Cities

Aut hor

Publisher

Licen se

Edition

GKBN

Stanislav Hoferek

Greenie knižnica

CC-BY-NC-ND

Sixth (2018)

000111

About this book

Cities is a logical card game designed for at least two players. Goal of the game is to collect as many complete empires as possible. Players must use numerous events to gain the advantage. Conquer Rome, Athens, Carthage, Memphis and other cities of the ancient Mediterranean.

The game is completely free. Just download a PDF file and print it on a regular printer. It includes playing cards for individual cities and events, rules and good tips for new players. The game is recommended for players from the age of ten. Of course, we wish a lot of fun and involvement of brain cells! The game is planted aturn 400 BC and the players are trying to conquer Rome, Greece, Carthage, Egypt, Persia and also the cities of the Celts, Jews and Etruscans.

There is also a Slovak version: http://greenie.elist.sk/knihy/mesta

Rules

Goal of the game

Game Cities is designed for at least two players. Each player's task is to get as many empires as possible, stacked from individual empires. There is one point for each completed empire, and the first player to earn 7 cities with the wonders of the ancient world earns another 5 points.

Game versions

The first versions introduced the game, and the game was fine-tuned. The fifth version has made some big changes to speed up the game. The sixth version adds new events, some older events are adjusted and made much easier to understand and use.

Playing the game

At the beginning of the game, two decks are placed on the table. In every turn, all the players are doing these 3 actions:

1. Obtain a new city from a deck with cities (if any remain)

2. Get a new event card (if any remain)

3. Use any event card (voluntary)

Each player shows their cities to others so they can be clearly seen. Of course, they can be organized by individual empires. However, events are not shown, they are secret. There is only one event per turn.

Once someone has managed to complete all the cities of a particular empire, such as the six cities of Greece, all cards are out of the game. No one can use them and the player gets one point for every empire. Game continues until all cards with regular (not neutral) cities are completed.

World wonders

The player, who will as first one collect all the cities with world wonders, will get 5 points. In some games, no player can do it. To win 5 points, the player must have the following cities on the table or in their final deck:

Giza (Egypt), Babylon (Persia), Ephesus (Greece), Olympia (Greece), Halicarnassus (Persia), Rhodes (Greece) and Alexandria (Egypt). All cities with world wonders are marked.

cities

There are 54 cities in the game. Each of the cities has its own features, such as belonging to a certain empire, power in some major discipline, power in some minor discipline, and the status of a regular or capital city. In most cases, capital cities are much more important than other cities and the key to success is to have as many cities as possible. The following tags are used on the cards:

Army

(mostly Roman cities)

Culture

(mostly Greek cities)

Seafaring

(mostly Carthagi nian cities)

Agriculture

(mostly Egyptian cities)

Slavery

(mostly Persian cities)

Metallurgy

(mostly Celtic cities)

Finances

(mostly Jewish cities)

Engineering

(mostly Etruscan cities)

Everything

( point in everything, capital cities)

Wonder

( these cities has a world wonder)

Sample game

Lucy, Mark and Richard play a game. All three players are starting the game the same way, and players are getting new cities and events. Eventually, Lucy gets interesting event, the arrival of Commander Hannibal. She used this card and took all Carthaginian cities from Mark and Richard. Of course, there was not much of them at the beginning of the game. Lucy also managed to collect Attack event and collected capital cities from other players. She had control over most of the capital cities and made it impossible for others to use some of the events against her. She was also fortunate at the festivals to further strengthen her position.

Mark concentrated on a particular empire. Gradually dominated the cities of the Celts, using the Unification event. Later he managed to occupy Rome as well. It helped him to have commanders of these empires, so no one could use it against him. In the later stages, he managed to get a lot of events, thanks to Espionage and Victory events.. He often gained less important, neutral cities.

Richard has decided to get as many world wonders as possible. He knew that all the wonders of the world were in the Greek, Persian and Egyptian cities and focused on them. He managed to get all seven cities, but eventually ended up with only one complete empire at the end.

