Citadels VS San Juan
These are two very well made very fun games. I don’t think that it would be fair to compare them but, life is not fair. These two games while they have there differences they are very similar in their nature but which one is the better game?
VERSUS
Two games in a nut shell
Citadels
The object of the game is to have the most points when one of the players have completed the eighth city district. The city districts have a cost to build which is also the amount of points they are worth at the end of the game. You gain the resources to build these districts by secretly choosing a character each round that will give you a special power and will help you or hinder your opponent or both. There are a possible 8 characters to choose from but you don’t get to choose anyone as some “sleep” each round depending on the amount of players are playing. You also get to gold coins or you can take one district card each turn (the district cards cost gold coins) In addition to giving you a score at the end of the game the buildings have special powers as well that help you. Also there’s 3 different ways to gain bonus points: 1. Be the first player to complete 8 city districts, worth 4 points. 2. Have 8 city districts by the end of the game, worth 2 bonus points. 3. Have all 5 different colors of city districts at the end of the game, worth 3 points.
San Juan
The object of the game is to have the most victory points when a player has completed 12 buildings. Buildings are worth a varied amount of points that also directly corresponds to their cost (the more they cost to build the more they are normally worth). Each round players will openly choose one of 5 available characters that will give them a special power or “privilege” as well as give all the other players the ability to carry out an action associated with that character. As this is only a four player game at least one of the characters will not be chosen each round. 629
Buildings cost cards to be discarded as this game is fueled by cards and only cards. Buildings all also grant you special powers in the game as well as give you victory points. Some of the buildings will give you bonus points at the end of the game if you were lucky enough to get them and build them.
Like aforementioned the games are very similar with the main difference being that Citadels you secretly choose a character each round and that character “power” applies to you only while in San Juan you openly choose a character each round and while the “privilege” only applies to you each player may carry out that characters action (with the exception of one of the characters, more on that later.)
The Showdown
I’ll be judging on 5 different categories.
1. Presentation – components, theme, instruction manuals, and overall feel of the game.
2. Game Play – How fun it is to play, how much down time there’s between turns, player interactions, and uniqueness.
3. Investment – The average actual dollar cost of the game compared to what you get, how flexible is the game for small and large groups, how long does the game take to play compared to how long it keeps your interest.
4. Strategy – How deep is the game, after playing it can you adopt new strategies to try and win the game.
5. Overall – Taking in to account everything about the game and not just the things I’ve previously judged on.
Presentation
Citadels
Citadels is one beautiful game. I’ve played this game at least 100+ times and I still like looking at the artwork done on the district cards. Here is what you get in the game:
A nice looking box that has the artwork found on the back of the district cards. My only beef here would be that the gold pieces that you get don’t really have a place and slide underneath the provided insert. Its not a big deal as a small bag fixes the problem.
8 Different Character cards that have a nice depiction of the character they represent. They are nicely illustrated all be it a bit cartoony and out of place when compared to the district cards. These cards are the theme of the game and carry out the actions that feel like the character they represent. For example the warlord card’s action lets you destroy another players district which feels very warlord like.
A bunch of different District Cards (I wish I could give you the real number) These are the piece de resistance, these look great and are very functional in the amount of each type and color they give you, there’s more green district cards then red. These cards help set the mood of the game and the setting.
Reference Cards for each player. 629