Rulebook

Introduction Fourteen of the purple district cards are bonus

cards marked by a white star. Before you play your
In Citadels, each player leads a city and seeks to first game, remove these cards. Rules for how to use
increase its prosperity by building new city districts. the bonus district cards are found later on page 10.
The game ends after one player has built his eighth
district, after which a winner is determined by how Character Cards
many points his completed city is worth. These cards represent the
Building the most impressive city, however, is not characters that players seek to
an easy task. Only by influencing nobles, merchants, influence during every game
and other powerful characters of the realm will you round. There are eight basic
achieve success. characters in Citadels, but in
this edition you will also find 10
Components additional bonus character cards
marked by a white star. These
18 character cards 30 gold counters
bonus characters are not used in
80 district cards 1 wooden Crown marker
the basic game. Before you play your first game,
8 reference cards This rulebook
remove these cards. We will teach you how to use
District Cards them later on page 10.
These cards represent the various In addition to a special ability, each character card
districts that you can add to your has a rank number between one and
city. Each district card has a cost, nine. This number is printed on the
represented by a number of gold upper left-hand side of the card.
coins along the card’s left edge. In
order to put a district card into play, Reference Cards
you must pay its cost in gold. Each player takes one of these cards at the
Each district card also exhibits a beginning of the game. They are useful for
colored circle on its bottom left-hand corner, which gameplay, especially during your first few games.
tells you what type of district it is:
Gold Counters
T ypes of D istricts and T heir C olor These represent the gold needed to build district
Color Type cards. Place them on the table in a central “bank” at
Yellow Noble (King’s income) the beginning of the game.
Blue Religious (Bishop’s income)
Green Trade (Merchant’s income) The Wooden Crown Marker
The player with the Crown is the first
Red Military (Warlord’s income)
player to choose a character card during the
Purple Special (special benefits next round. The Crown switches owners
described on the card itself) whenever another player chooses the King character.

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Setting up the Basic Game Special Rule: If you draw the King character
to be faceup, immediately replace it with another
To prepare Citadels for play, follow these steps: random card from the Character Deck, and then
1. Remove the bonus character and district cards shuffle the King back into the Character Deck.
(marked by a white star).
F aceup C ards for 4–7 P layers
2. Shuffle the eight remaining character cards
Number Number of
together into one deck. This is called the of players faceup cards
Character Deck.
4 2
3. Shuffle the remaining district cards together into 5 1
one deck. This is called the District Deck. 6–7 0
4. Each player is then dealt four random district
cards from the District Deck. Step Two: Choose Characters
The player who currently possesses the Crown
5. Each player receives two gold from the bank.
now takes the Character Deck, looks at the cards,
6. The oldest player receives the Crown. and secretly chooses a character from those
available. He then passes the remaining character
Playing the Game cards to the player on his left, who also secretly
Playing the game with 4–6 players is described chooses a card and passes the remaining cards to
below. If you are playing with 2, 3, or 7 the left, etc. This process continues until each player
players, see the special rules on pages 8–9. has chosen one card from the Character Deck. After
the last player has chosen, the single remaining
Citadels is played over a series of
unchosen card is placed facedown in the center of
rounds; each round has four steps.
the table.
Step One: Remove Characters
First draw one random card from the Step Three: Player Turns
Character Deck and set it facedown in Once all players have chosen a character card,
the center of the table without looking at the player who has the Crown now calls out the
it. This card will not be used this round. name of each character one-at-a-time in the order
of numerical rank. In this way, he first calls out the
Then draw a second set of cards
“Assassin” (#1), then the “Thief” (#2), etc. If no
from the Character Deck and set
player reveals that character when called, simply call
them faceup in the middle of the
out the next character in rank order.
table (the number of such faceup
cards depends on the number When the name of your character card is called,
of players, see the table on the you must reveal your character card, place it faceup
next page). These faceup cards in front of you, and take your turn. When your turn
will not be used this round. is over, the player with the Crown calls the name
of the next character card. In this manner, play
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proceeds to every character in order of their rank Step Four: End of Round
number, giving all players one turn (unless murdered After all the characters have been called, each
by the Assassin, of course; see page 13). player returns his character card to the Character
Deck, which is shuffled, and a new round begins.
On Your Turn
On your turn, you must first take an action, after
which you may build a district card. Game End
1) Take an Action: At the beginning of your turn, When a player builds his eighth district, the game
you must do one of the following: ends after the current round is completed. Use this
scoring process to determine how many points each
• Take two gold from the bank, or player receives:

• Draw two district cards from the District Deck, 1. A player receives a number of points equal to
choose one card to put in your hand, and place the the total combined gold cost of all the district
other card on the bottom of the District Deck. cards in his city at the end of the game.

