Citadels is a German-style

German-style board game

German-style board games, frequently referred to in gaming circles as Euro Games or Euro-style, are a broad class of tabletop games that generally have simple rules, short to medium playing times, indirect player interaction and abstract physical components...

 card game

Card game

A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games...

, designed by Bruno Faidutti

Bruno Faidutti

Bruno Faidutti is an historian and sociologist, living in France, who is best known as an author of board games. His best known games include Knightmare Chess , Mystery of the Abbey and Citadels . He is also involved in the boardgaming community with his "Ideal Games Library" website and...

 and originally published in French as Citadelles in 2000, and later in German as Ohne Furcht und Adel, which means "Without Fear or Nobility."
Citadels was a finalist for the 2000 Spiel des Jahres

Spiel des Jahres

The Spiel des Jahres is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the stated purpose of rewarding excellence in game design, and promoting top-quality games in the German market. It is thought that the existence and popularity of the award is one of the major drivers of the quality...

 award. The Dutch version, Machiavelli, won the Dutch game prize (Nederlandse spellenprijs) in 2001.

Gameplay

Each player receives two "gold counters" and four "district cards". The eldest player receives the "king marker." Play now proceeds as follows:

The "character cards" are shuffled, and some are set aside (the number of cards, and whether they are face up or face down, depends on how many people are playing). The king chooses a character card, then passes the remaining cards to the next player, and so on until all players have chosen a character card (see below).

The player with the king marker now calls out the characters in the order of their rank numbers. When a character is called, the player who chose that character reveals their choice and makes the following plays:

• Either draw two gold counters from the supply, or draw two district cards, add one to their hand, and place one on the bottom of the deck. This is called taking an action.
• Build a district by placing one district card in front of them, paying its cost in gold counters, and add it to their city. Players cannot build two copies of the same district, unless they are the Wizard (see below), or have built the Quarry card from the Dark City Expansion.
• Perform any character-specific actions. Note that if the character called is the King or the Emperor, a different player may receive the king marker.

Players must take their actions before building districts; character-specific actions can be taken at any point in the turn.

If no player has chosen the called character, the next character is called.

If a player adds an eighth district card to their city, the game ends at the end of the turn. The values of each player's districts is totalled, and the following bonuses are added:

• 2 points for having 8 districts
• 2 additional points (4 in total) for being the first to build 8 districts
• 3 points for having a district of each color (purple, yellow, red, blue, green)

There are several cards that affect the end of the game. A player can build the Belltower district card to cause the game to end with 7 districts instead of 8. This affects the appropriate bonus points and the warlord/diplomat abilities.

Characters

The original set contained eight character cards:

1. Assassin
   Assassination
   To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
   
   

   Name a character to "assassinate". That character assassinated is then skipped when the King is calling out characters. Players who have built the Hospital may claim their gold or cards, but not use their character's ability.

2. Thief

   Names a character (but not the Assassin or the Witch, below) to "steal" from. When that character is called out, they give all their money to the thief. The Thief cannot steal from the Assassin, the Witch or the assassinated/bewitched (see below) character.

3. Magician
   Magician (fantasy)
   A magician, mage, sorcerer, sorceress, wizard, enchanter, enchantress, thaumaturge or a person known under one of many other possible terms is someone who uses or practices magic that derives from supernatural or occult sources...
   
   

   May swap his entire hand of district cards with any player, or place some or all of his cards on the bottom of the deck and draw the same number of cards from the top of the deck.

4. King
   Monarch
   A monarch is the person who heads a monarchy. This is a form of government in which a state or polity is ruled or controlled by an individual who typically inherits the throne by birth and occasionally rules for life or until abdication...
   
   

   When the King is called out, the player receives the king marker and will call out the remaining characters. The King may also "tax" noble districts; that is, receive one gold for each district card in his city with a yellow blob in the bottom-left corner.

5. Bishop
   Bishop
   A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
   
   

   May "tax" religious districts; that is, receive one gold for each district card in his city with a blue blob in the bottom-left corner. As noted below, also is protected from the Warlord's destruction ability.

6. Merchant
   Merchant
   A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
   
   

   Receives one gold from the supply at the beginning of his turn. The Merchant may also "tax" trade districts; that is, receive one gold for each district card in his city with a green blob in the bottom-left corner.

7. Architect
   Architect
   An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
   
   

   After taking his action, The Architect draws two cards. The Architect may also build an additional two districts during his turn.

   The Architect's picture is in fact a Druid

   Druid

   A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....

   
    - in the original German

   German language

   German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

   
   , this was a pun on Baumeister (Architect) and Baum-meister (Druid).

8. Warlord
   Warlord
   A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...
   
   

   May destroy one district card in any player's city (except the Bishop's) by paying one gold less than its original cost; the card is put on the bottom of the deck. The Warlord may also "tax" military districts; that is, receive one gold for each district card in his city with a red blob in the bottom-left corner. The warlord cannot destroy the districts of someone who has 8 districts (7 with the Belltower in play). There is a district (Armory) that allows any player to destroy a district of any cost without paying gold. This does not cost gold, and it can be used on a player with 8 districts. According to game designer Bruno Faidutti, the game still ends if the Armory destroys a player's 8th district.

