Caesar's Empire

Lay roads out of Rome, grab city and treasure tokens, and race your rivals to the juiciest city.

Designer: Matthieu Podevin
Published by: Holy Grail Games
Editions by: Synapses Games

Caesar's Empire is a road-building race out of Rome, and it is friendlier than the laurel wreaths suggest. On your turn you lay road pieces to connect Rome, or a city whose token has already been claimed, to a brand-new city. Every road you build scores points right away, and the city you reach hands you its city and treasure tokens, which pay out at the end. Roads can be shared: you are free to extend a line another player started, so nobody owns a corridor. The game ends when Rome touches every city on the board, and the highest total wins. Think of it as Ticket to Ride without the hand of cards, where the fun is grabbing the juicy city one step before the person next to you does. A 2022 design for two to five, best with four.

Every road scores points right awayCity and treasure tokens pay off at the endRoads can be extended by anyone

Who it's for

You like route building with a clear, tactical race to the next target, and you want something lighter than a full economic game.

Not for you if…

You dislike players cutting in on your plans. Since roads are shared, someone will always reach your city first.

Vibe's take

Open and a little cheeky: everyone builds on the same network, so you constantly lend your rivals a road and steal a city in return. Short turns, steady scoring, plenty of near misses.