| Subject Name: | Citadels |
| Image Link: | File:Citadelles_3th_FR_3D_box.jpg |
| Caption: | Box of the French 3rd edition of Citadels |
| Designer: | Bruno Faidutti |
| Illustrator: | Julien Delval, Florence Magnin, Jean-Louis Mourier, Jesper Ejsing, Bjarne Hansen. As graphic designer : Cyrille Daujean, Brian Schomburg, Scott Nicely, Richard Spicer, Christian T. Petersen. |
| Date: | 2000 |
| Players: | 2–8 (in later editions) |
| Ages: | 10 + |
| Setup Time: | 10 minutes |
| Playing Time: | 45–60 minutes |
| Skills: | Strategic thought, bluffing, diplomacy |
Citadels is a German-style card game, designed by Bruno Faidutti, originally published in French as Citadelles by MultiSim in 2000, illustrated by Julien Delval, Florence Magnin, Jean-Louis Mourier and Cyrille Daujean as graphic designer for the first edition. Sometime later, Citadels was published in German as Ohne Furcht und Adel, which means "Without Fear or Nobility".[1]
Citadels was a finalist for the 2000 Spiel des Jahres award. The Dutch version, Machiavelli, won the Dutch game prize (Nederlandse spellenprijs) in 2001.
The basic goal is to collect gold coins and pay to build district cards. The value of each card is equal to its points at the end of the game. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins.
Gameplay consists of multiple rounds with two phases: character selection and actions.
Characters are selected through a partially secret draft. Characters determine the turn order during the action phase, each has a different in-game ability, and four special characters provide the opportunity to collect extra gold.
Beginning with the player possessing the crown counter, players take it in turn to choose a character card secretly before passing the hand to the next player.
To add further strategy to the game, only some characters are available each round. Unavailable characters are selected randomly, and may be revealed or hidden, depending on the number of people playing. The first player to draft always knows the first face down character that is out of play and the last player to draft always knows the last card that is placed face down after the draft.
Player count determines how many characters out of eight are in play and how many characters that are not in play are hidden or visible:
After character selection is finished, characters are called out in order of the numbers on the top left corner of each card to take their actions.
Characters that are out of play are skipped and the next character takes their action phase. The actions involve: taking income (either two gold coins or looking at two district cards and keeping one), building district cards, and using character-specific abilities. Special characters that are labeled as yellow, blue, green, or red may take coins equal to the amount of buildings with the corresponding color they have built into their tableau (i.e. personal playing field).
Characters are then reshuffled and a new turn begins with players selecting new characters in the same process.
When a player 'builds' their eighth district card in their tableau, the game ends and points are tallied. Bonus points are awarded for building the maximum 8 districts, being the first to do so, and having a district of each possible 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.
The abilities associated with each character vary and include defensive, offensive, and bonus earning powers. The original set contained eight character cards:
Over the years, there have been expansion packs and new editions of Citadels released. The difference between the two is that an expansion is added into a preexisting version of the game and a new edition is a complete rework of the game itself.
Currently, the base English language edition of Citadels is called "Citadels Deluxe" and is sold with past expansion sets already included. These include extra character and district cards and the new markers associated with these new cards. It does not include game pieces and mechanics that are specific to the Circus Edition.
The expansion set includes a set of eight new characters,[2] any of which can be swapped for their numerical counterpart (i.e. a game could not have the Witch and the Assassin, as they are both Character No. 1):
It also added two number nine characters that expand the maximum player count to eight and can be used in games of five or more:
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, Dutch, Lithuanian and Estonian language editions of The Dark City also include the nine new character cards from the English-language edition.
This edition of the base game was published in Germany by Hans-im-Glück in 2012 and is not available in English. It contains the base game and 15 new cards of a new type called "action cards". These cards can be used once per turn without costing any gold and offer various tactical advantages - comparable to unique (aka purple) district cards. It does not include the Dark City expansion, which was included with the Fantasy Flight 3rd edition of Citadels.
This edition of the game includes characters and districts from the original game, additional character set, and The Dark City. it also added a brand new cast of 9 characters and 12 completely new districts. Players can choose which character combinations they would like to play with and can find recommendations in the rule book.
Lastly, this edition has new artwork.[3] 6 of the 9 new characters were created by a young French player, Robin Corrèze.[4]
New characters:
*In a new version
This edition of the game reworked the packaging and included updated art.[5]
Its associated "Scenic Route Mini Expansion" was released in partnership with Asmodee's Hobby Next program[6] as a promo item that was only available at participating hobby game stores. It included 14 new "unique district cards."
. Citadels . . Tom Jolly (game designer) . Lowder . James . James Lowder . . 2007 . 58–61 . 978-1-932442-96-0.