The resulting score was: 4 empires for Lucy, 3 for Mark, and 1 for Richard, who was the first with all world wonders. Richard won 6 points and won this game.

Distribution and number of players

Complete game can be time consuming. Therefore, it is recommended to play full game when you have a lot of time and are not be afraid to think over all the options. How can cards be dealt? Play with the wonders of the world is possible in any game, where cards are from the following empires: Greece, Egypt and Persia.

1. Full game with all cities (8 empires with 6 cities and 6 neutral cities) and all event cards. Such distribution is especially suited for players who love strategy or for long game with more players.

2. Regular game with five kingdoms and neutral cities, or six kingdoms. In this game, some event cards might not be needed. For example, if played without Etruscans, their commander will be unnecessary card, only applicable to floods. It is up to the players to choose which cards are not needed.

3. Fast game with four empires and neutral cities or with five empires.

4. Very short game with three empires that can be won only in 2:1 or 3:0. If players wish to play with world wonders, it has to play with the cities of Greece, Egypt and Persia.

Game can be accelerated by excluding some events, such as Commander cards, Plague, or Flood. It can also become slower without cards such as Protection.

Game is ideal for three or more players. This way every event card have a meaning. From version 6,  game can be exciting even for two players.

Another option is to play with teams. In this case, for example, if two players play against two, all 6 cities of each empire is counted together. Players, however, have all events separately and other cities only in their hands and can not exchange any cards with one another. But they can know what events their allies have in their hands. Also, the reward for the gathering of all the wonders of the world earns the whole team. Some events, such as Anger of the gods, are better suited to enemies than to their allies. Other events, such as Friendly exchange, can be useful on ally.

Theoretically, there is also a possibility for single player game, where the player tries to get all the empires as soon as possible. Any kind of disaster should be triggered when the event is retrieved.

Events

Barbarians: Barbarians can do much more damage to whoever has a lot of cities than to one without a single city. An event that will help a weaker player - or someone with Protection event card.

Festival: Helps players with capital cities. Large festivals helps also players with neutral cities.

Anger of the gods: Player who use the card gets an ordinary city from any player, not from a deck.

Economic crisis: Useful card against those players who do not have enough cities in the selected category.

Games: Excellent card for the owner of the cities that dominate the chosen discipline. For example, Carthaginian cities excel in the seafaring. Every capital city have 1 point in every discipline, with exception of the main category, where it have 3 points.

Charisma: The card's efficiency is greater with more Unification cards the player has. Excellent for those who have Unification event, but does not have enough cities to use it.

Plague: Use of this card needs to be well thought out. Its effectiveness depends on the situation. Interesting is the combination of Plague and Protection.

Unrest: This event is the most useful when playing with more than two players. The player can choose what to do in the east or west. With a good timing, it can force another player to lose capital cities or cities with world wonders into the deck. Neutral cities are unaffected.

Trade: Not every trade is good for everyone. Anyway, exchanging your weak city for some of the key cities of the opponent is a very good deal.

Uncovering excavations: This event is useful when someone has just lost important cities and used very useful events.

Flood: All players will lose all cities. It is effective to use this card against stronger opponents. The greatest advantage is for the one who has the most card commander and holds the capital cities.

Curse: Reduce opponent's initiative? Why not? Effective if opponent does not have any useful events.

Friendly Exchange: A useful event in the game with more than two players. Excellent if the first player needs Egyptian and the second player a Greek city. At the same time it will help weaker players to catch up with the stronger player.

Protection: Protect against unpleasant events. The player chooses when to use it and when not. There are several types of protection and it is necessary to decide whether the highest one should be used even where basic protection is sufficient.

Attack: A stronger version of the wrath of the gods, but with a condition. When someone lose all capital cities, he cannot use this event.

Loss of influence: Aggressive card, well-used with the Big Festival event.

Espionage: An excellent way to take advantage of the luck of an opponent who has managed to accumulate a large number of capital cities.

