Overview

Foundations of Rome is an area-control and city-building game for 2-4 players where each player acts as an architect building the city of Rome over three Eras. Players buy Deed cards to claim Lots on the City board, then construct Buildings (Residential, Commercial, or Civic) on their claimed Lots. At the end of each Era, players score Victory Points from their Residential Buildings (population), Civic Buildings (adjacency bonuses), and Commercial Buildings (income and flat VP). The player with the most Victory Points after three Eras is appointed Grand Architect.

Components

• 81 Deed cards
• 48 Silver coins (1s and 3s)
• 4 Player trays (Red, Blue, Green, Purple), each containing:
  • 24 Buildings (8 Residential/Beige, 8 Commercial/Olive, 8 Civic/Gray)
  • 24 Icon tiles
  • 8 Lot markers
  • 2 Score cubes
• 96 Icon tiles (24 per player color)
• 4 Player Aid cards
• 1 First Player token
• 1 Deed board (for selling Deeds)
• 1 Score board (Victory Points and Population trackers)
• 1 City board (double-sided: side A for 4-5 players, side B for 2-3 players)

Setup

1. Lay out the City board, Deed board, and Score board. Use side A for 4+ players, side B for 2-3 players.
2. Each player chooses a color and takes the corresponding Player tray (with Buildings, Lot markers, and Icon tiles). Place Score cubes on the Score board trackers.
3. Decide the first player. Give them the First Player token.
4. Starting player takes 5 Silver. Going clockwise, each subsequent player gets 1 more Silver (so in a 4-player game: 5, 6, 7, 8 Silver).
5. Remove Deed cards based on player count:
   • 4 players: Remove Red Deeds (Column J, Row 10) — play on 9x9 (81 Lots).
   • 3 players: Remove Red and Purple Deeds (Columns I, J, Rows 9, 10) — play on 8x8 (64 Lots).
   • 2 players: Remove Red, Purple, and Blue Deeds (Columns H, I, J, Rows 8-10) — play on 7x7 (49 Lots).
6. Shuffle remaining Deed cards and deal 6 to each player. Place Lot markers on each Lot corresponding to your dealt Deeds.
7. Place your Deed cards in a pile in front of you.
8. Split the remaining Deed cards into 3 approximately equal piles for Era 1, Era 2, and Era 3 on the Deed board.
9. Using the Era 1 pile, turn over 6 Deed cards face-up in the “Deeds for Sale” area.
10. Place remaining Silver near the Deed board as a bank.

Turn Structure

The game is played over three Eras. Each Era consists of multiple rounds. In each round, starting with the first player and going clockwise, each player takes one turn. The Era continues until the Deed deck and all face-up Deeds for that Era run out.

On your turn, you must choose exactly one of three actions:

Action 1: Take Income

Gain 5 Silver from the bank. Additionally, receive Silver equal to the total value of Silver icons on all Commercial Buildings you have constructed on the City board.

Action 2: Buy a Deed

You may NOT take this action if all your Lot markers are already on the City board.

1. Pay the amount of Silver shown above the Deed you wish to purchase (costs range from 20 to 100 based on position in the Deeds for Sale row).
2. Take the Deed card and add it to your personal pile.
3. Slide remaining Deed cards to the left to fill the gap.
4. Turn over the top Deed card from the current Era’s deck to fill the last spot.
5. Place one of your Lot markers on the corresponding Lot on the City board.

Important: When the last Deed card for the current Era is drawn, do not refill — continue buying until all face-up Deeds are purchased.

Action 3: Construct a Building

You can only construct Buildings on Lots you own. There is no Silver cost for construction.

1. Choose a Building from your Player tray that matches the shape of a group of adjacent Lots you own.
2. Place the Building on top of your Lots, retrieving Lot markers to reuse later.
3. You may build over a previously constructed Building, but only if the new Building is bigger than any individual one being replaced. The type of Building does not matter for building over.
4. Buildings you build over return to your Player tray for reuse. Any Lots you own but don’t cover remain yours (place a Lot marker to show ownership).
5. You can never build over a Building of the same size or larger.

Residential Buildings: When constructing or removing a Residential Building, update the Population Tracker to reflect total Citizen icons across all your Residential Buildings.

