Contents
- 1 Incredible Rules of the Game Caesar & Cleopatra
- 1.1 Game Setup
- 1.2 Object of the Game
- 1.3 Gameplay
- 1.4 Scoring
- 1.5 Conclusion
- 1.6 Setting the Stage
- 1.7 Game Play
- 1.8 Special Rules
- 1.9 Now, let’s talk about philosopher cards and the sneaky rules that come with them:
- 1.10 End of the Game
Incredible Rules of the Game Caesar & Cleopatra
Hey there! Get ready to join me in the exciting world of Caesar & Cleopatra. I’m here to guide you through the game’s amazing rules and show you how to become a champion. So, let’s dive right in!
Game Setup
First things first! To start playing, you’ll need a game board and two sets of game pieces – one set for Caesar and one set for Cleopatra. The game board is divided into different regions, each with its own color and number of spaces. Make sure you set up the board according to the provided instructions.
Object of the Game
As you play the game, your goal is to strategically move your game pieces across the board, exploring different regions and scoring points. But be careful – your opponent will be trying to do the same! The player who ends the game with the most points is declared the winner.
Gameplay
During your turn, you can choose to move one of your game pieces to an adjacent region. Each region has a unique benefit, such as gaining extra points or earning special abilities. You can also capture your opponent’s game pieces by landing on the same space as them. Remember, every move counts!
The game continues with each player taking turns until all the game pieces have been moved or the players agree to end the game. Once the game is over, it’s time to calculate the final scores and see who has emerged victorious!
Scoring
After the game ends, you’ll earn points based on the regions you’ve explored and the game pieces you’ve captured. Each region has a certain number of points associated with it, and capturing your opponent’s game pieces also grants you extra points. Add up all the points you’ve earned to determine your final score.
Conclusion
Now that you know the spectacular rules of Caesar & Cleopatra, it’s time to gather your friends and embark on an incredible gaming adventure! Remember, strategy and quick thinking are the keys to success in this epic battle. So, let the game begin and may the best strategist win!

In the epic battle to determine the future of Egypt, Caesar and Cleopatra find themselves locked in a fierce struggle. The fate of the land lies in the hands of the powerful patricians, who hold the key to deciding Egypt’s level of independence. As we step into the shoes of Caesar and Cleopatra, we must use our influence and special abilities to win these influential individuals to our cause.
When the time comes for a vote of confidence, the player who possesses greater influence will win the support of a patrician. Each patrician brings a single victory point. Winning the majority in a group of patricians, claiming the influence of an entire group, or uncovering a secret influence bonus will earn you additional victory points.
The player who amasses the highest number of victory points will not only have the power to determine the fate of Egypt but will also emerge as the triumphant winner of the game.
Setting the Stage
The Power of Secret Influence
Preparing the Patrician Cards
- 5 Senators
- 5 Praetor
- 5 Quaestor
- 3 Censor
- 3 Aedilis
What you need to do is shuffle the vote of confidence cards.
It’s quite simple, really. I want you to mix up the cards that have messages of encouragement. Take each card and move it around so that the order is completely random. You can do this by spreading them out on a table and then sliding them around or by picking them up and placing them back down in a different spot.
Why do we shuffle these cards? Well, there are a few reasons. Firstly, it adds an element of surprise. When you pick a card, you won’t know what message you’ll get. It could be something uplifting, motivating, or inspiring. Secondly, shuffling the cards ensures that each message has an equal chance of being chosen. By randomizing the order, we eliminate any bias or predictability.
So go ahead, and give the cards a good shuffle. Mix them up and create some excitement. By doing this, we can ensure that every vote of confidence card has the opportunity to make a positive impact when it’s selected. Ready? Let’s get shuffling!

