Pyramid Review
Citadels (With Dark City Expansion)
Published by Fantasy Flight Games
Designed by Bruno Faidutti
52 District Cards, 8 Noble Cards, 8 bonus Quick-Reference Cards, 35 Plastic Gold Coin Discs, 1 Wooden Crown Token, Eight-Page Full Color Letter-Sized Rulebook, plus Dark City Expansion (14 District Cards & 10 Noble); $25
Designed by Bruno Faidutti, co-designer on the highly regarded Shadows Over Camelot, Citadels is a card game of city building in which the players must enlist the help of the Nobility. Each Noble grants the player a special power, but since each player can gain the aid of only one Noble at a time, he must be careful to enlist the help of the right one at the right time. The goal is to have the most valuable, and thus highest scoring, city by the time any player's city contains eight districts.
At the heart of Citadels are the District and Noble cards. The Noble cards are numbered from one to eight and are marked with a color. Most of them are a neutral gray, while others are yellow, red, blue, or green (associated with the Royal, Military, Religious, or Trade portfolios, respectively). Every Noble card has a special ability. For example, the Warlord card can destroy a building in a rival's city by paying the cost to build it minus one, while the Priest provides protection from the Warlord. Each District card represents a place, such as a Treasury or a Poor House, and is marked with a monetary cost from one to six, usually equal to the Victory Points it grants . . .
This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.
Article publication date: August 3, 2007
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