Overview

Capitol is a building and area-majority game designed by Alan R. Moon and Aaron Weissblum, published by Schmidt Spiele in 2001. Players compete in ancient Rome, constructing buildings across prefectures to gain dominance. Using building blocks, roofs, and permit cards, players erect structures of varying heights. The game is played over four rounds, each with construction, improvement, scoring, and end phases. The player with the most points at the end of four rounds wins. Capitol was nominated for the Spiel des Jahres in 2001.

Components

• Game board showing Roman prefectures
• 90 building blocks
• 40 roofs (in various shapes)
• Building cards
• Roof cards
• Permit cards
• Temples, wells, and amphitheaters (auction tokens)
• Scoring track
• Player markers

Setup

1. Place the game board in the center of the table.
2. Distribute building blocks, roofs, and special building tokens within reach.
3. Shuffle the building, roof, and permit card decks separately and place face-up.
4. Each player takes a scoring marker and places it on the scoring track.
5. Determine a starting player.

Turn Structure

The game is played over 4 rounds. Each round has the following phases:

1. Card Drawing: Each player draws 6 cards, one at a time, from the face-up stacks of building, roof, and permit cards (choosing freely among the three types).

2. Construction Phase: Players take turns using their hand of building, roof, and permit cards to construct buildings. Buildings are assembled off the board using building blocks to determine height, then placed on the board in prefectures using permit cards.

3. Improvement/Auction Phase: Players can auction for special buildings: temples, wells, and amphitheaters. These provide extra points when placed in prefectures.

4. Scoring Phase: Each prefecture is scored. The player with the tallest building (most blocks) in a prefecture scores points. Bonuses are awarded for temples, wells, and amphitheaters.

5. End Phase: Prepare for the next round; clean up as needed.

Actions

Draw Cards: Select 6 cards from the face-up building, roof, and permit card stacks. Choose any combination of the three card types.

Build a Structure: Play building cards to stack blocks, determining the height of your building. Buildings are constructed at the side of the board first.

Place a Building: Use a permit card to place your constructed building onto the game board in a specific prefecture.

Add a Roof: Play a roof card to cap a building with a roof, completing it. The first roof placed in a prefecture determines the roof shape for all subsequent buildings in that prefecture.

Auction for Special Buildings: Bid for temples, wells, and amphitheaters that provide bonus scoring in their prefecture.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

Prefecture Scoring (each round):

• The player with the tallest building (most blocks) in a prefecture scores points based on the prefecture’s value.
• Special buildings (temples, wells, amphitheaters) in a prefecture provide additional bonus points.
• Multiple prefectures are scored each round.

Game End: After 4 complete rounds of scoring, the player with the highest total score wins.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• The first roof placed in a prefecture sets the shape for all roofs in that prefecture.
• Buildings require a roof to be considered complete.
• Permit cards are required to place buildings on the board; without permits, buildings remain off-board.
• The height of buildings (number of blocks) determines majority in each prefecture.
• The auction for special buildings adds a bidding/economic element to the game.
• The game plays differently at different player counts; with 2 players, more strategic blocking is possible.

Player Reference

Phase	Activity
Card Drawing	Draw 6 cards from building/roof/permit stacks
Construction	Build structures using blocks, place on board with permits, add roofs
Auction	Bid for temples, wells, amphitheaters
Scoring	Tallest building per prefecture scores; special building bonuses

4 rounds total. Highest score wins.