Hey there! Let’s get started by setting up the game, shall we? First off, let’s shuffle the vote of confidence cards and place them face-down on the table.
Now, let’s set up the player decks:
- Each player needs to search through their influence cards and set aside two of each number from 1 to 5.
- Next, each player should shuffle their remaining influence cards and place them face-down on the table. This will be their influence deck.
- Players should then arrange their 13 action cards in the order they want to draw them. Afterward, they place their action cards face-down in a stack. This stack becomes their action deck.
- Remember that players are not allowed to look at their decks during the game.
For beginners: If you’re just starting out, it might be a good idea to play a few games using randomly-shuffled action card decks. This way, you can get the hang of using action cards as you play.
How to Set Up the Game: Placing the First Influence Cards
First, let’s talk about setting up the game. It’s a simple process that involves placing the first influence cards in strategic positions. Here’s how you do it:
- Start by taking 5 cards, each with a value from 1 to 5, and place them face-down on your side of the patrician groups. Make sure to place one card on each group. This will determine your initial influence over each group.
- Next, take your remaining 5 cards, also with values ranging from 1 to 5, and keep them in your hand. These cards will be your starting hand for the game.
Now that you know how to set up the first influence cards, let’s take a look at the table and see how it should look once the cards are placed:

Game Play
When playing the game, we take turns placing influence cards on different patrician groups. If a patrician group is chosen for a vote, the player with the most influence on that group gets to take one of the patricians from there.
At the beginning, the Cleopatra player starts. On her turn, she can choose to be active or passive:
- If she chooses to be active, she can:
- Play one action card (optional)
- Play one or two influence cards (required)
- Draw cards to replenish her hand
- Draw the next vote of confidence card
A. Active Choice
When a player decides to be active, her turn involves the following actions:
Playing an Action Card (Optional)
Playing 1 or 2 Influence Cards (Required)
- The philosopher card is a unique card that has a value of 0. You can place it face-up or face-down next to one of your groups. It’s common to place it face-down for secrecy and protection.
- When there’s a vote of confidence for a group that has a philosopher card on either side, the philosopher card “reinterprets” the result. This means that the player with the lowest sum of influence will actually win the voice of the patrician and the card that represents it.
- If you have the higher influence but still lose the vote, you must discard your highest influence card. On the other hand, if you have the lower influence, you must discard your lowest influence card. The philosopher card is also discarded.
- When it’s time to count up the votes, if both players have the same amount of influence, things get real tricky. No decision is made and no cards are taken. Instead, all cards, including those philosopher cards, stay face-up.
- But wait, there’s more! If the only cards on both sides of a group during the vote are philosopher cards, the same thing happens. No decision, no cards taken, and those philosopher cards are still staring back at you.
- If one player has only a philosopher card and the other player has numbered influence cards, the player with the philosopher card wins the vote of confidence and the patrician card. In this case, I will have to discard my highest influence card if I lose, and if I win, the other player will have to discard their philosopher card.
- If both players have the same number of philosopher cards (either 1 or 2), then the cards cancel each other out. In this situation, the player with the higher influence wins. We both have to discard our philosopher cards along with the corresponding influence cards.
- If one player has one philosopher card and the other player has 2 philosopher cards, the player with the lower influence wins. In this scenario, all philosopher cards are discarded along with the appropriate influence cards.
- If all the patrician cards have been won by the players.
- If both players don’t have any more influence cards.
- If neither player can play on any of the groups because of the player and total maximums, and they don’t have any action cards to change the situation.
- Each patrician card won: 1 victory point
- Having the majority in a patrician group: 1 victory point
- If you win all the patricians in a group, you get 1 victory point.
- If you achieve the influence bonus, you get 2 victory points.
Let me tell you about a game called Influence. In this game, you have two options when it’s your turn. You can choose to be active or passive. If you choose to be active, you can play one influence card face-down on a group of your choice, or you can play two influence cards face-up on one or two groups of your choice.
Keep in mind that you can look at your face-down influence cards whenever you want. And you can have a maximum of five influence cards on your side of a group. The total number of influence cards on both sides of a group cannot exceed eight.
Now, let’s talk about what happens when you choose to be passive. When you choose to be passive, it means you don’t have any suitable cards to play. In this case, you need to discard up to five cards from your hand, laying them face-up. After discarding, you should refill your hand to five cards by drawing from either your influence deck or your action deck.
That’s all you need to know to play Influence. Have fun and may the best player win!
When I play the game, I get to choose which deck to draw a card from every time. This is my entire turn, and I don’t draw a vote of confidence card.
After the Cleopatra player finishes her active or passive actions, her turn is over. Then it’s the Caesar player’s turn. He can choose to be active or passive, just like she did. We take turns, each deciding whether to be active or passive, until the game ends.
Special Rules
I. The Vote of Confidence
There are two ways to call a vote of confidence:
1. Draw a Vote of Confidence card
2. Use a special vote of confidence: a group of 8 influence cards
II. Resolving a Vote of Confidence
When a vote of confidence is called for a patrician group, we solve it like this:
I’m going to walk you through the step-by-step process for playing this game. Here’s what you need to do:
1. We both need to turn over all of our face-down influence cards for the group we’re affecting. This means all of our cards will now be face-up.
2. Next, we each need to add up the values of the influence cards on our side of the group.
3. The player with the highest total influence sum gets the voice of one patrician from that group. To do this, the winning player takes one of the patrician cards from that group and places it in front of them on the table.
4. After that, the winning player has to discard their highest-numbered influence card from that group.
5. On the other hand, the losing player has to discard their lowest-numbered influence card from that group.
6. Both players should then place their discarded cards face up in their own discard pile.
7. Finally, any remaining influence cards for this group are left face-up, and the game continues from there.
By following these steps, we can determine the winner of each group and keep the game moving forward. Good luck!
If both players have the same amount of influence, neither of them wins the vote of confidence. The influence cards on the patrician group stay face-up and the game goes on.
If the vote of confidence was triggered by drawing a card, that card is placed face-up on the discard pile for vote of confidence cards.
Note that when both players have 8 influence cards each on a special vote of confidence, the tie can only be resolved by one player using action cards to move or remove influence cards since no more cards can be added.
Here is an example of a vote of confidence triggered by a drawn card:
The drawn card requires a vote of confidence from the Aedilis. Both players reveal all face-down influence cards played on the group.
So, here’s what happened: Caesar and Cleopatra both played their influence cards, and it’s time to see who comes out on top!
Caesar had 7 points of influence in total, combining his 3 points card with his 4 points card. On the other hand, Cleopatra had a total of 8 points of influence – she had a strong hand with three cards worth 3, 3, and 2 points. What a close match!
In the end, Cleopatra emerged as the winner with the highest amount of influence. That means she gets the topmost Aedilis card as her prize.
But hold on, there’s more to it! Cleopatra has to make a tough decision now. Since her highest card value is a 3, she needs to discard one of them. And the same goes for Caesar, who has to let go of his lowest card value – also a 3.

