
- BGG rank
- BGG #3,932
- BGG rating
- 6.5
Senji
- 3–6 players
- 90 min
- Complexity 3.0/5
- 2008

2016
Rules assistance for Histrio
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
For 2 players

What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
Histrio is a board game released in 2016 for 2–5 players, 40 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Bruno Cathala and Christian Martinez and its main mechanics are Hand Management, Simultaneous Action Selection, and Action Queue.
It's that special time of year when the entire kingdom gathers at court for the Munificent Theatrical Festival. Acting troupes from all over the land will come together to perform plays of light-hearted comedy or soul-wrenching tragedy. Will their performance win the favour of the king or will his fickle mood spell a flop? In Histrio, you travel the land recruiting actors to join your troupe. Assemble the right team and you might earn enough money to pay for an entire year of shows. It'll take careful planning and a little luck to out-perform your competitors. The play is the thing in Histrio, and the world is your stage! At the beginning of each round, cards are dealt to eight cities where players can travel to recruit actors. Some of the cards are actors, some grant money, and several are animal characters with special abilities. Players then secretly select a city where they will travel, and all players simultaneously reveal their chosen cities. If a city was chosen by only one player, that player gets all cards at the city. If a city was chosen by more than one, all cards are discarded, each player gets a secret objective card instead, and any actor cards are used to influence the king's mood toward either comedies or tragedies. At the end of the season, players earn money based on how many comedian or tragedian actors they have compared to the king's mood. The player with the most money at the end of two seasons wins.
Histrio supports 2–5 players according to the catalogue. This range comes from the publisher’s listed player count, so the game can be set up for any group size within it. Some setups, rules and scoring details may still vary by player count, so check your edition’s rulebook for the exact configuration.
The listed playing time for Histrio is 40 minutes. This is the publisher’s estimate for a full game. The actual duration depends on the group, the player count and familiarity with the rules: first sessions usually run longer, while experienced groups often finish faster. Setup and teaching time are not included in this estimate.
The catalogue lists Histrio for ages 10 and up. This is the publisher’s recommendation and reflects reading demands, rule complexity and small components rather than theme alone. Younger players can often join with help from an adult, so check the age guidance on your edition and consider your group’s experience with board games.
Histrio has a complexity rating of 2.2 out of 5 from BoardGameGeek players, which makes it a medium-light game. The rating reflects how much rules knowledge, planning and decision-making a typical game demands. Expect a longer first teach for heavier games, and use a preparation guide before game night.
Histrio belongs to these categories: Fantasy, Animals, and Bluffing. Its main mechanics are Hand Management, Simultaneous Action Selection, and Action Queue. Categories describe the theme and setting of a game, while mechanics describe what players actually do on their turns. Each mechanic links to a catalogue hub with similar games, which helps when you want something comparable.
The credited designers of Histrio are: Bruno Cathala and Christian Martinez. These credits come from the published game data and name the people responsible for the game’s design, not its illustrators or publishers. Designer pages on MeepleRules collect other titles by the same designers, which helps when you enjoy a game and want to find similar ones.
The catalogue lists Histrio as a base game. It can be played on its own with the components in the box and does not require any other title. Expansions, if any exist, add new content or rules on top of it and are listed separately in the catalogue with a link back to this base game.