Spartacus Board Game

Surprisingly good boardgame based on TV show - usually this is bad sign but this game is just so good!!! No need to know the show to play this but you will have even more fun when you recognize all of the characters from screen. Rules are straightforward and easy to teach others - there are plenty of examples in manual and if in doubt you should go to boardgamegeek.com for advise. It's only 4-player but there is already expansion available that allows to play 5-6 player games. Gameplay is swift and fast, you have variety of mechanics from bidding to card playing and figure fighting using dice. This game is really about playing schemes and backstabbing your friends so if you do not like this type of play just be aware ;). Components are decent quality and for what you are paying are great value for money.

This is a very interesting game, but it takes a while to learn how to play it. I tried once with two other people, and we dabbled at it for an hour before giving up. Next time, three other people and we played an entire game but that took the most of a Saturday (including learning time).However, the gameplay itself is very compelling and character-driven. How to prevent others from winning, and how to win yourself? The human interaction here is well worth the buy, especially if you have a number of people to bring in to the game.

a brilliant balance of fighting , economics and intrigue. you'll get the best out of it if you try to get in character as the head of a roman household, and don't take what happens in the game too personally.

Fell in love with the series and as a board game lover decided to look for something to continue the blood lust! More than happy with this, better with 4 players as the treachery is at a diabolical scale but still a fun game for 3.If you enjoy betrayal get this game!

Great game & a prompt delivery.

Fantastically underrated game. Not much to say but, buy it! Just make sure to play with friends, the treachery involved means playing with randoms might end up with them hating you!

Brilliant, fun game of strategy. Warning though it does take a number of hours to play and you will find yourself plotting against your fellow players. Well worth the money.

Easy to pick up and fun to play with friends."Game of Blood and Treachery" description really captures the feel of the game and says it all!Highly recommend.

This board game has lots of great elements - good political maneuvering, engaging gladiator fights, nice balance and a good quality of workmanship. I highly recommend.

Amazing board game. Lots of elements. Twists and turns.

Very enjoyable game that will stay in my collection for a long time. The combat mechanism is unique and adds greatly to the theme of the game.

Awesome game. Great twists and turns.

So epic.This game is an absolute blast. Even though it says you need at least 3 players minimum, this game works fine just 1 vs 1 and is so much fun either way.The arena phase is exhilarating. My friend/opponent went for the finishing blow and rolled a 6 on his attack dice to take out my gladiator, he was shouting with glee because he thought he won... until I rolled my defense dice and it landed on a 6 to block his attack! Then to his surprise I took him down with the next move. We both went wild with excitement, the thrill is unlike any other board game I've ever played. It multiplies when having more players and things get really crazy in the best way possible. A plus is that the sessions don't drag on and take forever like some board games, in 4 and 1/2 hours we played 3 full 1 vs 1 games, and that included taking breaks.You don't need to like or have watched the TV show to enjoy this, lots of people that didn't like the show love the board game. I like this game so much I'm going to be buying both the expansions for it which allows you to play with up to 7 people. The madness!Overall all the scheming, bribing, betrayal, haggling, table politics, extortion, strategy, and straight up arena brawls make this the coolest and funnest board game I've ever played. 10/10 stars.

