- BGG rating
- 6.5
The Great City of Rome: The Shrine
- 2–4 players
- 60 min
- Complexity 2.0/5
- 2018
- BGG rank
- BGG #7,667
- BGG rating
- 6.4
The Great City of Rome
2018
Rules assistance for The Great City of Rome
Plain-language explanations of turns, card effects and disputed situations, with official source references and saved question history.
- 2–4 players
- 60 min
- 10+
- Complexity 2.3/5
For 2 players
Rules assistant for The Great City of Rome
What would you like to know?
Answers come from the official rulebook, with the page to check.
The Great City of Rome is a board game 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.
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About the game
To rebuild the Eternal City, the Roman Emperor summoned the most talented builders of antiquity. Each of them is trying to draft the best city — but talent is not enough. Only those who know how to please the Emperor, cleverly exert their influence, and invest at the right time will succeed in City of Rome. In more detail, the game lasts fourteen rounds, and in each round, players draft one of the building cards in play and add it to their hand. The drafting order depends on how closely you stand to the emperor. At the start of a round, you reveal a new "action strip" that has three bricks and two cogs in some order, then players take turns placing their figure on one of these five spaces; the closer you are to the emperor, the earlier you draft, but the fewer resources (bricks and cogs) you receive. (With only two players in the game, each player places two figures on the action strip and takes two complete turns each round.) After drafting, you can take one build action and one produce action. To build, you must pay the cost in bricks — paying two coins for each missing brick — then place the card you're building adjacent to another card of yours already in play. You start with two building cards in play, so you'll have at most sixteen cards at game's end. These cards must fit in a 4x4 square, so plan carefully since you'll want to place some buildings next to other ones to earn the most points and to get the most out of a produce action. Some buildings give you a special action or influence tokens when you build them. To produce, you must have two cogs — paying one coin for each missing cog — then use the production action of each building in your city once. Every few rounds, an influence card is revealed, and whoever has the most influence tokens at the end of that round collects the card, then discards their tokens. At the end of fourteen rounds, players score points for their residential buildings, temples, aqueducts, coins, and influence cards and tokens. whoever has the most points wins!
Categories
Mechanics
Designers
Publishers
- ABACUSSPIELE
- Z-Man Games
Questions and answers
The Great City of Rome 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 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 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 has a complexity rating of 2.3 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 belongs to these categories: City Building and Environmental. 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 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 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.