In Citadels, players take on new, secret roles each round to represent characters they hire to help them acquire gold and erect buildings. Players strategically choose roles like the Bishop, Warlord, Thief, or King to gain unique advantages and hinder their rivals, with the ultimate goal of being the first to complete their city.
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The Verdict
based on 36 reviews
“The design is a masterpiece of simplicity and interaction – a poster child of the old adage, “Less is more,” if ever there was one. Faidutti has created an eminently fun and accessible game simply by refusing to overburden the design with cumbersome and superfluous elements.”
“Citadels is a captivating game of strategy, cunning, and role-playing. As players don various character roles, they navigate a landscape of wealth accumulation and architectural prowess.”
The reviewer considers Citadels to be an excellent, streamlined, and entertaining role selection game, praising its evolution with expansions and master sets, ultimately rating it as a perfect example of its genre.
“Board Game Halv considers 'Citadels' a classic secret role and economic strategy game, highlighting its blend of hidden roles, character abilities, and resource management to build a kingdom, serving as a strong example within its genre.”
The reviewer highly praises Citadels as a fantastic and brilliant game with high replayability, noting its satisfying strategy and beautiful artwork. They found the role-selection mechanism cool and the game thoroughly enjoyable.
The reviewer enthusiastically recommends the 2016 edition of Citadels, calling it a significant improvement over the original with updated art, better components, more characters, and well-designed preset game variants. He considers it a 'no-brainer' upgrade or first-time purchase.
Citadels was a significant and well-regarded game for Shut Up & Sit Down, being one of the very first titles they reviewed and foundational to the channel's early content, indicating a strong positive reception.
“HexaGamers considers 'Citadels' an 'established great' within the card drafting genre, placing it on their original 'Best Card Drafting Board Games' list, signifying its enduring excellence and classic status.”
“Earning gold and erecting buildings has never been so easy, as the award-winning card game Citadels is getting a bit of a revision. Citidels is getting a new edition, adding a streamlined experience and evolved mechanics to the game.”
The reviewers highly recommend Citadels, praising its fun gameplay, replayability, and accessibility for both seasoned gamers and casual players, despite minor issues with game length at higher player counts.
“Armed with the insights you have gleaned from this guide, you stand ready to enter the esteemed halls of Citadels as a formidable opponent. Remember, the key to victory lies not just in the cards you hold but how you play them.”
“A game with a mean streak that brought the mechanism of role selection to the modern hobby audience and made a name for its designer. Citadels from designer Bruno Faidutti and publisher Hans im Glück was a staple of every backpack.”
The reviewer highly praises the 2016 edition of Citadels, calling its production fantastic with vibrant new artwork and improved components, which he finds more inviting than previous versions.
The reviewer found Citadels to be an absolutely great and fast-playing game, noting its potential for even greater enjoyment with more players beyond the two-player review.
The reviewer considers Citadels a modern classic, highlighting its engaging role-selection mechanic where players secretly choose characters to gain advantages and build districts towards victory.
“The reviewer finds Citadels to be a fun and exciting game, particularly enjoying the strategic choices involved in selecting characters each round and deciding on a turn's strategy.”
The reviewer highly recommends Citadels as a favorite and a great addition to any board game collection, praising its role selection and city-building mechanics and the cool interactions between roles, though noting it can slow down with higher player counts.
“Geeks Under Grace praises the 2016 edition of Citadels, highlighting that the game's drafting system elevates it from being mundane to brilliant, offering a fresh experience with its comprehensive overhaul.”
The reviewer personally enjoys Citadels for its simple yet cutthroat role selection and bluffing, finding it a game that offers engaging scheming and plotting, despite acknowledging that it may not appeal to all players.
The reviewer highly recommends Citadels, praising its stunning artwork, quality components, and superb replay value. They found it to be a fun and addictive game suitable for all levels of gamers.
The reviewers find "Citadels" to be a fantastic and versatile card game suitable for various group sizes and experience levels, praising its production quality and strategic depth, though noting that its repetitive mechanics can sometimes make longer games feel a bit tedious.
The reviewer praises Citadels as a great, accessible small box card game that is quick to set up and learn, despite occasionally feeling a bit too simple.
The reviewer highly recommends Citadels, considering it a game that belongs in everyone's collection, praising its stunning artwork, replay value, and effective scaling. While noting that some character combinations can occasionally prolong the game, they ultimately describe it as fun, addictive, and suitable for all levels of gamers.
The reviewer highly recommends Citadels, finding it a fun and enjoyable game with strong bluffing elements and strategic depth, even if he doesn't love it quite as passionately as some other enthusiasts.
“Preserved in its original form first published by Fantasy Flight Games in 2002, fans will find the same fantastic art from Jean-Louis Mourier and beloved gameplay that inspired the revised edition of the new and expanded Citadels. In Citadels Classic, the same inspired and simple gameplay remains, with players attempting to build a fantastical medieval city by constructing different districts.”
“Pick up the newest edition of the highly popular city building game where you compete to create the finest city with a complete case of savory and unsavory characters.”
The reviewers highly recommend Citadels, praising its stunning artwork, components, and superb replay value, noting its appeal to all levels of gamers despite occasional character combinations that can prolong gameplay.
The reviewers found "Citadels Duel" to be a well-executed two-player adaptation of the original "Citadels," offering good replayability and a satisfying experience for fans of the game.
The reviewer highly recommends Citadels, finding it a fun and addictive game suitable for all levels of gamers, praising its superb replay value despite acknowledging that some character combinations or player counts can occasionally lead to slower gameplay.
The reviewer gives Citadels a positive rating, highlighting its effective scalability for various player counts and the excellent value provided by the included bonus characters and buildings. They particularly enjoy the strategic depth of anticipating opponents' moves, though they mention that the game can sometimes feel prolonged and may present a learning curve for new players due to numerous character abilities.
“It can be a lot of fun, but it can also drag a little, if your game has too many directly offensive roles.”
The reviewer found the Dark City expansion to be a good addition that brings variety to the game, though not a groundbreaking or 'mind-blowing' experience.
The reviewer highlights that while Citadels excels in social deduction and offers quick gameplay, its highly confrontational nature and tendency to evoke strong negative reactions among players make it unsuitable for some groups, particularly families, though it can be ideal for those who enjoy backstabbing.
“I actively avoid this game! I like the role selection but I prefer games like Mission: Red Planet Second Edition.”
The reviewer considers Citadels a game they would actively avoid playing, classifying it as a 'hard pass' due to their strong dislike for it.
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