
- BGG rank
- BGG #3,923
- BGG rating
- 6.7
Pyramids
- 2–5 players
- 30 min
- Complexity 1.9/5
- 2017

Rules assistance for The Great City of Rome: The Shrine
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.

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Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
The Great City of Rome: The Shrine is an expansion for The Great City of Rome released in 2018 for 2–4 players, 60 minutes per game, and ages 10 and up. It was designed by Matthew Dunstan and Brett J. Gilbert and its main mechanics are Pattern Building.
Promo given for free when purchasing the base game at Spiel '18, consisting of four building cards and the rules. Setup: Each player receives the shrine card with the back in his player colour as an additional hand card. Course of the game: The shrine is dealt with like any other temple card and may be built in the action phase as usual. Unlike other temple cards, the player does not need any building points to build the shrine. End of the game: During the final scoring, the player scores 2 victory points for each building card that is horizontally or vertically adjacent to the shrine.
The Great City of Rome: The Shrine supports 2–4 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 The Great City of Rome: The Shrine is 60 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 The Great City of Rome: The Shrine 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.
The Great City of Rome: The Shrine has a complexity rating of 2.0 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.
The Great City of Rome: The Shrine belongs to these categories: City Building and Expansion for Base-game. Its main mechanics are Pattern Building. 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 The Great City of Rome: The Shrine are: Matthew Dunstan and Brett J. Gilbert. 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 The Great City of Rome: The Shrine as an expansion for The Great City of Rome. Expansions add new content, rules or scenarios to the base game and usually cannot be played on their own, so you need The Great City of Rome to use it. Check that your edition of The Great City of Rome is compatible, as some expansions were revised between editions.