2) Build a District Card: After you have taken 2. If a player has at least one district in each of the
an action, you may build one district card in your five colors, he receives three points.
city (that is, play it from your hand onto the table
in front of you). In order to do so, you must pay the 3. If a player was the first player to build eight
cost of the district, in gold, to the bank. You may districts, he receives four points.
choose not to build a district card if you wish.
4. All other players who have managed to build
The gold cost of building a district card is eight districts at the end of the game
equal to the number of gold coins printed on receive two points.
the upper left-hand side of the card.
The winner of the game is the player with the
You may not build a district such that you
most points. In the case of a tie, compare the total
have two identical districts (two “Castle”
points received only from step 1 of the above
cards, two “Market” cards, etc.) in your city.
scoring process. If there is still a tie, the player
Characters and Their Special Abilities with the most gold wins.
Each character has a special ability, also Note: Players may build more
called its power. You may use your character’s than eight districts in their city if
power once during your turn. Each character’s they have the means to do so.
special power is summarized on its respective card
and explained in detail at the end of these rules. Be
sure to familiarize yourself with the detailed powers
before playing your first game.

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Other Rules 4. Player B takes one of the remaining character
cards and places the last character card facedown in
A few more rules are explained below, including the center of the table.
special modifications for games with two, three,
seven, and eight players. The Three-player Game
The player with the Crown takes the Character Deck,
Two- or Three-player Games places a random card facedown in the middle of the
In a two- or three-player game, all players play table, and then secretly chooses a character for himself.
with two characters each. The game is played
He then passes the remaining character cards to
normally, except that each player has two turns each
the player on his left, who also chooses a card, and
round (one turn for each character). Players do not
then passes the remaining cards to the left, etc.
have to separate their gold or their districts between
their characters, as the players still only have one This continues until each player has chosen two
city. A player can, for example, keep the money cards from the Character Deck. The last player
earned by his first character to build an expensive selects one of the two remaining cards and places
district with his second character. the last card facedown in the center of the table.
If you are playing with two or three players, the
The Seven-player Game
rules for preparing the Character Deck and choosing
A seven-player game of Citadels plays much like
character cards are changed in the following ways:
the normal game, with one exception:
Two-player Game During the “Choose Characters” step of a seven-
1. The player who has the Crown marker (Player A) player game, when the seventh player is handed the
shuffles the Character Deck and places a random last character card from the sixth player, the seventh
character card facedown in the center of the table. player secretly looks at the facedown card on the
He then secretly selects a character card from table. He then chooses one of these two cards,
the remaining cards and passes the remaining six placing the other card facedown in the center of the
character cards to the other player (Player B). table and allowing no other player to look at it.
2. Player B selects one card from the Character
Deck for himself and then chooses and places Shorter Game
another character card facedown in the center of the If players agree, the game can be made shorter by
table. He then passes the remaining four character playing to seven districts instead of eight.
cards to Player A.
3. Player A selects one of the remaining four Bonus Cards
character cards for himself, and then he chooses This edition of Citadels includes 10 bonus
and places another character card facedown in the character cards and 14 bonus purple district cards,
center of the table. He then passes the remaining two all marked with a white star. You can add these
character cards to Player B. bonus cards to your Citadels game for more fun and
variety.

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Bonus Characters District Deck from the 14 available bonus district
The bonus character cards are used as follows: cards. If players wish to use more than 2–3 of the
bonus district cards, they should remove one existing
Before the game begins, players may agree to
purple district card for each additional bonus district
remove one or two of the original eight character
card used.
cards and replace them with the bonus characters of
the same rank numbers. For example, you may agree
to remove the Merchant (#6) and replace him with District Cards
the Alchemist (#6). There are certain district cards with effects that
If you decide to use one of the rank 9 characters need to be explained in further detail:
in a four- to seven-player game, you must place a
number of random cards faceup at the beginning of Bell Tower
each round, as detailed in the table below. The Bell Tower’s ability affects endgame scoring
in the following ways:
F aceup C ards for 4–7 P layers Bonuses are awarded for seven districts instead
when P laying with 9 C haracters of eight. If one or more players have seven districts
Number Number of when the Bell Tower is built, they all receive the four
of players faceup cards bonus points for simultaneously meeting the endgame
4 3 condition. If the Bell Tower is built as someone’s
5 2 seventh district, he and anyone else with seven
6 1 districts get four bonus points for simultaneously
7 0 meeting the endgame condition. Any players who
subsequently reach seven districts before the round
When using a rank 9 character card, you can play (and the game) ends receive two bonus points.
Citadels with eight players. When playing with
eight players, simply use the rule for Observatory & Library
the seven-player game in which The Observatory’s
the last player may choose ability allows a player
between the remaining to draw three cards
character and the facedown and keep only one;
character in the middle of the Library’s ability
the table. allows a player to keep
both cards he draws.
Bonus Districts When these two districts
Before the game begins, are owned by the same
players may agree to add player, they allow him
2–3 additional purple to draw three cards and
district cards to the keep two of them.

