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Rival noble Romans compete to become the most famous man in Rome by influence allocation to the army and conquest, to the Senate, to temples and to earning money (via pay toilets!). The method used is rolling and placing dice. [Buy it at Amazon]
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Players take turns starting, expending and completing elements of Ancient Rome's water supply, trying especially for length. [Buy it at Amazon]
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Players build houses and then start constructing aqueducts to supply them with water. Houses that by the end have had their aqueducts diverted and so do not receive water do not count by the end. But one can't build houses wherever desired either; the roll of a 20-sided die tells where lots are available. Of course, if one is lucky the neighborhood already has water! Then too there is the decision of how large a building to construct. Review [Buy it at Amazon]
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Complete standalone game in the mold of Roma which can also be combined with it to make a larger game. L [Buy it at Amazon]
(in French as Astérix et les Romains)
The players are racing to win a bet on who will collect the most Roman helmets. Dice game.
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Despite their joint tradition of presenting systems which adhere closely to their themes, here designer Karl-Heinz Schmiel and publisher Hans-im-Glück have presented one in which point of view is somewhat difficult to locate. Instead in 370 AD one buys "shares" of different tribes such as Huns, Vandals and Goths and then scores points if first or second when the scoring round is triggered. Otherwise interesting however with a significant make-strategy-as-you-go feeling and quite a few interesting dilemmas. Reminiscent of Web of Power and in the tight integration of the subsystems, Die Macher.
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Features a map of Rome on a square grid on which are placed buildings, plazas and people. A map of the Mediterranean shows where players, representing Caesars, attempt to conquer. The Forum is where votes are taken to influence these decisions. Players earn victory points by placing buildings, streets, plazas and mines in Rome. But in order to do so, the senator with the right connections must be influenced to do so. At the same time, Rome is expanding its empire around the Mediterranean through conquest. This is also achieved through influencing the right senators. Supposedly much better than its very small and desktop-published print run would indicate. L [Buy it at Amazon]
Chariot racing in the Hippodrome. Plays easy and quick, but depends on players not overindulging in blocking moves to avoid becoming processional.
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Players represent satyrs trying to attract like-dressed nymphs to three bacchanalia. L [Check Prices]
Deduction card game of hidden identities and variable victory conditions, a bit like the inventor's previous work, Saboteur. One player is the emperor Caligula, three are conspirators trying to kill him and the rest are his relatives. Players draft and pass cards to further their progress toward victory. L [Check Prices]
Combination of a Battling Tops system with a roll-and-move board game. [Check Prices]
"By Jupiter" is a trick=taking card game in which trump and point values of tricks are determined by all players before each hand. There are 87 cards in all, including 60 cards ranked 1-14 plus 4 god cards, a Jupiter and a Juno card, 3 sacrificial lamb, 12 number of tricks cards numbered 1-12, 5 marker cards and 5 null trick cards. Played in 8 rounds, it's a game of declaring the number of tricks you can take to earn points. Before each hand, players each remove one card and place it face down. These cards determine not only the trump suit, but also how many points a trick is worth. (Possibly annoyance: if a player has only special cards, the entire hand needs to be re-dealt.) If any suit was chosen more than others, that suit is trump (note that this means there are fewer of these cards in play than any other suit). In case of ties, the suit having the high total number of ranks revealed is trump. If this fails, single highest card decides. If still tied, it's a no-trump hand. Then each player uses his card to indicate how many tricks he plans to take and another card to indicate how much a trick is worth by placing it next to the cards ranging from 1-12. Only once per game is it permitted to aim for zero tricks. Normal-trick taking rules apply with the requirements to follow suit, choice of trump or not if void, highest card (trump) wins, etc. Jupiter and Juno don't belong to any suit except for the trump suit and beat any trump. If both are played in the same trick, the first one down wins it. When god cards are played, the owner declares whether they are the highest or lowest in the trick. Even lower are the sacrificial lamb cards, whose advantage is that they are playable even when one would otherwise have to follow suit. L [Check Prices]
Probably invented in response to the novel Ben-Hur, first published in 1880 by General Lew Wallace. May be the earliest game ever published on the Ancient Romans. Includes large game board, four wooden pawns, and two spinners. L [Check Prices]
Brettspiele L [Check Prices]
Players bet to see which chariot will come in first place on the six-lane, rectangular space track. L [Check Prices]
Playing the roles of slaves, gladiators or lions, players have a limited number of actions, e.g. run, eat to recover strength, pick up items, attack, taunt, throw a limb into the crowd, beseech the gods or work the crowd for food or weapons. L [Check Prices]
Players compete to build up legions, gold and aqueducts. The excitement of their being five different strategies to try out is not borne out in practice as it is too chaotic. Rules later revised in re-issue by Prism Games.
