Citadels rules: how to play and how to score
Reviewed on 10 October 2026 against the publisher’s rulebook. How we check
Citadels plays 2 to 8 players: everyone builds their city district by district, playing a secret character each round. Here are the essential rules, setup and final scoring, based on the official rulebook.
- Players
- 2 to 8
- Play time
- About 1 hour
- Winner
- Most points; on a tie, the highest rank revealed in the last round
Citadels quick rules
- The goal
- Each player builds their city by laying District cards in front of them; each district earns as many points as its cost. Each round, you secretly play a character with a special power. When a city reaches 7 districts, finish the round and the game ends.
- Choosing characters
- Characters are numbered: that’s their rank. The crown holder shuffles them, sets a few aside, keeps one in secret and passes the rest to the left. Everyone keeps one card and passes the rest. Nobody knows exactly who has what.
- Calling the ranks
- You don’t play around the table: the crown holder calls the ranks in order, 1, 2, 3 and so on. When your character is called, reveal it and take your turn. If nobody has it, move on to the next one.
- Your turn
- First, gather resources: 2 gold, or 2 District cards of which you keep one and put the other under the draw pile. Then you may build a district from your hand by paying its cost. Your city never has two districts with the same name. You may also use your character’s power once.
- The basic characters
- 1, the Assassin: names a character, who skips their turn. 2, the Thief: will take all the gold of the character he names. 3, the Magician: swaps her hand with a player or with the draw pile. 4, the King: takes the crown, and 1 gold per noble (yellow) district. 5, the Bishop: 1 gold per religious (blue) district, and the Warlord can’t touch his city. 6, the Merchant: 1 extra gold, and 1 per trade (green) district. 7, the Architect: 2 extra cards, and up to 3 districts built. 8, the Warlord: 1 gold per military (red) district, and he can destroy a district by paying its cost minus 1.
- The end and the scoring
- When a city has 7 districts (8 with 2 or 3 players), it’s complete, and you finish the round. Everyone scores the cost of their districts, 3 points for all five types, 4 points for the first completed city and 2 for the others, plus some unique districts’ bonuses. On a tie, whoever revealed the highest rank in the last round wins.
- Beginner traps
- The Assassin and the Thief name a character, not a player: you have to guess who has it. The Thief can’t steal from the Assassin or the assassinated character. The Warlord can’t destroy anything in a completed city. And a city reaching 7 districts doesn’t end the game at once: everyone finishes the round.
How to score Citadels
- District costs
- The sum of the building costs of your districts, +1 per district beautified by the Artist.
- Five types
- 3 points if your city has at least one noble, religious, trade, military and unique district. The Haunted Quarter counts as the type of your choice.
- First to complete their city
- 4 points for the first to reach 7 districts (8 with 2 or 3 players). They don’t also score the 2 points for a completed city.
- City completed
- 2 points for each other completed city.
- Unique district bonuses
- Extra points shown on your unique districts (Dragon Gate: 2, for example).
- Rank revealed in the last round
- Tiebreaker only: the rank of the highest character you revealed during the last round (the higher of your two with 2 or 3 players).
Worked example
Emma completes her city first: 24 points of districts, all five types (3), first city (4) and Dragon Gate (2), so 24 + 3 + 4 + 2 = 33 points. Jake completes his in the same round: 27 + 2 = 29 points.
Common mistakes
- Giving 4 + 2 points to the first player to complete their city: they score 4, not 6.
- Forgetting that Dragon Gate and other unique districts add points on top of their cost.
- Breaking ties on district costs: the highest rank revealed in the last round decides.
- Stopping at 7 districts with 2 or 3 players: you need 8 to complete your city.
How to set up Citadels
Setup comes in three parts. The rank 9 character depends on the player count: required with 3 and 8 players, optional with 4 to 7.
The characters
- Choose 8 characters, one for each rank from 1 to 8.First game: Assassin, Thief, Magician, King, Bishop, Merchant, Architect, Warlord. The booklet then suggests ready-made lists.
- With 3 players, add a rank 9 character: the Artist or the Tax Collector.The Queen can’t be used with fewer than 5 players.
- With 8 players, add a rank 9 character: the Queen, the Artist or the Tax Collector.It’s required.
- With 4 to 7 players, you may add a rank 9 character if you like.The Queen can’t be used with 4 players.
- With 2 players, don’t use the Emperor: take the King or the Patrician as rank 4.
- Place the reminders of the chosen characters in the center of the table, in rank order.They remind everyone which characters are in play.
The districts
- Choose 14 unique districts and shuffle them with the 54 basic districts.First game: Dragon Gate, Factory, Haunted Quarter, Imperial Treasury, Keep, Laboratory, Library, Map Room, Quarry, School of Magic, Smithy, Statue, Thieves’ Den, Wishing Well.
- Deal 4 District cards facedown to each player.This is your starting hand. There’s no hand size limit.
- Place the rest facedown in the center: this is the draw pile.Discarded cards always go under the draw pile, facedown.
Gold and the crown
- Place all the gold coins in the center: this is the bank.Gold isn’t limited: if you run out, use something else.
- Give 2 gold to each player.Your gold and the number of cards in your hand are visible to everyone.
- The oldest player takes the crown and the chosen Character cards.The crown holder shuffles the characters, deals out the choice and calls the ranks. After that, the crown goes to rank 4 (King, Patrician) or to the player chosen by the Emperor.
Frequently asked questions
How many cards do you start with in Citadels?
4 District cards and 2 gold per player. There’s no hand size limit.
Who goes first in Citadels?
The oldest player takes the crown for the first round. After that, it goes to the rank 4 character (King, Patrician) or to the player chosen by the Emperor.
How many districts end a game of Citadels?
7 districts, or 8 with 2 or 3 players. The game doesn’t stop right away: everyone finishes the current round.
Ludingo’s Citadels sheet was last reviewed on 10 October 2026, based on: rulebook 1 (PDF), rulebook 2 (PDF), rulebook 3 (PDF), BoardGameGeek.