Glory to Rome

About this board game

Glory to Rome is a card-based city-building and resource-management game for 2–5 players, played in about 60 minutes. Set in 64 A.D., it challenges players to rebuild Rome after a devastating fire destroys much of the city, including the imperial palace.

Every card offers several possibilities, creating constant decisions about how best to use your hand. A card may become a building, a client, a raw material, or a valuable resource. Completing buildings and storing resources both contribute to your score, while end-of-game bonuses reward a diverse assortment of stored resources.

• Use cards as buildings, clients, raw materials, or resources.
• Lead roles and invite other players to follow.
• Choose whether to follow an action or “think” and draw more cards.
• Manage the discard pool, which helps shape what cards opponents can access.

Actions are driven by a role-selection system: the active player leads a role, and other players may follow by discarding a matching card from their hands to the pool. Those who do not follow can instead think, drawing more cards and preparing for future opportunities. These linked decisions make the different uses of cards closely interact, while also giving opponents meaningful ways to influence one another.

Game length is controlled by the players and can end through several different triggers. With its distinctive card economy and flexible tactical choices, Glory to Rome turns the task of restoring the city into a contest of timing, hand management, and adaptation.

The original editions feature lighthearted artwork, while the “black box” edition uses minimalist art; both styles have prompted controversy. Many non-English editions use more conventional artwork.