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Players try to find their family members in the enormous Roman baths complex. Points are given for arranging to have only certain individuals in the same room; unwanted other player members hamper that. L [Check Prices]
Finely-tuned card game. Many who find two-player situations uninteresting will like this one, as well as games like Lost Cities and Schotten-Totten, probably because the inherent randomness of the card deck is in effect a third player with whom one must contend. Note for any whose memories may have been blown out by undergraduate work: memory plays a significant role here.
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Card game set in 41 AD. The emperor has been murdered. Now it's time to plot to replace him with your own man. Includes acutions, drafting, negotiations and alliances, 110 cards, 100 tokens and instructions in five languages. L [Check Prices]
Building houses in Ancient Rome.
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aka Courses de Chars au Grand Cirque de Carthage
Unsurprisingly, features chariot racing at the Carthage circus. Movement is via die roll, an odd roll permitting lane change. Certain special board spaces contain instructions or permit play of particular cands in hand. Produced in Tunisia for the tourist market. L [Check Prices]
Card-drafting and bidding game in which players recruit charioteers, buy strong horses and chariots, and try to appease the gods. L [Check Prices]
Game for children in which players move their chariots according to simultaneously-chosen action cards. Each tries to be first past the post. L [Check Prices]
This is a card game in which players represent salesmen in ancient Rome who try to make the most money selling tickets for various events. Planned for October 2008. Is to arrive in a tin box. L [Check Prices]
As Caligula's popularity is faltering every day, the players use commerce, intrigue and manipulation to vault into the imperial throne. L [Check Prices]
A humorous train game set in Ancient Egypt?! L [Check Prices]
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Each player is a Roman impresario, producing great spectacles in the hopes of attracting the most spectators. L [Buy it at Amazon]
Roll a die to move. Buy villas, slaves and chariots and race chariots. L [Check Prices]
Each player represents one of the factions within the Christian church, each one hoping that their particular doctrine will be accepted by the religion and thus become part of the creed.
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Players try to make their fortunes and then get out before the volcano explodes. L [Check Prices]
Abstract tile-placing game on a grid. Image L [Check Prices]
Satirical game in which players are alternately bribing barbarians not to attack or abandoning Rome as fast as their little legs will carry them.
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Card game in which players compete to be best at re-building Rome following the great fire of the Neronian era.
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"Merchants at the Roman Forum" is a card game of trading glass, grain, wood, wine and tin to purchase better production facilities and ultimately, prestige. Includes 92 cards. L [Check Prices]
Racing game in which players try to get all 12 of their pieces to the opposite base camp by exact count. This is roll and move, Similar to Backgammon. L [Check Prices]
A surrounding game played on an 8x8 grid. There appears to be little connection to the topic apart from the title. L [Check Prices]
Chariot racing around an oval track of rectangular spaces. Movement is in track position order, ties being broken by dice. Special rules determine how to treat collisions. L [Check Prices]
Said to sell for $175 or more. L [Check Prices]
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Players represent either Roman slaves attempting to escape a horrible fate in the arena, which will require bribes, friends, weapons, tools, etc. or they represent guards attempting to prevent same. There may be some resemblance to Escape from Colditz.
Review L [Buy it at Amazon UK]
Collectible card game in Hungarian has players and Roman aristocrats playing allies and armies, artifacts and events, buildings and battle fields to be the first to achieve thirty points. L [Check Prices]
Trivia exercise. May be out of print.
Players represent missionaries traveling through the Roman empire and starting churches. L [Check Prices]
re-published by Innovative Game Technologies as Journeys of Paul
Racing game set in the Roman Empire. L [Check Prices]
Combined chariot racing and word game! The chariots move by roll of the die. The ending spt gives the prefix of the word the player must give, without repeating a previously-given word game. L [Check Prices]
Place your plastic pieces into a mosaic design, then move them to capture opponent's pieces. L [Check Prices]
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In the 2nd century AD players control powerful families in a western province. Each tries to place family members as Scholars, Merchants, Soldiers and Priests. The player with the most influence in each of these groups exerts power and gains support. L [Buy it at Amazon]
Abstract in which players try to penetrate the opponent's wall on a square grid.
English translation called NEW GAMES IN OLD ROME.
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English Translation of rules for NEUE SPIELE IM ALTEN ROM. Is actually a collection of games:
- CAESAR – for 2-5 players. Tile-laying game.
