Caesar and Cleopatra

Another German winner from Wolfgang Lüdtke. This is the kind of game that draws me away from the more traditional wargames. Simple and quick to complete, yet with enough nuances to keep the mind working.

Overview

This is a two-player card game that has Republic Rome as its backdrop. The players, representing Caesar and Cleopatra try to influence senators in Rome to side with their faction. A simple game with simple mechanics and enough "special effects" to make it interesting for multiple playings. A winner (did I repeat myself?)

Game Mechanics

Eah playe alternates taking turns. In his turn, a player may decide to be active or inactive:

1. If a player is Active he:
   • may play up to one action card;
   • must play influence card(s), one face-down or two face-up;
   • replaces his hand up to five cards
   • calls for a Vote Of Confidence (VOC) by drawing one VOC card. The card may call for a vote of one of the five groups, a reshuffle of the VOC deck or an orgy of the senate (nothing happens).
2. If a player is Inactive he:
   • may discard as many cards from his hand as he wishes.
   • The player may replace his hand up to 5 cards

Vote of Confidence

A vote of confidence occurs when there are 8 influence cards on a group or when call upon by the VOC deck.

The influence points (as indicated by the number/strength of influence cards)a player has on the group is totalled and the higher total wins. He gains the top senator card on the group (used to score VPs at the end of the game).

The winning player loses the largest card he has on the group and the losing player loses his smallest card he has on the group.

Special Action Cards

The special action cards add spice to the basic game mechanics Some allow reallocating of cards played between groups while others cause the removal of the opponent's influence cards. There is even veto cards that allow the effects of another card played to be nullified.

There are also Philosopher cards that change the effects voting. When one is present, the player with the least influence on the group wins the top senator card during a VOC. This adds a little spice to the game, and makes the role of face-down cards much more decisive.

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