What happens when all patrician cards from a group are taken?
When you take the last card from a group of patrician cards, all influence cards on both sides of that group are removed and placed on their respective discard piles.
III. The Orgy Card
The vote of confidence deck includes three Orgy cards. When you draw an Orgy card, no vote of confidence is called. However, this does not affect any special votes of confidence that occur on your turn.
After drawing an Orgy card, place it face up on the discard pile for vote of confidence cards. If you draw the Orgy card and it instructs you to reshuffle, you should mix all vote of confidence cards (except those that have been removed from the game), shuffle them, and then place the deck face down on the table.
IV. Philosopher Influence Card (“P”)
For example: Let’s say the Censors are up for a vote of confidence. Cleopatra has an influence of 9 (4+5), while Caesar only has 3 (1+2). However, Caesar has a philosopher card. In this case, Caesar would actually win the vote and gain the voice of the patrician, while Cleopatra would have to discard her highest influence card.
So the thing is, Caesar totally crushed it and snagged the super important Censor card. But here’s the twist – he had to give up his dinky little 1 influence card and that fancy philosopher card. Cleopatra, on the other hand, had to bid farewell to her mighty 5 influence card.
Now, let’s talk about philosopher cards and the sneaky rules that come with them:
As I dive into the world of philosophers, I come across an intriguing concept called the “vote of confidence.” It’s an interesting notion that comes into play when one player has two philosopher cards, while the other player has none. In this scenario, the vote of confidence is determined as if the player with two philosopher cards only had one. In essence, both philosopher cards are discarded, along with the corresponding influence cards. It’s fascinating how certain circumstances can change the course of the game, even when it seems like one player has an advantage.
Now let’s shift our focus to the action cards, an integral part of the game. Each player possesses a total of 13 action cards, but they can only play one per round. Once an action card is played, it gets discarded into the player’s discard pile. These action cards come in different types, adding another layer of strategic possibilities to the game.
One of the action card types is the “Assassination” card, and there are four copies of it available. This card holds immense power and can greatly influence the game. The thrill of plotting and executing a successful assassination is surely something to behold. So, keep an eye out for this card and use it wisely to your advantage.
The world of philosophers is indeed puzzling and full of unexpected twists. With each round, new possibilities arise, and strategic moves can lead to victory. So, embrace the complexities, strategize your actions, and let the excitement unravel with every card played.