- CATILINE CONSPIRACY – for 3-5 players. Logical deduction game akin to Clue. Mainly it seems to be a matter of having luck in asking the right questions to the right players earliest. One wrinkle is that speculation is given a greater chance, but only to a very minimal extent.
- CIRCUS MAXIMUS – for 2-5 players. Chariot racing.
- CONSUL – for 2-4 players. Memory game.
- HANNIBAL VERSUS ROME – for 2 players. Most abstract of all of the many games on the Second Punic War. There is no real hidden information and it is mostly a matter of opportunistic tactics, but it is surprising how interesting this game of maneuver can be. Each player begins with slightly different forces, but with an identical set of cards which are used to resolve combat by simultaneous choose and compare. Engrossing for a few plays.
- IMPERIUM – for 2-5 players. Secret allocation game for up to five in which players try to dominate the empire. Actually the theme doesn't fit very well. Players each have an identical set of cards as in Raj and once again it is good strategy to try not to be overly ambitious, but this tends to happen as the last scored provinces are the most valuable. Interesting for a play or two, but highly unpredictable depending on the thought processes of the players.
- MERCATOR – for 3-7 players. Appears to be an early version of the game Medici. Later re-published as MUNICIPIUM.
- THE PRAETORIANS – for 2-4 players. Also a bit like Medici.
- PROCONSUL – for 3-5 players. Negotiation game.
- SENATOR – for 2-3 players. Similar to Labyrinth.
- SEVEN HILLS OF ROME – for 2 players. Card game sans map, the fight for the seven hills is represented by seven cards à la Schotten-Totten. Players compete for them by allocating cards from identical decks something like in Raj. The tricky issue is that cards are secret until both sides have allocated to the same hill in which case these cards become visible. Lacks flavor, but interesting for a play or two. Variants are also provided.
- SPARTACUS – for 3-5 players. Similar to Ohio.
- TRIBUNAL – for 4-7 players. Negotiation game.
- WHEEL OF HISTORY – for 2-5 players. Appears to be an early version of the game Tutanchamun.
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Earn money and goods and donate some of them to the Senate. L [Buy it at Amazon]
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In 780 BC participate in the original settlement of the seven hills of Rome. A tile-laying game in which farmers, merchants and soldiers participate. Depending on their ratios, only one type controls each hill and score points for the owning players. A great deal of the information is hidden as except for soldiers tiles are not revealed until the area is complete and ready for scoring. L [Buy it at Amazon]
This expansion kit was given away at Essen 2006. It is a new area, the Tiberian Island, which replaces an area from the original set drawn at random. L [Check Prices]
In this card game players represent owners of pay water closets in ancient Rome, and seek to earn the most money. Side note: ancient Romans used urine as an agent to get togas their whitest white. To get the purple stripes, they used a dye made from rotting snails. One can only imagine what these togas must have smelled like. Think about that the next time you're watching Rome.
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Tile-laying game; players cooperate to save as many as possible.
POMPEII: THE LAST DAYS
Make money and then escape before the lava overwhelms.
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Based on conjectures of a game board found at the archaeological site.
Light pattern-matching game in which players lay cards so that they do not match the cards next to them, but score by matching cards in the same row, column or diagonal.
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"The Last 37 Minutes" is a race to escape the lava, earthquakes and tsunamis before it's too late.
Chariot teams race around an eight-lane track made up of hexagons. Each team covers two spaces. Each team has a current rating for speed, acceleration and risk of accident. Whipping the horses is apparently also part of play. Published in Spielbox magazine. L [Check Prices]
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Negotiation game about machinations within the Roman Senate. Those familiar with the cursus honorum (course of honor) actually followed by Roman magistrates will readily recognize it in the board. At first glance appears to be a no-holds-barred negotiation outing – and therefore prone to long delays and boring interludes – but actually plays better than it à priori seems. In fact negotiation is pretty much limited to the first half, after which it shifts gears into becoming an interesting match in lookahead and outguess. Features nice plastic pawn figures representing the acanthus. Title is Latin for "Where are you going?" – probably deriving from the famous novel and film of the same name.
Review – Review: Game Cabinet – Review: Game Cabinet – Review: Game Report – L – [Buy it at Amazon]
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Abstract power struggle.
Review L [Buy it at Amazon]
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Pickup and deliver game of driving famous and infamous passengers around ancient Rome to make the most money. [Buy it at Amazon]
Learn history as you travel around the empire conquering forts in order to be the first proclaimed Caesar. L [Check Prices]
Party game.
