If you buy one card game, the game you buy is Citadels.
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 his/her eighth building. Players then tally their points, and the player with the highest score wins.
This must rank as one of, if not the, most played games I have in my possession. Universally liked by both players new to board-games and those who are an old hand at them. Its a deceptively simple game with a good amount of depth.
Both versions contain beautifully illustrated cards, consisting of player role cards (the larger in the image below) and the district cards.
I’ve found that the player role cards are prime candidates for card protectors, we’ve played this many times in pubs and accidents happen 🙂
The aim of the game is to create a given number of districts whose costs are added up at the end of the game which occurs when the round is completed when a player places the required number of districts.
Each round consists of the players choosing a role card from a shuffled list.
Then using the order of the role cards the player take their turns.
With the role cards allowing you to either hinder another player, protecting your player or effecting the districts built in that turn.
The real skill and fun comes from attempting to second guess what roles the players have taken and attempting to counter them.
