2005Bruno Faidutti, Alan R. Moon
- Videos
- 59
- Creators
- 51
3 - 8 players20 - 40 minLight weight

2016Bruno Faidutti
Mainly reviews. Citadels is covered on BoardGameVideo.com by 24 reviews, 12 how-to-play guides, 4 recorded sessions, 11 unboxings, and 8 other videos.
From BoardGameGeek
In Citadels, players take on new roles each round to represent characters they hire in order to help them acquire gold and erect buildings. The game ends at the close of a round in which a player erects their seventh building. Players then tally their points, and the player with the highest score wins. Players start the game with a number of building cards in their hand; buildings come in five colors, with the purple buildings typically having a special ability and the other colored buildings providing a benefit when you play particular characters. At the start of each round, the player who was king the previous round discards one of the eight character cards at random, chooses one, then passes the cards to the next player, etc. until each player has secretly chosen a character. Each character has a special ability, and the usefulness of any character depends upon your situation, and that of your opponents. The characters then carry out their actions in numerical order: the assassin eliminating another character for the round, the thief stealing all gold from another character, the wizard swapping building cards with another player, the warlord optionally destroys a building in play, and so on. On a turn, a player earns two or more gold (or draws two building cards then discards one), then optionally constructs one building (or up to three if playing the architect this round). Buildings cost gold equal to the number of symbols on them, and each building is worth a certain number of points. In addition to points from buildings, at the end of the game a player scores bonus points for having eight buildings or buildings of all five colors. The 2016 edition of Citadels includes twenty-seven characters - eight from the original Citadels, ten from the Dark City expansion, and nine new ones - along with thirty unique building districts, and the rulebook includes six preset lists of characters and districts beyond the starter list, each crafted to encourage a different style and intensity of gameplay.
Citadels has 59 videos from 48 creators: 24 reviews, 12 how-to-play guides, 4 playthroughs, 11 unboxings and 8 other videos. They date from 2016 to August 2025.
To learn the rules, start with "Citadels - How To Play" by Watch It Played, which runs 14 min. For a quicker teach, "How to play Citadels - Games Explained" by Games Explained runs 5 min.
For an opinion before you buy, start with "Citadels (2016 Edition) Review - with Zee Garcia" by The Dice Tower. 20 creators have reviewed it. To see it played, watch "Citadels Playthrough" by The Dice Tower, one of 4 playthroughs.
If you like it, try Diamant, Raptor, Mission: Red Planet (Second/Third Edition) and The Dwarf King, also by Bruno Faidutti.
8 of 48
2005Bruno Faidutti, Alan R. Moon
3 - 8 players20 - 40 minLight weight
2015Bruno Cathala, Bruno Faidutti
2 - 6 players45 - 90 minMedium weight
2011Bruno Faidutti
3 - 5 players40 minLight weight
From BoardGameGeek:
In Citadels, players take on new roles each round to represent characters they hire in order to help them acquire gold and erect buildings. The game ends at the close of a round in which a player erects their seventh building. Players then tally their points, and the player with the highest score wins. Players start the game with a number of building cards in their hand; buildings come in five colors, with the purple buildings typically having a special ability and the other colored buildings providing a benefit when you play particular characters. At the start of each round, the player who was king the previous round discards one of the eight character cards at random, chooses one, then passes the cards to the next player, etc. until each player has secretly chosen a character. Each character has a special ability, and the usefulness of any character depends upon your situation, and that of your opponents. The characters then carry out their actions in numerical order: the assassin eliminating another character for the round, the thief stealing all gold from another character, the wizard swapping building cards with another player, the warlord optionally destroys a building in play, and so on. On a turn, a player earns two or more gold (or draws two building cards then discards one), then optionally constructs one building (or up to three if playing the architect this round). Buildings cost gold equal to the number of symbols on them, and each building is worth a certain number of points. In addition to points from buildings, at the end of the game a player scores bonus points for having eight buildings or buildings of all five colors. The 2016 edition of Citadels includes twenty-seven characters - eight from the original Citadels, ten from the Dark City expansion, and nine new ones - along with thirty unique building districts, and the rulebook includes six preset lists of characters and districts beyond the starter list, each crafted to encourage a different style and intensity of gameplay.
Designer
Bruno Faidutti
Artists
Andrew Bosley, Jeff Brown (II), James Combridge, Amit Dutta, Simon Eckert, Tyler Edlin, Felipe Escobar, Marko Fiedler and 14 more
Publisher
Windrider Games
Categories
Mechanics