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Quarry
The Quarry’s ability is triggered when someone 1) Assassin
builds, so if the Quarry is destroyed, its owner
does not lose any duplicate districts he has already
built. The owner of the Quarry may build multiple
duplicate districts, but there may not be more than Announce the title of another character that you
two identical districts in his city. wish to murder. The player who has the murdered
character must say nothing, and must remain
Graveyard silent when the murdered character is called upon
The Graveyard’s ability may not be used to save to take his turn. The murdered character misses
itself; since it is destroyed, it is no longer in play and his entire turn.
its ability is void.

The Characters 2) Thief

Every character in Citadels has a unique special

power. You may use your character’s power once at
Announce the title of a character from whom
any point during your turn; however, you are never
you wish to steal. When the player who has that
required to use a special power should you choose
character is called upon to take his turn, you first
not to. Each character’s power is summarized on its
take all of his gold. You may not steal from the
card and is detailed over the next few pages.
Assassin or the Assassin’s target.
Note: Characters who receive income for certain
types of districts in their cities (the
King, Emperor, Bishop, Abbot, 3) Magician
Merchant, Warlord, and
Diplomat) may use their
power to receive this gold
At any time during your turn, you have one of
at any point in their turn.
two options:
Thus you may choose
to receive your income • Exchange your entire hand of cards (not the
either before building cards in your city) with the hand of another player
new districts (if you (this applies even if you have no cards in your
need the gold in order hand, in which case you simply take the other
to build the districts), player’s cards).
or after building new • Place any number of cards from your hand
districts (to gain income facedown at the bottom of the District Deck, and
from the newly built then draw an equal number of cards from the top
district). You cannot, of the District Deck.
however, do both.
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 4) King 7) Architect

You receive one gold for each noble (yellow) After you take an action, you draw two additional
district in your city. district cards and put both in your hand. You may
build up to three districts during your turn.
When the King is called, you immediately receive
the Crown. You now call the characters, and you
will be the first player to choose your character
during the next round. If there is no King during 8) Warlord
the next round, you keep the Crown. If you are
murdered, you skip your turn like any other
character. Nevertheless, after the last player has You receive one gold for each military (red)
played his turn, when it becomes known that you district in your city. At the end of your turn, you
had the murdered King’s character card, you take may destroy one district of your choice by paying
the Crown (as the King’s heir). a number of gold equal to one less than the cost
of the district. Thus, you may destroy a cost one
district for free, a cost two district for one gold,
5) Bishop or a cost six district for five gold, etc. You may
destroy one of your own districts. You may not,
however, destroy a district in a city that is already
completed by having eight districts (or seven
You receive one gold for each religious (blue) districts when the Bell Tower is in play).
district in your city. Your districts may not be
destroyed/exchanged by the Warlord/Diplomat. Credits
Design: Bruno Faidutti
Illustration: Julien Delval, Florence Magnin, Jean-Louis Mourier, Jesper
Ejsing, Bjarne Hansen
Graphic Design: Cyrille Daujean, Brian Schomburg, Scott Nicely, Richard
Spicer, Christian T. Petersen
6) Merchant Editing & Rules: Darrell Hardy, Christian T. Petersen

© 2010 Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved. No part of this
product may be reproduced without specific permission. Citadels, The
Dark City, Fantasy Flight Games, Fantasy Flight Supply, and the FFG logo
You receive one gold for each trade (green) are trademarks of Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc. Fantasy Flight Games
district in your city. After you take an action, you is located at 1975 West County Road B2, Suite 1, Roseville, Minnesota,
55113, USA, and can be reached by telephone at 651-639-1905. Retain this
receive one additional gold. information for your records. Not suitable for children under 36 months due
to small parts. Actual components may vary from those shown. Made in
China. THIS PRODUCT IS NOT A TOY. NOT INTENDED FOR USE OF
PERSONS 12 YEARS OF AGE OR YOUNGER.

