My friend just got Citadel, and I played it for the first time last night. I like it. A lot. It reminds me a lot of Puerto Rico in that you choose roles and you pick your actions based on what you expect other people will do.
I guess I'd better explain the game in case other people aren't familiar with it:
Citadel is a game of citybuilding. Players add Districts to their city, and the game ends when someone adds their eighth district by playing their eighth District card (of which you start with 4 in your hand). Players score points for the values of their Districts (which equal the costs by the way). There are 8 Role cards to choose from, and each Role confers some sort of benefit to the player choosing it. The Roles also determine the turn order. At the beginning of the game a random player plays first, while each turn therafter the first player is determined by one of the Roles.
The Roles are not all visible like Puerto Rico. Some are first set aside. We played a four player game, so we set aside 1 face down card and 2 face up. The number of faceup cards depends on the number of players.
So player 1 takes the remaining (not set aside) cards and chooses one, passing the rest to the left. Then player 2 chooses a Role and so on. The last player should have 2 Roles to choose from, and the last, unchosen Role gets placed facedown as well. In this way there will always be 2 facedown Roles that players are unsure about, and possibly some faceup Roles which will not come into play that round.
Now the turns begin. Each Role has a number on it, and that's the order in which the turns take place. Role Number 1 is the Assassin, 2 is the Theif, etc.
On your turn (when your Role number comes up), you do the following (in pretty much any order):
- Either collect 2 Gold or Draw 2 District cards from the draw pile and discard 1.
Collect income: some Roles allow you to collect some money based on the types of Districts you have in play.
Build a District: Pay the cost of one of the cards in your hand and put it into play in your city.
Use an ability: The different Roles offer different abilities to the player that chose the Role. You can use the abilities during your turn.
See next post for Roles...
- Seth
1. Assassin. Choose a Role. That Role gets skipped this turn.
2. Theif. Choose a Role (other than Assassin). When that role is called, that player gives you all of their gold.
3. Magician. Once during your turn you may discard any number of cards (to the bottom of the deck) and then draw that many, or you may exchange hands with any player.
4. King. Take the Crown marker (indicating who plays first). Also, collect 1 gold for each Royal District (Gold) in your city.
5. Bishop. Your buildings are immune to the effects of the Warlord. Also, collect 1 gold for each Religious district (Blue) in your city.
6. Merchant. Collect 1 Gold for being the Merchant. Collect 1 gold for each Business District (Green) in your city.
7. Architect. After your action (Draw and Discard or Collect 2 gold) you draw 2 cards. You may play up to three districts this turn.
8. Warlord. Destroy a district by paying 1 less than it's cost. Also, collect 1 gold for each Military district (Red) in your city.
There are 5 colors of Districts: Gold, Blue, Green, Red, and Purple. The colors are somewhat explained above, except Purple. Purple buildings have various abilities which can be used to improve your position. Players score bonus points for having a building of each color and for filling up their city with 8 Districts. The first to play their eighth District gets an additional bonus. The game end triggers when a player builds their 8th district, but the round finishes and everyone gets a chance to play their last turn.
If you haven't done it yet, check out this game. It's good in all the ways Puerto Rico is good, and it doesn't take quite as long to play.
- Seth