Silence before the storm: This card is useful if one of the players has a number of events that can turn the game's development to its advantage.

Commander: Players will lose all cities from the selected empire. This card provides great advantage over opponents with more cities. It's also a way to take away your opponent's capital.

Victory: Victory is sometimes at the cost of the victims. This is a good card, if player lacks useful event cards. It's also a good way to turn neutral city into an event. In addition, it is possible to use another event, for example from freshly selected ones.

Influence on wonders: This is a great card for players looking for the Wonders of the world. However, conditions must be met.

Rebellion: Throwing rebellion on the opponent will weaken his position and especially the number of his cities. Effective especially when only very valuable cities remain.

Education: An increase or decrease in education is especially interesting if you have few useful events or if your opponent has just five.

Unification: The most powerful and most valuable card in the game. It will enable the whole empire to be unified if the conditions are met. Much more effective is in the later stages of the game.

Tips for players

1. Each player may have a large number of events in hand. The one that is currently worthless for you may gain importance in a few turns.

2. If you have an event that would be very good for your opponents, keep it as long as possible on your hand. You can avoid using this event against you. A good example is the commander Julius Caesar, if you have most of the Roman cities. If enemies will get your cities, do not hesitate to use it.

3. Sometimes it is worth to use a Commander even when the opponent has only one city. Especially if it is a capital city, so it will prevent him from using an Attack event.

4. Cards like plague or flood can often do more harm than good. It can be used in the late stages of the game as well as in the game of more than two players.

5. Each empire has its great advantage in some areas, while in another it has no point (other than the capital city).

6. Cards with cities are taken according to order. If it is well timed, only the first players will get the cities, while the last one will not. This knowledge is well combined, for example, with games-like events. If two players are playing and both should get 4 cities, first one will have an advantage, if there is less cards available.

7. When printing game cards, you can easily recognize the city from an event card based on its dimensions. Another option is to print cities (or events) on colored paper.

8. Get 5 points from cities with world wonders is amazing. If you are not able to get them, make sure your opponent will not have all of them. If you are trying to get as much of a world as possible, events like Attack or Trade can greatly help your efforts. Commanders, like Leonidas or Ramesses, can cause significant problems. Of course, it's a good idea not to tell your opponents that you're trying to get all the wonders of the world. If someone takes over all cities from Greece, Egypt or Persia, other players are no longer able to get 5 points.

9. Consider the strength of each event card and think about best way to use it. For example, an Attack or a Trade is best used to get capital cities. And they are much more useful than ordinary cities. Another option is to get cities with world wonders. Sometimes it is a powerful combination to get one of the opponent's cities to use Unification in the next turn.

10. Some cards are so strong that they can change the overall power of the game board. A good example is the flood. Therefore, it is good to consider whether it is really necessary to use a commander. A very destructive card is a barbarian, and if you manage to timely with a flood, you can get a huge advantage over your opponent. Or he can prepare you for everything.

11. There are no points for neutral cities at the end of the game. At the same time, few events have an impact on these cities and it is not a bad idea to exchange them for more important cities.

12. Protection is one of the most important cards. Depending on the strength of the Protection, you can use your most aggressive cards, or become protected from hostile events. Never tell your opponent, that you have a Protection card!

A brief history

In ancient times, Europe looked completely different than today. In Europe, we encounter an ancient world with the emergence of the first ever developed culture in today's Crete. Minoans, along with the ancient Greek Mycenaeans, laid the foundations of modern Europe. Thousand years after the Minoans lost their power, new empires were struggled for the military, cultural, or commercial superiority. What was in Europe about 400 BC?

The Romans became an important power, but it was still more a lonely city than a vast empire. Countless wars brought Rome into conflict with Gauls, Etruscans, Latins, Greeks, Epirus, and later with Carthage and Macedonia. In any case, the Romans have defended themselves for a long time and defended themselves so well, that they became the dominant power in modern Italy and later entire Mediterranean.