Review
Part of the "How to Host a Murder" series. Characters include Licentius Caesar, Rotunda Immaculata, Maximus Testosterus, Cleptopatra, Bogus Fortunatus, Flotilla Submergia, Harangus Adnauseum, Mercedes Accelleratti. L [Check Prices]
Three games from the NEW GAMES IN OLD ROME set have been selected for this new offering: CIRCUS MAXIMUS, HANNIBAL VERSUS ROME and IMPERIUM. L [Check Prices]
Players compete to become emperor. The circular track has 12 spaces, two cards being placed on each. These include Assassination, Bread & Circuses, Political Support, Military Support, Intrigue, Soldiers, Reputation, Private Entertainments, Public Entertainments, Orgies, Tortures, Arena Games, and Decrees. After seven turns the player with the highest score wins. L
Trick-taking card game dealing abstractly with Roman horses and wagons. L [Check Prices]
Players roll a die to move towards Rome. Players can make deals that either force or prevent movement. Players not in a deal must move. Whenever a player crosses the Rubicon, he picks up a card that can affect movement, end the round premature, negate other cards or nullify deals. L [Check Prices]
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STRUGGLE FOR ROME
Barbarians take over the late empire, Catan-style, featuring armies, forts, supply wagons and a map covering the western empire.
Review L [Buy it at Amazon]
Published at Essen 2008, this historical quiz game has one player reading a question with its three possible answers and each other player using ABC cards to simultaneously answer. Then the question card must be placed in correct historical order in relation to the other cards. (A saeculum is a length of time roughly equal to the potential lifetime of a person or the equivalent of the complete renewal of a human population, a term first used by the Etruscans. During the reign of Augustus it was decided that this should be 110 years.) [Buy it at Amazon.de] L [Check Prices]
Abstract game based on the Latin magic square:
S A T O R
A R E P O
T E N E T
O P E R A
R O T A S
L
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Card game of competing statesmen. [Buy it at Amazon]
Players represent nobles in the earliest days of Rome's settlement, trying to bring in as many client settlers as possible and get yourself elected consul. L [Check Prices]
Covers the wagon trade between Rome and its port at Ostia. Merchants not only try to get "there" first, but also to do business along the way. L
Also known as Sulla, the Roman dictator, who ahead of Caesar, set the precedent for marching on Rome. In a system apparently reminiscent of REPUBLIC OF ROME players vie to become "First man in Rome". Shared features are semi-cooperativity and unfortunate events such as plagues. Strangely persecution of Christians seems to be a part of it, which is too early for the period. L [Check Prices]
Recreation of the ancient Roman version of what is today better known as Backgammon. In ancient times it was also sometimes known as Alea. The board and components do not seem to be trying to be replicate the ancient game except with respect to the rules.
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Card collection game with a memory aspect.
Review
[Spieltrieb] L [Check Prices]
TRIBUNE EXPANSION
Expansion kit for TRIBUNE (see below) adds the Bruti family and the possibility of another player. L [Check Prices]
Players represent patrician families attempting to gain dominance over the various factions in Rome. Each round begins with players allocating their pieces to various board opportunities and then they are resolved in order, similar to Pillars of the Earth. Included are the collection plate which gives cash, many locations which give cards (the slave market, forum, latrine, senate, atrium, catacombs, pantheon), the altar to Mars – laurels; faction track – faction control. Factions are named gladiator, legate, praetorian, plebeian, patrician, vestal and senator. Many of these locations require spending either coins or cards to complete. Victory conditions are printed on cards and so can differ from playing to playing.
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Trick taking card game also featuring bluffing, deduction and drafting. Players represent noble houses during the First Triumverate period (Crassus, Pompeius and Caesar). L [Check Prices]
Not strictly actually set in Roman times, but rather in those of their predecessors of a sort, the Etruscans. Players make sacrifices during the 6th century BC.
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Card game in which players conduct a series of blind auctions for one of the twelve Caesars named in Suetonius' famous books of the same name. Each Caesar has a different point value based on his chronological order. There are also bonus points gained for gaining a series. There is no attention to theme whatever. Cards are rather flimsy. With blind bidding and luck of the draw, there is little to no stategy.
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Tile-layer on an 8x8 grid about development of the ancient city. L
Players are road builders in Ancient Gallia. Milestones are placed along roads via cardplay, the goal being to have the most milestones along a section once it is complete. New cards are received via drafting. Includes 55 cards, 156 wooden tokens and one legionary eagle. L [Check Prices]
In this web-published card game each player represents a senator competing for gold, influence and prestige. L [Check Prices]
