts are things like a manor, prison, tavern, altar, castle, and church. The detail on the cards is really cool and since the occasional downtime you get while you're waiting for other players to take their turns is the perfect opportunity to really get a good look at the different cards in your hand. The prison card is both wonderful and awful all at once. I mean, bodies falling from tall towers, corpses being picked apart by birds, and some sort of wagon wheel torture device? Not pretty but also amazingly detailed for a small playing card.
Has anyone else out there played this game? Do you love it or is it just okay to you? What game should we play next?
We were first introduced to Citadels about six years ago by Shaun and Chanda Frost, the friends we most often played games with while stationed at Ramstein. This is another game that gets packed in suitcases and brought along on vacations. It takes up almost no space in a bag and can be played by up to seven players. Finding a good game that our entire family can play together is difficult so it's always been a good choice for us.
Like I said, Citadels is a pretty simple game. There are two phases to each round of the game. First, everyone chooses their character (but no one else knows what you've chosen) and then everyone takes their actions based on the character they've chosen. Players build districts on the table in front of them to develop their city by paying the cost in gold plastic coins about the size of a button. The object of the game is to be the player who has spent the most money on their districts - for example, a district that costs 5 coins is worth 5 points - at the end of the game. The game ends at the conclusion of the round in which one or more players complete their eighth and final district.
In addition to district cards, there are character cards that are pretty important. Each round, every player chooses a card telling them which character or role they'll play for that round only. Their characters play in a certain order. In most card games play proceeds around the table in order but in Citadels, you play based on the order of your character, not where you happen to be sitting. A round always begins with the assassin, followed by the thief, magician, king, bishop, merchant, architect, and finally the warlord.
As none of the other players know which character you are until you announce it on your turn, a big part of the game is being able to read people and guess which character they might choose. The characters take their turns in a certain order and each character has special abilities and can earn extra money based on the districts that are already in the player's city. For example, if someone has a lot of mercantile districts (green cards) they might want to be the merchant because they will earn one extra coin for every green district in their city. On your turn, you can choose to take two coins from the bank or one card from the district pile (choose two and keep one). Then you can play a single district card to the table by paying the number of coins on the card. At any point during your turn, you can choose to use your character's special ability.
Citadels kind of has another layer where you have to think about what your opponents are thinking and planning and about what they think you are going to do. To win the game you have to play the best districts from your hand because they're worth the most points at the end of the game. But you also have to accumulate enough coins to purchase those districts and hope the thief doesn't choose to steal from your character before you can spend your coins, or the assassin doesn't kill you causing you to miss an entire round of the game, or maybe the magician will force you to switch hands with them leaving you with zero district cards to build while they have your entire hand, or perhaps the warlord will destroy one of you hard-bought districts. There's a lot to consider for a simple little card game and you not only have to have a strategy for your own game, but you also have to be aware of what the other player's strategies might be as well.
I love the artwork in this game, it's one thing that for me takes a game over the top. The districts are things like a manor, prison, tavern, altar, castle, and church. The detail on the cards is really cool and since the occasional downtime you get while you're waiting for other players to take their turns is the perfect opportunity to really get a good look at the different cards in your hand. The prison card is both wonderful and awful all at once. I mean, bodies falling from tall towers, corpses being picked apart by birds, and some sort of wagon wheel torture device? Not pretty but also amazingly detailed for a small playing card.
Has anyone else out there played this game? Do you love it or is it just okay to you? What game should we play next?
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