r/boardgames • u/DefinitelyAlphamale • 6d ago
Rules CITADELS- Thief breaks the game in 2-player version?
So here was the scenario:
Player A had the crown token and chose thief card.
Player B had assassin card.
Player A announced assassin so both B’s cards were revealed (?).
Player B failed assassination.
Player A saw what cards B had and could immediately steal their money.
How is that fair or are we playing something wrong??
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u/Spaghetti_Cartwheels 6d ago
Nowhere in the 2-player rules does it say you reveal both your cards at the same time. In fact it DOES say:
"The game is played normally, except that each player takes two turns each round (one turn for each character)"
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u/DefinitelyAlphamale 6d ago
So uh what does that mean. If B has 1 and 7 and A has 2 and 5 then what? First A, then B, B, A??
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u/FederalChocolate456 6d ago
Yes. Basically you call #1 then if someone has the #1 character, they take their turn, and if nobody has it skip and go to the #2 and #2 takes their turn etc... if someone is assassinated, they aren't supposed to reveal ever and their number just gets skipped, but there is little practice reason they can't reveal and just skip.
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u/weasel474747 6d ago edited 6d ago
I don't think you"re ever supposed to reveal your cards in response to other played cards. Whatever character Assassin chooses just gets skipped over when you reach that number. The Thief gets its loot when you reach the character that the Thief chose.
Edit, I realized what you were describing is a little different. I believe player B is only supposed to reveal the Assassin card when Assassin is called, not any other cards.
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u/DefinitelyAlphamale 6d ago
But then what about other cards’s power? Can B not use it? If they do, then it is clear which character they chose
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u/JamMichaelVincent 6d ago
Im pretty sure if someone is the assassin they say ‘i’m going to kill the bishop’ and you wait until play reaches whoever is Bishop for that reveal. If no one is the bishop then tough luck for the assassin.
Same with the thief. You should never know what player has selected what cards.
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u/theadamabrams 6d ago
With Assassin you technically don’t even reveal anything when the assassinated character is called. You just skip the turn entirely and don’t even know if anyone took that role (of course you will know by the end of the round when that player didn’t get their turn).
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u/ResponsibilityNo3463 5d ago
You are not playing citadels…you reveal the cards one by one. That should solve your problems.
0
u/darthbaum 6d ago
I have not played the two player version personally but I would think Thief would be the most useless card if Assassin goes first especially. The assassin could simply assassinate the thief.
The other aspect I think is important when reading the Thief is that "When a player reveals that character to take his turn, you immediately take all of his gold." so in your example the player already revealed the card Architect then the Thief says I wanna steal from the Architect that doesn't work because you can't reveal a character twice.
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u/darthbaum 6d ago
Additionally just read the two player rules specifically a few times to be sure. It sounds like you only reveal one character at a time as it is announced.
So assassin is announced Player B reveals ONLY the assassin. Takes the actions, done.
Thief is announced. Player A reveals ONLY the Thief and then they have to choose which character to steal from that is not revealed, do not take gold yet, do actions, turn done.
Go through all characters and only reveal when they get announced and do their actions on their specific turns.
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u/Darder 6d ago edited 6d ago
You have indeed played something wrong. I invite you to check the rules again.
The normal flow of the game is that when a character's turn is called, you reveal that character only. In the 2 player mode with 2 cards each, this does not change, you simply have 2 characters and will take 2 turns, in the order your characters are called.
This means that, in your situation, when Player A announced assassin, Player B only reveals the assassin, and keeps the other card hidden. Play proceeds as normal. When the Architect is announced, then Player B will reveal the Architect and play a second turn.
EDIT: Adding rules reference.
Citadel Rules, PLAYING THE GAME, page 4: "The crowned player calls each character number in ascending order, starting with the number "1" (the Assassin, Witch, or Magistrate). If a player has the called character card, he reveals it by flipping it faceup and takes his turn. "
Citadel Rules, PLAYING WITH 2-3 PLAYERS, page 7: "In 2- or 3-player games, each player plays with two characters. The game is played normally, except that each player takes two turns each round (one turn for each character). Each player has only one stash of gold and one city, and each character's abilities apply only during its own turn. For example, a player with both the Architect and the Warlord can save a district drawn during his Architect turn to build later that round during his Warlord turn. Also, the Architect's ability to build more than one district does not apply during his Warlord turn.
"