Games with 2, 3, or 7 players

With two or three players, each player takes two character cards, and receives two turns for each cycle through the game.

With seven players (in the basic set) or eight (in the expansion pack), one character card is initially set face-down so as to be unavailable to all but the last player (the one to the king's right). When the last player is given the one remaining character card, they pick up the face-down card and choose either it or the card they were just given.

Expansion pack

The English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 edition is sold as an expanded set with some extra cards and markers. These cards add a ninth character to be used in games of five or more players:
9. Queen: Receives three gold if she is sitting next to the player with the King or Emperor card. (Not the person with the Crown marker.)

The set also adds an entire set of new characters, any of which can be swapped for their numerical counterpart:

1. Witch

   Names a character to bewitch after taking an action; the Witch's turn ends immediately. The Witch cannot build a district before naming a character to bewitch. When that character is called out, the player with that card takes an action, then skips the remainder of his or her turn, and the witch takes her turn as if she were the bewitched character. In other words, the Witch can build districts and use that character's special abilities. If the character is not called, the witch does not get a turn.

2. Tax Collector
   Tax collector
   A tax collector is a person who collects unpaid taxes from other people or corporations. Tax collectors are often portrayed in fiction as being evil, and in the modern world share a somewhat similar stereotype to that of lawyers....
   
   

   Any player who builds one or more districts during their turn (even the Assassin or Witch) must give the Tax Collector one gold at the end of their turn, if they can.

3. Wizard
   Wizard (character class)
   The Wizard is a type of magical character class in certain role-playing games and computer role-playing games. Wizards are considered to be spellcasters who wield powerful spells, but are often physically weak as a trade-off. Wizards are commonly confused with similar offensive spellcasting...
   
   

   May look at another player's hand and choose one district card. They can either put that card into their hand or build it immediately; this does not count as their one building action for the turn. The Wizard may build two copies of the same district.

4. Emperor
   Emperor
   An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
   
   

   When the Emperor is called out, he must name any other player to receive the king marker. That player must give the emperor one district card or one gold counter, if they can. The Emperor may "tax" noble districts.

5. Abbot
   Abbot
   The word abbot, meaning father, is a title given to the head of a monastery in various traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not actually the head of a monastery...
   
   

   Receives one gold from the single player with the most gold. May "tax" religious districts.

6. Alchemist
   Alchemy
   Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
   
   

   Gets back all the gold spent on districts during his turn, but cannot spend more gold than he possesses.

7. Navigator
   Navigator
   A navigator is the person on board a ship or aircraft responsible for its navigation. The navigator's primary responsibility is to be aware of ship or aircraft position at all times. Responsibilities include planning the journey, advising the Captain or aircraft Commander of estimated timing to...
   
   

   May take four gold or draw four district cards. The Navigator may not build any districts.

8. Diplomat
   Diplomat
   A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
   
   

   May swap one district card in their city with one in any opponent's city (except the Bishop's). If the new district is more expensive, they must pay the difference to the opponent. May "tax" military districts.

9. Artist
   Artist
   An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
   
   

   May "beautify" one district card in their city by placing one gold counter on it. It then costs one more gold to destroy, and adds one more point at the end of the game.

The Dark City

An expansion, The Dark City, was released for the game in 2004. The expansion adds 14 new purple district cards, some turn summary cards, and a wooden king token. The German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

 and Estonian language

Estonian language

Estonian is the official language of Estonia, spoken by about 1.1 million people in Estonia and tens of thousands in various émigré communities...

 editions of The Dark City also include the nine new character cards from the expansion pack.

Game interest

While the Medieval roles and city-building add to the game's appeal, its main strength is as a game of complex bluffs and double-bluffs. Players who choose early often take the Assassin and the Thief, and must then guess which of the remaining characters will be chosen by the players. Those players in turn must try to second-guess their decisions. All the while, they must build up enough gold to pay for their district cards in hand, and strike many balances; between taking gold and new district cards, between building many small districts or few large ones, and between building many districts of the same type (which makes taxing efficient but choice of character obvious) or of many different types (which adds a bonus at game end and makes character guessing harder, but which makes taxing inefficient).

The game also owes some popularity to the fact that few games support so many players.

External links

• Citadels on Faidutti's website
• Game review at RPG.net
• Scuro Azione, a slight modification of the real game to play online.
• Citadels of Achiles, an unofficial version of the game to play online.
• mCiudadelas, a script for playing Citadels over IRC using mIRC
  MIRC
  mIRC is an Internet Relay Chat client for Microsoft Windows, created in 1995 and developed by Khaled Mardam-Bey. Although it is a fully functional chat utility, its integrated scripting language makes it extensible and versatile....
  
  
• Citadela Duel,Java implementation of game for two players using opengl.