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International Toy Fair Nuremberg 2011
Internationale Spielwarenmesse Nürnberg 2011
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The Game Master
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The last thing Maximus was connected with in his earthly life were the ears of corn that caressed his hands; it is this illusive imagery that many a film fan remembers from the last scene from 'The Gladiator'.
Franz Vohwinkel has made a strong cover illustration from this fact for this game by Michael Rieneck and Stefan Stadler in which up to four players try to be the first to reach the center of Rome..
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In the game a player may make use of action cards with which he can obtain resources such as water to use his land more effectively to yield grain and wine, as this earns money, usefull to attract priestresses, centurions, but also to erect various types of buildings.
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Each turn a player takes all the following actions: gain water, if he has an aqueduct; choose an action card and take the action; exchange action cards; execute military power; get the favor of the emperor.
Each player always has three cards in front of him, but these vary from turn to turn. From these, he may choose one and may take the action. Having used an action card, he must exchange it against any one open card that one of the other players has in front of him, turning the card he chose face down. Centurions may be used to play an additional open card from his display
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With the last action in a round a player gives a favor to the emperor and throws a die; he may use any one card from the center of the board that is equal to or less than the result of the die and take all coins on it, if any; as a result, and depending on the type of card the player chooses, he may advance one or more spaces on the road to Rome. Failing to fulfill the favor penalizes a player.
On the cards in the center that are not chosen in a round an additional coin is placed on it.
The game ends when the first player has entered the center of Rome; this player collects all accumulated coins there. The winner is calculated by the amount of spaces a player has moved towards Rome, added with the coins he managed to collect during the game.
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Fortuna, Michael Rieneck & Stefan Stadler, The Game Master, 2011 - 2 to 4 players, 10 years and up, 60 minutes
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