The period from the sixth to the third century BC has several names. It was a golden age in Greece, Greco-Persian Wars, the Peloponnese War, the occupation of Greece by Macedonians, or Alexander's expedition to Persia. All this took place in short time. And it has sparked events all over Europe.

Carthage was founded around 800 BC. and in 400 years the small colony became a naval empire that dominated the Western Mediterranean, until their defeat by the Romans. Especially since 350 BC, when Carthage became the capital of Phoenicia. Little is known that after the Carthage was destroyed and rebuilt by the Roman Empire, it was the second most important city in the West, thanks to its location.

The Egyptians have done much. They built pyramids and many other magnificent buildings, and they still fascinate us with their ideas about death or gods. It was the Egyptians, who once formed the greatest military force in the Mediterranean. About 400 BC however, Egypt was long conquered by the Assyrians and later by the Persians. Soon, both Alexander's army and the Romans came and took Egypt.

The Persian Empire was one of the largest empires in the world. At times of conflict with the Greeks, it also spread to Europe. Confronting such a colossus is a huge problem. Persians have succeeded in subjugating and enslaving the peoples and effectively managing a vast empire. Even so much that they became incredibly rich and able to manage really demanding projects.

The Celts, also known as Gauls in the area of today's France, were experts in metal crafting. They never created an independent state, and often more than foreign policy, they were concerned about Druid rituals and traditions. However, it was not good to underestimate the Celts. They depopulated Rome and the most diverse Etruscan cities, but when it came to the conquest of Gaul, Caesar succeeded. He used internal conflicts between Gauls more than the strength of Roman legions.

Jews had their kingdom from a long time ago. They had high military strength, as well as policy of non-interference in foreign affairs. The Jews has been defeated by the Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks and Romans, but mostly because their enemies had ten times more soldiers. Any supremacy has experienced a frequent rebellions.

Etruscans formed the first important empire west of Greece. It was them who took over the culture of the Greeks and mediated it to the Romans. A number of technical, architectural or legal elements come directly from them. Quirky, the Etruscans left no records in their unaltered form, so we can only learn about them from the Romans and the Greeks.

ROME

Roman empire

3

1

Capua

Roman empire

3

1

Milan

Roman empire

3

1

Brundisium

Roman empire

3

1

Tarraco

Roman empire

3

1

Ravenna

Roman empire

3

1

ATHENS

Greece

3

1

Sparta

Greece

3

1

Syracuse

Greece

3

1

Olympia

Greece

3

1

Ephesus

Greece

3

1

Rhodes

Greece

3

1

Carthage

Carthage

3

1

Utica

Carthage

3

1

Cartagena

Carthage

3

1

Gadiz

Carthage

3

1

Karalis

Carthage

3

1

Leptis Magna

Carthage

3

1

MEMFIS

Egypt

3

1

Alexandria

Egypt

3

1

Giza

Egypt

3

1

Sakkara

Egypt

3

1

Heliopolis

Egypt

3

1

Abydos

Egypt

3

1

PERSEPOLIS

Persia

3

1

Babylon

Persia

3

1

Halicarnassus

Persia

3

1

Sardes

Persia

3

1

Susa

Persia

3

1

Ninive

Persia

3

1

ALESIA

Celts

3

1

Hallstatt

Celts

3

1

Lutetia

Celts

3

1

Avaricum

Celts

3

1

Narbo

Celts

3

1

Lyon

Celts

3

1

JERUSALEM

Jews

3

1

Jericho

Jews

3

1

Betlehem

Jews

3

1

Betania

Jews

3

1

Hebron

Jews

3

1

Joppa

Jews

3

1

VELZNA

Etruscans

3

1

Clevsin

Etruscans

3

1

Veii

Etruscans

3

1

Arrentium

Etruscans

3

1

Vetluna

Etruscans

3

1

Fuflona

Etruscans

3

1

Lisbon

Neutral city

1

Knossos

Neutral city

1

Genova

Neutral city

1

Madrid

Neutral city

1

Petra

Neutral city

1

Ur

Neutral city

1

Roman commander

Julius Caesar

Every player will lose all Roman cities.

