Early next year, Z-Man Games will release The Great City of Rome, created by Matthew Dunstan and Brett Gilbert (the team behind Elysium and Pyramids), in partnership with German publisher Abacusspiele.

The Great City of Rome pits players in a competition to build the Eternal City at the behest of the Emperor.  Player actions are determined in part by the game’s "action strips:"  Placing an emissary closer to the Emperor on the strip earns favors and an earlier position in turn order, but placing them further away awards more of the resources needed to construct new buildings.

After courting the Emperor’s favor, players then draft building cards which they can construct in their own personal four-by-four tile grid, earning points for arranging residential areas near public buildings, supplying aqueducts, and establishing temples.  The player who can design the best city district wins the game.

The Great City of Rome is intended for 2 to 4 players, ages 10 and up, and takes about an hour to play.  The game comes with 86 cards, 39 coins, 57 tokens, 6 action strips, 6 wooden pawns, and a scoring pad.  MSRP is $39.99.

This is not the only upcoming Z-Man title set in the Roman Empire, with Pandemic:  Fall of Rome scheduled for later this year (see "'Pandemic' Engages the Roman Empire").  A cooperative card game inspired by Japanese stone gardens is also planned for early 2019 (see "Build a Peaceful Stone Garden in 'Narabi'").