How to Play

Caesar!: Seize Rome in 20 Minutes!

1-2 players 20-20 min 7.5 Board Game Geek Rating

During Rome's final days, Caesar and Pompey clash for supremacy. Players command legions across provinces, drawing tokens from bags to manage forces and losses. Strategic resource allocation to battlegrounds determines provincial control. Victory goes to whoever dominates the republic. Three expansion modules add poison, centurions, and underhanded tactics.

Published 2021

Get Ready

Setup the game with these step-by-step instructions before diving into your turn.

Place the game board

Open the game board in the middle of the table

Set up Italia

Place a Senate Province Bonus token on Italia's space (the one with the solid border)

Distribute Province Bonus tokens

Randomly place one Province Bonus token face up on each remaining Province space (do not place one on the second space in Italia)

Choose factions

Decide who plays as Caesar (Red) and who plays as Pompey (Blue)

Prepare Influence tokens

Each player takes the Influence tokens of their colour, shuffles them in their bag, then draws 2 Influence tokens, looks at them secretly, and places them behind their screen

Take Control markers

Each player takes their 12 Control markers and places them on their side of the board

On Your Turn

What you can do during your turn.

Place an Influence token

Place one Influence token from behind your screen onto a free (unoccupied) Border space on the map with a matching icon

Check for closed Provinces

If all Border spaces around one or more Provinces are now occupied by Influence tokens, those Provinces are closed

Draw a new token

Draw a new Influence token from your bag to replenish your hand

Tactics

Take a new turn immediately after this one (multiple Tactics tokens only grant one extra turn)

Wealth

Increase your hand size by one permanently; draw one token immediately plus the usual one at end of turn

Might

Flip an opponent's Influence token or Control marker face down; flipped Influence tokens count as 0/0; flipped Control markers do not provide adjacent Province bonuses

Senate

Place this token in front of you; if you also place a Control marker in this Province, place additional Control markers under this token equal to the number of Senate tokens you own (including this one)