Actions

Building Types

Residential Buildings (Beige): Provide Citizens (population). Citizens contribute to end-of-Era scoring based on the Population Tracker.

Commercial Buildings (Olive): Generate Silver during the Take Income action (Silver icons on the building). Also provide flat Victory Points at end-of-Era scoring, and score bonus VP instead of Silver during the final Era.

Civic Buildings (Gray): Score Victory Points based on adjacency to other Buildings (sharing an edge) on the City board. Different Civic Buildings reward different adjacencies:

• Points for Citizens on adjacent Residential Buildings
• Points for every 2 Citizens on adjacent Residential Buildings
• Points for Silver on adjacent Commercial Buildings
• Points for every adjacent Civic Building
• Points for every adjacent Building regardless of type

Important: Civic Buildings score based on any adjacent Buildings, not just your own.

Scoring / Victory Conditions

End of Era Scoring

After all Deeds for an Era are sold and each player has taken one final turn:

Residential Building Scoring: Count total Citizens across all your Residential Buildings. The player with the most Citizens scores VP equal to their Population + an Era bonus (+4 in Era 1, +7 in Era 2, +10 in Era 3). Ties are friendly (both get the bonus). Other players score VP equal to the number of Citizens of the player directly ahead of them on the Population Tracker. You must have at least 1 Citizen to score anything from Population.

Civic Building Scoring: Score VP from each Civic Building based on its adjacency icons and the Buildings surrounding it.

Commercial Building Scoring: Collect Silver equal to the total Silver icons on your Commercial Buildings (same as Take Income, but without the base 5 Silver). Also gain flat VP per Commercial Building (value printed on Player tray). In the final Era, Commercial Buildings score bonus VP instead of Silver.

After scoring, replenish Deeds from the next Era’s deck. Pass First Player token to the left.

End of Game

After the third Era’s scoring, two additional bonuses:

• Commercial Buildings: Instead of collecting Silver, score bonus Victory Points equal to the Silver they would have generated.
• Empty Lots: Score 1 Victory Point per empty Lot marker you have on the City board.

The player with the most Victory Points wins and is appointed Grand Architect of Rome.

Special Rules & Edge Cases

• Building Over: You can only build over Buildings smaller than the new one. Same size or larger cannot be replaced. The replaced Building returns to your tray.
• Limited Building Supply: Each player has a fixed number of each Building type. You cannot construct a Building you don’t have available.
• Lot Markers: You only have 8. If all are on the board, you cannot buy more Deeds until you construct Buildings (which return Lot markers to your supply).
• Deed Board Depletion: When the Era deck runs out, don’t refill the Deeds for Sale row. The Era ends when all face-up Deeds are bought.
• Board Size Adjustment: The City board and Deed cards scale by player count (7x7, 8x8, 9x9, or 10x10).
• Deed Drafting (optional rule): Instead of random dealing, players draft Deeds from hands of 6, passing remaining cards.
• Monuments Expansion: Adds a shared pool of unique Monument Buildings with special construction requirements. Monuments are first-come, first-served. Each Monument is unique.
• Monument Markers: Each player has 6 Monument markers. You cannot construct a Monument if you have no markers available.
• 5th Player Expansion: Adds components for a 5th player using the full 10x10 City board.

Player Reference

Turn Actions (choose one)

1. Take Income — 5 Silver + Silver from Commercial Buildings
2. Buy a Deed — pay Silver, claim a Lot on the City board
3. Construct a Building — place a Building from your tray onto owned Lots (free)

End of Era Scoring

1. Residential: Most Citizens = Population + Era bonus; others = Citizens of player ahead
2. Civic: VP from adjacency bonuses
3. Commercial: Collect Silver (or VP in final Era) + flat VP per building

Era Bonuses (Residential)

| Era | Bonus for Most Citizens | |—–|————————| | 1 | +4 VP | | 2 | +7 VP | | 3 | +10 VP |

Building Rules

• Build only on Lots you own
• No Silver cost to construct
• Can build over smaller Buildings (not same size or larger)
• Civic Buildings score for ANY adjacent Buildings (not just yours)