Just wanted to chime in.I'm pretty big into designer board games (active on Board Game Geek, Uber-Fan of Dice Tower, Shut Up and Sit Down etc.). I have never watched the Starz produced television show (although that may change by the time you read this) that this game is based off of, so please take that into consideration.I am usually wary of games (video or otherwise) that are based off of television shows and movies but I have been pleasantly surprised in the past (e.g. "Battlestar Galactica," "Legendary: Encounters"). The company that designed this game, Gale Force Nine have been reasonably successful with their board game versions of popular intellectual properties, the most famous of which is most likely "Firefly."But I digress.It took me a long time to pull the trigger on this game but I'm so glad I did. It's part "take that!" card game, part auction game and part combat (with a fair amount of scheming/dealing/betraying). A game round consists of 3 phases (after some minor bookkeeping):1. Intrigue Phase (take that! part)This is the phase where each of the players (each playing a Dominus of a great house in Rome) are playing scheme cards from their hands to either gain gold, influence, or to screw with someone else. A player can also sell their scheme cards for gold. Most of the scheme cards require a certain amount of influence to play and if you do not have the influence you can ask one of the other houses for help. Of course, you usually have to make it worth their while with gold, gladiators, slaves, or equipment which can be traded or sold in the next phase.....2. Market Phase (auction)In this phase, players can offer to trade and sell gladiators, slaves, and equipment. After that is done, four cards are drawn from the market deck and are placed face down. Each card is revealed one at a time and everyone bids the amount of gold they're willing to spend on the card in a closed fist auction. Everyone reveals their bid at the same time and the card goes to the highest bidder. After the market items are bid on, all the players bid to host the next fight in the arena....3. Arena (combat)The winner of hosting rights gains influence and also gets to choose two houses (the host may choose his/herself) to duke it out in the arena. A house may refuse, but they lose influence if they do. Each house chooses an individual out of their slaves or (most likely) gladiators and combat is settled with standard six-siders. All houses can then bet their soft-earned gold on which house will be victorious (can't bet against yourself). Also, houses can bet on if there will be a decapitation or injury sustained during the fight.Each character (slave or gladiator) has 3 stats: Attack, Defense, Speed. Attack is the amount of dice a player rolls when attacking, defense is an amount of dice that a player rolls when defending, and speed is the amount a player rolls for initiative (which is rerolled after every round of combat) and also determines how many spaces you can move in the arena. Most of the time, combat ends up with two folks running up to each other as quick as possible and trading blows. Each hit from an attack causes a player to discard a die from their attack, defense, or speed pool. A player loses when he/she is down to one die in each stat. An injury occurs if he/she is down to two dice total (with one stat empty) and decapitation occurs when the player is forced to remove all of his/her dice.Assuming the loser is not decapitated, the host of the game can give a thumbs up/thumbs down which decides the fate of the loser. Of course the host's decision can be "greased" by gold. Meanwhile, the winner gains an influence and that fighter is now favored. If that fighter is brought out again their owner will get 2 gold next time he/she fights in a subsequent arena phase. If the fighter ever gains 3 favored tokens (wins three battles) they become a champion and the owner automatically gains 6 gold when bringing him/her into the arena.The game ends when a house has 12 influence at the end of a round. The starting influence of the houses can also be adjusted to make the game longer or shorter.I pondered heavily about what made me enjoy this game so much and I think that there were two real things about it that stood out for me.The first thing is the fluidity of currency/items. In a lot of games where negotiation occurs there's usually a limit or straight-up prohibition on offering certain items/goods. In this game, literally everything can be traded/sold/bought (with the exception of scheme cards) which enhances the player interaction immensely and manifests the theme very well.The second thing is the memories that this game creates. For me, all of my favorite games have really good stories attached to them. As so many board games do, I guess a lot will depend on the group a player games with, but this has been a hit with every group I've brought it to. People recall winning Spartacus in an auction, only to never use him because they had spent all their money buying him and now never has any money to host. Or everyone bidding on what appeared to be a lock during an arena battle only to have everyone disappointed when the a house's starting gladiator decapitated the fan favorite much to the detriment to everyone's purses. There's also a card or two that make me giggle in a puerile way which I'm convinced are the only reasons this game is suggested for 17 and over players (most of the violence is suggested, not shown).In my experience, the full player count (in the base game) of 4 is the minimum I would play this game with. The scheming/interaction just doesn't work as well with 3 players. If you have a desire to increase the player count, purchase "The Serpent and the Wolf" expansion which ups it to 6 with two extra houses, more cards, and rules for 2 vs. 2 combat in the arena. I have not played the other expansion "The Shadow of Death" as of the date of this review. However, even 6 players flowed really well (with the higher influence boost at the start) in my groups once everyone got a handle on the rules (which even non-gamers can understand within a round or two).Happy gaming!

Wow! What a game!I play a lot of board games, and this is beautiful in looks and in play. It's tightly themed to the show, if that matters to you, but the play is full of competition and fun. You represent a Roman family that is responsible for training and paying for gladiators. You compete against other similar house, each with its own bonuses, for status in the Roman society. Beautiful. There are many ways to compete including strength in the gladiator pits, money, intrigue, and influence. Ahhh great fun. In particular, I love how money is generated and spent in the game. You can even make a fortune on betting on the outcomes of battles! Spending is mostly done by a cutthroat auction mechanic, which I happen to love.Now, a few words of caution. It's a long game. Also, I'd carefully select with whom you play; it's not for everyone and if your fellow players aren't into the vibe, it may cause disappointment. There is a quality of "bash the leader" but I think it's of an acceptable degree.The expansion is worthwhile and adds some fine dimensions. Arguably, one of the new families is slightly imbalanced in power but not so much that it destroys the game.

This game is easy to play, and anybody can learn it in two or three sessions. Depending on who you're playing with, it can be very friendly, or a vicioious deathmatch.Certainly would recommend.

Really fun game. Only complaint is with the balance of some of the gladiators (namely Spartacus) being too strong. The only way to deal with him is to exclude the controlling player or poison him as I have never played a game where he fell in combat. Regularly beats Theokolese and Cryxys. Maybe Gainacus is the answer.

Excellent purchase, played before and AFTER the expansions.The rules are overly simple and you are GUARANTEED a lot of fun (and fights!) with the other players if you enter the spirit of the TV-Series and do a bit of Role-Playing when using the intrigue cards.Don't be fooled by the profanity and nudity warnings... at 10 yrs old the kids of today know 100 times more than we did when we were kids ourselves. :-)

This is literally the best game I have ever played. It takes a long time, so we have to start earlier in the day than our evenings usually go, but when we have enough time to play it's great. I look forward to getting the expansions. Also, the fact you can only have four players is a bummer, but is easily overcome by creating teams.

Awesome game, especially if you like screwing over the people you play with! It is also fun to roll dice and fight with gladiators in tge arena!!

Outstanding game, will make you hate everyone around you instantly, then depend on them for the next round to happen in seconds. Combines the best elements of Risk, Monopoly, Live auctions, and Stratego into one adult themed quest for domination. Absolutely recommended for all serious afficionados and novices alike. Expect the first couple games to be slow, pace quickens after that as learning curve is mastered.

Awesome game. Good tactics and strategy. The main reason that I'm not rating it as a 5 is because sometimes the game takes too long and it gets tiring.

amazing!!!