Greek commander

Leonidas

Every player will lose all Greek cities.

Carthaginian commander

Hannibal

Every player will lose all Carthaginian cities.

Egyptian commander

Ramesses

Every player will lose all Egyptian cities.

Persian commander

Darius

Every player will lose all Persian cities.

Celtic commander

Vercingetorix

Every player will lose all Celtic cities.

Jewish commander

Moses

Every player will lose all Jewish cities.

Etruscan commander

Porsenna

Every player will lose all Etruscan cities.

Big festival

Every player will get 2 city from the deck for each capital city he have and 1 another city for each neutral city.

Medium festival

Every player will get 1 city from the deck for each capital city he have and also 1 city, if he have at least 1 neutral city.

Small festival

Every player will get 1 city from the deck for each capital city he have.

Unification

When used, player will get all cities on the table from a single empire.

Condition: Player must have at least 4 cities from the same empire.

Unification

When used, player will get all cities on the table from a single empire.

Condition: Player must have at least 4 cities from the same empire.

Unification

When used, player will get all cities on the table from a single empire.

Condition: Player must have at least 4 cities from the same empire.

Unification

When used, player will get all cities on the table from a single empire.

Condition: Player must have at least 4 cities from the same empire.

Charisma

The player gets 1 city for each event Unification he owns.

Condition:  Player must have 4 cities.

Anger of the gods

Roman cities

Attacked player lose  1 (not capital) Roman city to the cardholder.

Anger of the gods

Greek cities

Attacked player lose  1 (not capital) Greek city to the cardholder.

Anger of the gods

Carthagian cities

Attacked player lose  1 (not capital) Carthaginian city to the cardholder.

Anger of the gods

Egyptian cities

Attacked player lose  1 (not capital) Egyptian city to the cardholder.

Anger of the gods

Persian cities

Attacked player lose  1 (not capital) Persian city to the cardholder.

Anger of the gods

Celtic cities

Attacked player lose  1 (not capital) Celtic city to the cardholder.

Anger of the gods

Jewish cities

Attacked player lose  1 (not capital) Jewish city to the cardholder.

Anger of the gods

Etruscan cities

Attacked player  lose 1 (not capital) Etruscan city to the cardholder.

Games

Army

Player(s) with most  points in army will get 2 new cities from the deck.

Games

Culture

Player(s) with most  points in culture will get 2 new cities from the deck.

Games

Seafaring

Player(s) with most  points in seafaring will get 2 new cities from the deck.

Games

Agriculture

Player(s) with most  points in agriculture will get 2 new cities from the deck.

Games

Slavery

Player(s) with most  points in slavery will get 2 new cities from the deck.

Games

Metallurgy

Player(s) with most  points in metallurgy will get 2 new cities from the deck.

Games

Finances

Player(s) with most  points in finances will get 2 new cities from the deck.

Games

Engineering

Player(s) with most  points in engineering will get 2 new cities from the deck.

Plague

Each player loses 1 capital city and 2 regular cities of their choice. If a player does not have a capital city, he will lose 4 ordinary cities.

Friendly exchange

Player can exchange 1 city with another player who will agree with it. After the exchange, both players gets 1 city from the box.

Unrest

Opponents will give 1 Western (Rome, Carthage, Celts, Etruscans) or eastern (Greece, Egypt, Persia, Jews) cities to the cardholder.

Unrest

Opponents will give 1 Western (Rome, Carthage, Celts, Etruscans) or eastern (Greece, Egypt, Persia, Jews) cities to the cardholder.

Great unrest

Opponents will give 2 Western (Rome, Carthage, Celts, Etruscans) or eastern (Greece, Egypt, Persia, Jews) cities to the cardholder.

Loss of influence

Anyone who plays this card gets one neutral city from  his opponents. The player can use 1 more event in this turn.

