Rome Alone
Rome Alone Rulebook
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Game Material
1 game board, 21 cards, 25 cubes / tokens.
Overview and Setup
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Shuffle the 21 cards into a pile and place it next to the game board.
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Place a cube on the darker space (1) of each of the three resource tracks. Whenever you gain a resource, move the marker up one notch. The resource(s) you gain while you are already on square 9 of a track are lost. When you have to pay for a resource, move the marker down one space. You must have enough resources to pay, otherwise you must choose another option.
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Place a cube on the region of Rome (R) in the center of the map. Having a cube on a region means you occupy it. Of all, the region of Rome is the most crucial. If you are forced to remove the cube from Rome, Rome falls to the barbarians and the game is immediately lost.
Turn Sequence
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Draw 3 cards from the deck. If your deck has one or two cards, draw the remaining cards instead.
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Choose one of the following options:
- Either gain all the resources on the upper part of one card
- Or use the action in the lower part of one card.
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Discard the card you chose, and the other remaining cards in hand.
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Start a new turn by drawing 3 new cards from the deck.
If the deck is empty, a Barbarian invasion happens (see Barbarian Invasion).
Card Actions
Conquest
Pay one military for each region you have a cube on. Then, add a cube on an unoccupied region. Immediately gain one of the resource shown (Culture or Industry).
Call for Tribute
Gain as many Culture or Industry as the number of regions you occupy.
Buildings
Pay the resources next to the building symbol. Place the card next to the right side of the board. It will stay there for the rest of the game. This building is now complete and its effect is active until the end of the game.
Gardens and Temple grant you 2 Glory Points (GP).
Amphitheater, Marching Camp and Mine grant you a bonus of 2 specific resources each time you gain at least one of the same resource. Each building may be used only once per turn, but multiple buildings can be activated in one turn if you gain different types during the same turn.
Monuments
Pay the requested resources to add a cube on the board on the same monument zone as the card. Once 2 cubes are set on a monument, it is completed. Its effect is now active until the end of game.
- The Colossus grants you 4 Glory Points at the end of the game.
- The Hippodrome grants you one Glory Point for each building you have built at the end of the game.
- The Triumphal Arc grants you one Glory Points for each region you control at the end of the game.
- The Great Lighthouse grants you as many Glory Points as the number of the resource you have the fewest, at the end of the game.
- The Senate allows you to use Culture icons as if they were Military icons, and vice versa. You may also use Pay Culture icons as if they were Pay Military icons, and vice versa. It also grants you 2 Glory Points at the end of the game.
- The Colosseum allows you to ignore all the effects of every barbarian invasion to come. It also grants you two Glory Points at the end of the game.
Barbarian Invasion
At the end of a turn if the deck is empty you must face a barbarian invasion. First you deal with the 1-skull invasion, then with the 2-skull invasion, and finally with the 3-skull invasion. You face only one invasion each time. After an invasion, add a cube on it to remember you've already dealt with it.
After an invasion, shuffle the discard pile into a new pile, then start a new turn.
After the last invasion has been resolved, the game ends and you add all your Glory points to know your score.
For each invasion, you chose either to pay the shown number of Military to avoid the invasion, or to lose one or two regions on the map. If you don't possess enough military resources, you are forced to lose regions. If Rome is lost, the game is lost.
End of the Game
The game ends immediately as a loss if you are forced to lose Rome.
Otherwise, the game ends after the 3rd barbarian invasion. You can now count up your glory points and use the Score chart to see what kind of a leader you were.
1 GP for each region you occupy + GP from building + Special GP from completed monuments.
Scoring Example
- 3 GP for the 3 occupied regions
- 4 GP for the Great Lighthouse
- 2 GP for the Hippodrome
- 2 GP for the Gardens
- The Senate doesn't grant any GP because it's not completed.
Total: 11 Glory Points. You are known as Tiberius.
Score Chart
| Glory Points | Title |
|---|---|
| 16+ | Augustus |
| 14-15 | Julius Caesar |
| 12-13 | Marcus Aurelius |
| 10-11 | Tiberius |
| 9- | Nero |
Campaign Mode (Optional)
The campaign mode is a more difficult game mode, reserved for players who have reached at least the Julius Caesar level. The player goes through the cards from I to V, trying to obtain at each stage at least the indicated score. The challenge increases in difficulty with each success and decreases with each failure, to obtain on the back of the fifth and last card the mark that the player will leave in the History of Rome.
Each campaign card shows: the stage of the campaign (a campaign is played out in 5 stages, starting with stage I), the current status (cards are divided into 3 levels, from the most prestigious to the least prestigious: Emperor, Dictator, Consul), a flavor text, any special rules for the current stage (the first stage has no special rules), and the number of Glory Points to reach to pass the stage. After calculating your score, whether the stage is successful or not, flip over the card.
On the back of the card you find: the stage of the campaign, the current status, flavor text in case of success and its corresponding next stage number and new status to continue the campaign, and flavor text in case of failure and its corresponding next stage number and new status. To continue the campaign, go and find the campaign card corresponding to both the number and the status you obtained.
FAQ
Q: If I have built the Senate, the Amphitheater and the Marching Camp, let's say I gain one culture with a conquest action. How many resources can I get?
A: You may gain up to five resources. You may use the Marching Camp icons as if they were Culture, and so you gain 5 cultures. Or you can use the Region bonus and the Amphitheater icons as if they were Military icons, and gain 5 militaries. Or you can gain any mix of these two resources, up to five units.
Q: What happens with the fewer than three cards I drew to trigger the invasion? Are they discarded without any effect or can I still use them?
A: You still play your full turn choosing between 2 cards, or using the only card you got if you drew but one card. Then, the next invasion occurs.
Game Example
On turn 1, Maximus decides to gain the resources on the Amphitheater card. He gains 1 culture and 2 militaries.
On turn 2, there's not much Maximus can build. So he goes on gathering resources. He chooses the Hippodrome card and gains 2 industries.
On turn 3, Maximus once again chooses to accumulate resources for future turns. He uses the Temple card to gain one of each resource.
On turn 4, Maximus is finally ready for action! He takes the Conquest card and conquers a new region. Since he has only 1 region before the conquest (Rome), he pays 1 military and adds a marker on a region providing culture (Greece). Therefore, he gains 1 culture.
On turn 5, Maximus chooses to begin the construction of a monument. He uses the Triumphal Arc card to add 1 marker to the Triumphal Arc space on the board, paying 3 cultures as shown on the card. The monument is not finished yet, but Maximus still has plenty of time to finish his work.
On turn 6, Maximus chooses to build the Mine. He pays 3 industries, and then puts the Mine card next to the game board. From now on, each turn Maximus gains at least 1 industry, he will gain 2 additional industries. Nice deal!
On turn 7, Maximus wants to store some resources for the next turns. He uses the Hippodrome card and takes 1 military and 1+2 industries thanks to the mine.
Now, as the deck is empty, the first Barbarian invasion takes place. Maximus could lose Greece, but he chooses to pay 2 militaries to overcome the barbarians.
This puts an end to the 1st period. He shuffles the discard pile into a new deck, and starts a new turn.