So here’s what you can do – you have the power to take away one of your opponent’s face-up influence cards and remove it from the game. They’ll have to put that card on their discard pile. Easy peasy, right? Well, there’s a catch – you can only do this if your opponent actually has face-up influence cards. It won’t work if they don’t have any on the table.
Meet the Spies (2 Each)

When you are in a game, you can use a powerful move to get ahead – it’s called searching your opponent’s hand. Here’s how it works: you get to look at your opponent’s cards and choose one to remove from the game. That means your opponent can’t use that card anymore, and it goes to their discard pile. But don’t worry, they get to draw a new card to replace the one you took. They can choose from either their influence deck or their action deck. So even though you may take away a powerful card, they still have a chance to bounce back.
The Egyptian/Roman Castling Strategy
Here’s a special strategy you can use in the game. It’s called Egyptian/Roman Castling, and it’s a powerful move. You can do it twice during the game. When you use this move, you get to swap two of your pieces. This can be a game-changer because it can help you protect your important pieces and position your pieces strategically. So remember, when you’re playing the game, don’t forget about the Egyptian/Roman Castling move – it could be just what you need to turn things around!

Let’s shake things up a bit! I want you to turn the tables by blindly redistributing all the influence cards from two of your groups. Gather up all the influence cards from both groups and mix them up. Next, deal the cards face down to the two groups. It’s entirely up to you how you distribute the cards – you can even choose not to give any cards to either player if you want! Just remember that you don’t need to have cards in at least two groups in order to play this card.
Scout (2 Each)

When I play this card, I get to reveal all of the influence cards in one of my opponent’s groups. The cards stay revealed until another action card, like Castling, changes them. But there’s a catch – my opponent needs to have at least one face-down card in the group I choose.
Wrath of God (1 Each)

To start the move, I get rid of all the influence cards in a single group – yours and your opponent’s. These cards are then placed in our discard piles. Remember, there must be at least one card on the group to play this card, but it’s not required to have cards on both sides of the group.
You’ve Got the Power! (2 Each)

In the game, I have a card that can stop my opponent from playing their action card. Whenever they try to play an action, I can use this card to prevent it. We both have to discard our cards into our own discard piles, and then I get to draw a card from either my influence deck or my action deck. But I can’t use this card against another veto card. It’s a way for me to stop my opponent’s move and gain an advantage for myself.
End of the Game
The game can end in a few different ways:
If you don’t have any influence cards or if you’ve reached the maximum limit in all the groups and don’t have an action card to change that, you have to choose to be passive.
When you’re passive, you can draw action or influence cards so that you can be active on your next turn.
If you don’t have any influence cards left in your hand or deck, you can no longer play. However, your opponent can continue taking turns until the game ends.
The player who has the most victory points is the winner.
If there’s a tie, the player who has won the most patrician cards is the winner. You earn victory points for the following:
Let me explain to you the scoring system for the game. Winning different cards will earn you victory points. Here’s how it works:
It’s important to note that the requirements for majority or “all” victory points are based on the total for each group, not just the cards won in the game. Patrician cards that weren’t won by either player are not counted.
Here are a couple of examples to help you understand:
Jill has all 5 Quaestors and the influence bonus card for this group. She earns a total of 9 points. This includes 5 points for the cards, 1 point for having the majority, 1 point for having all the cards in the group, and 2 points for the influence bonus.
On the other hand, Anna only has 2 Censors, but these are the only ones taken. There are still 3 left on the table. She earns just the 2 victory points for the cards.
Once you’re familiar with the game, you can try out some variants. It’s a great way to add some excitement and challenge to your gameplay.
Here’s what you need to know:
1) When all the cards have been won from two noble groups, we need to take out one Orgy card from the vote of confidence deck. And when we have also won all the cards from the third group, we have to remove another Orgy card. However, we should not remove the reshuffle card in either of these cases.
2) Before starting the game, we should remove one Orgy card (excluding the reshuffle one) from the vote of confidence deck.
3) In the game, you can choose to play two influence cards face-down, but keep in mind that you won’t be able to play an action card on that turn.