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 Bonus Characters 3) Wizard

1) Witch
You may look at another player’s hand of cards
and take one card. You may then either put this
card into your hand or pay to build it in your
After you take an action, announce the title of city. If you build it in your city, it does not count
another character who you wish to bewitch, towards the one district building limit, which
and then immediately end your turn. When the means you can build another district as well.
bewitched character is called upon, its player During this turn, you may build district cards
must show his character card, take an action, and identical to another district already in your city.
then immediately end his turn. The bewitched
character cannot use his character’s ability before
you take over. You now resume this player’s turn 4) Emperor
as if you were playing the bewitched character,
using all the character’s powers in your city
(e.g., the Merchant’s gold bonus, the Bishop’s You receive one gold for each noble (yellow)
protection from Warlord attack, the Architect’s district in your city. When the Emperor is called,
two card bonus, etc.). You still build districts you immediately take the Crown from the player
from your hand of cards and pay with your gold who has it and give it to a different player (but
(including taxes). not yourself). The player who receives the Crown
If the King is bewitched, the King player still chooses to give you either one gold or one district
receives the Crown marker. If the bewitched card from his hand. If the player has neither,
character is not in play, you do not resume your he does not have to give you anything. If the
turn. The Thief cannot steal from the Witch or the Emperor is murdered, the Crown stays where it is.
bewitched character. (Note that, like the King, the Emperor may not be
in the faceup discarded character cards.)

2) Tax Collector
5) Abbot

Whenever another player builds one or more

districts in his city, that player must, at the end You receive one gold for each religious (blue)
of his turn, give you one gold (if he has any gold district in your city. The player with the most
left). If the Assassin has already built a district gold must give you one gold. If there is a tie for
card this round, his player must pay you one gold the player with the most gold, or if you have the
when you reveal the Tax Collector. most gold, then you do not receive the gold.
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 6) Alchemist 9) Artist

At the end of your turn, you receive back all the You may “beautify” one or two of your districts
gold you spent to build district cards this turn, but by placing one gold on each of the districts you are
not the gold you spent for other reasons (paying the beautifying. The value of a beautified district (and
Tax Collector, for example). You cannot spend therefore the cost of destroying or exchanging it)
more gold than you have during your turn. is increased by one. Beautifying also increases the
number of points you receive for the district at the
end of the game. There can be only one gold piece
7) Navigator on any one district.

After taking your action, you may either receive 9) Queen

an additional four gold or draw an additional
four cards. You cannot build any district cards
this round. You receive three gold if you are sitting next to
the King (or the Emperor). If the King has been
murdered, but was sitting beside you, you receive
8) Diplomat
three gold when this becomes known (that is,
immediately after your turn). Remember, this
special power is tied to the King/Emperor card,
You receive one gold for each military (red) not the Crown marker. Note: Do not use the
district in your city. At the end of your turn, you Queen in a game with fewer than five players.
may take a district from another player’s city in Bruno Faidutti’s Credits: Thanks to all who helped me test and tune this game,
exchange for a district in your city. If the district specifically Nadine Bernard, Maud Bissonnet, Scarlett Bocchi, Frank Branham, David
Calvo, Brent & Maryann Carter, Fabienne Cazalis, Pitt Crandlemire, Isabelle Duvaux,
you take has a higher cost than the district you Thierry Fau, Philippe Keyaerts, David Kuznik, Serge Laget, Myriam Lemaire, Pierre
give, you must pay the difference in gold to Lemoigne, Tristan Lhomme, Hervé Marly, Bernard Mendiburu, Hélène Michaux,
Steffan O’Sullivan, Philippe des Pallières, Jean-Marc Pauty, Pierre Rosenthal, Fred
the player with whom you make the exchange. Savart, Mik Svellov, and Irène Villa (I name only the most assiduous, constructive
players, and the prettiest girls). Thanks to all the attendants at my Vth Ludopathic
You may not exchange the Keep district, any Gathering and at Alan Moon’s Xth Gathering of friends. Thanks to Marcel-André
districts in the Bishop’s city, or any districts in a Casasola-Merkle, since one of the core systems of Citadels comes directly from his
game Verraeter. Thanks to Ron Magin, Bernd Brunnhofer, Dirk Geilenkeuser and
completed city of eight districts (seven with the Volker Weitzel. Thanks to all those who took part in the Ohne Furcht und Adel
character contest held by Hans im Glueck, and specifically to Ben Baldanza, Peter
Bell Tower in play). Note: If you are using the Küsters, Gary Wong, Andrea Navratil, Christoph Heinzl, Stefanie Kethers, Alexander
Diplomat in your game, you must remove the Klein, Jonathan Degann, Holger Traczynski and Holger Baumgartner, whose ideas
inspired some of the new expansion characters. Thanks to Christian Petersen, of Fantasy
Cemetery from the deck since both cannot be Flight Games, who was very patient with all the troubles with the English language
version rights. Most of all, thanks to Cyrille Daujean, whose help with designing,
used together. testing and supporting this game was invaluable.

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