Basic protection

Player is one-time protected against the effects of the Commander, Anger of the Gods, Attack and Barbarians.

Protection

Player is one-time protected against the effects of the Commander, Anger of the Gods, Plague, Unrest, Attack, Trade, and Barbarians.

Protection

Player is one-time protected against the effects of the Commander, Anger of the Gods, Plague, Unrest, Attack, Trade, and Barbarians.

Great protection

Player is one-time protected against effects of  any event.

Attack

Player gets 1 city from the selected opponent.

Condition:  Player must have a capital city.

Attack

Player gets 1 city from the selected opponent.

Condition:  Player must have a capital city.

Attack

Player gets 1 city from the selected opponent.

Condition:  Player must have a capital city.

Attack

Player gets 1 city from the selected opponent.

Condition:  Player must have a capital city.

Attack

Player gets 1 city from the selected opponent.

Condition:  Player must have a capital city.

Attack

Player gets 1 city from the selected opponent.

Condition:  Player must have a capital city.

Victory

Your cities won a  hard fight. You are loosing 1 city, but you get 3 event cards. You can use 2 events in this turn.

Victory

Your cities won a  hard fight. You are loosing 1 city, but you get 3 event cards. You can use 2 events in this turn.

Influence on wonders

Player gets all cities with world wonders from the table.

Condition: The player must have a capital city and  a world wonder.

Rebellion

Attacked player  lose 1 of his cities to the cardholder and 1 another city to the city deck.

Rebellion

Attacked player  lose 1 of his cities to the cardholder and 1 another city to the city deck.

Trade

Player can exchange 1 of his cities for any opponent's city.

Condition:  Player must have a capital city.

Trade

Player can exchange 1 of his cities for any opponent's city.

Condition:  Player must have a capital city.

Trade

Player can exchange 1 of his cities for any opponent's city.

Condition:  Player must have a capital city.

Trade

Player can exchange 1 of his cities for any opponent's city.

Condition:  Player must have a capital city.

Economic crisis

Players with less than  2 cities with a focus on metallurgy and army have will lose 2 cities and event cards.

Economic crisis

Players with less than  2 cities with a focus on engineering and culture will lose 2 cities and event cards.

Economic crisis

Players with less than  2 cities with a focus on agriculture and seafaring will lose 2 cities and event cards.

Economic crisis

Players with less than  2 cities with a focus on slavery and finance will lose 2 cities and event cards.

Education

Player can exchange up to 5 unused event cards with the deck

- or -

he uses this card on opponent, who will lose  5 of his event cards.

Education

Player can exchange up to 5 unused event cards with the deck

- or -

he uses this card on opponent, who will lose  5 of his event cards.

Education

Player can exchange up to 5 unused event cards with the deck

- or -

he uses this card on opponent, who will lose  5 of his event cards.

Barbarians

Every player is loosing  3 cities by his choosing. Player with less cities will lose all of them and cannot take a new city in the next turn.

Barbarians

Every player is loosing  3 cities by his choosing. Player with less cities will lose all of them and cannot take a new city in the next turn.

Silence before the storm

Attacked player cannot use any event for 2 turns.

Uncovering excavations

Player receives  1 city and event card from the bottom (opposite) side of the decks.

Uncovering excavations

Player receives  1 city and event card from the bottom (opposite) side of the decks.

Curse

At next turn, attacked player cannot take both a new city and an event card. He can only use one of his event cards.

Curse

At next turn, attacked player cannot take both a new city and an event card. He can only use one of his event cards.

Curse

At next turn, attacked player cannot take both a new city and an event card. He can only use one of his event cards.

Espionage

Player gets an event card for each capital that a selected player have. If he does not have a capital city, you will get 1  new event card.

Espionage

Player gets an event card for each capital that a selected player have. If he does not have a capital city, you will get 1  new event card.

Flood

Every player will lose all cities except capital cities. Then they will get two cities for each unused event Commander.