Colosseum Days Of Wonder Board Game

by Days of Wonder

Product Features

• 3-5 players
• Age 10 and up
• 60-90 minutes to play

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 12 x 3 x 12 inches ; 3.5 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• ASIN: B000OVT6EG
• Item model number: DPW7701
• Manufacturer recommended age: 10 years and up
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #126,480 in Toys & Games (See Top 100 in Toys & Games)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)

Product Description

As commanded by the Emperor, Rome is in the midst of a 100 day celebration commemorating the opening of the greatest public arena ever conceived by man - the Colosseum. Earn wealth and glory as one of Rome's greatest impresarios by producing grand spectacles in the hopes of attracting the most spectators to your events.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lots of bits, and lots of fun, October 20, 2008

By 

Robert Plantikow (Evansville, WI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:4.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Colosseum Days Of Wonder Board Game (Toy)

I'm a board game fanatic, and I love games with strategy and lots and lots of bits. This game delivers.

There are tons of tiles, cards, tokens, and colosseum parts, and a big board, all very sturdy and nice looking. There's a cloth bag to hold the tiles. The box is packaged very well and even includes a sheet to explain where all the parts go (to make sure you can get it all back in the box).

This is just a shade more complicated to learn than games like Ticket to Ride, but it's easy once you get the hang of it. There is some fairly easy strategy and decision making, and there is some auctioning and trading, but again it's very controlled (shouldn't be much bickering). Figure out how to upgrade your colosseum, gather the resources you need, and put on the best show possible to score the most points and win.

My only disappointment is its not a two player game (3 to 5 only)--sometimes I have trouble finding a group to play. Definitely recommended.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars High quality components, finely tweaked, well engineered = 5*****, November 12, 2009

By 

Christopher K. Halbower "Christopher Halbower" (Muskegon, MI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:2.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Colosseum Days Of Wonder Board Game (Toy)

Days of Wonder has struck gold with their game "Colosseum". Wolfgang Kramer (designer of "El Grande") and Markus Lübke teamed up to create this high quality and highly engineered game.

Players take on the role of a colosseum event planner. Your goal: to put on a spectacle so awe inspiring that you draw the largest crowd. The player with the highest amount of spectators at any one of their events is declared the winner.

There are five turns in the game. Each turn is broken down into five phases. The first phase allows players to invest. Will you expand your arena? Maybe you should buy some season tickets to beef up your spectator score. Or you could buy an emperor's loge which gives you the ability to move the Emperor or Senators into your arena.

In phase two, players purchase asset tokens. Each program requires certain assets (such as comedians, musicians, lions, horses, etc). The more assets you have, the more spectators you will attract. Players bid on the assets of their choice. The highest bidder gets the assets.

Players are allowed to trade assets with other players in phase three. During phase 4, you will be putting on your event. You score points based upon how many spectators you attract. Collect your coins. Then it's phase five which is an upkeep phase. After five turns, the player with the highest score is the winner.

This game has a lot going for it. The production values are high. There are lots of bits and the bits are of high quality. The box comes with a tray that holds everything. Indeed, there is even a picture with instructions on how to store your nice new "Colosseum" game. The board and tiles are beautiful. The player aids have all the information you need to play. The icons are easily recognized by color and image. This game is highly engineered.

Also, the game play is quite good. There is some randomness (tile draws, dice rolls for the Emperor). But there is not much luck. It's a game of high strategy. Also, the game plays quickly. You can play with experienced players in 60 minutes, counting set up. There is a great deal of replay value in this game. Long term strategies are viable but so are short term goals.

Colosseum also makes for a decent gateway game. Not the best gateway game, but still a good one. This game is sure to bring hours of entertainment to gamers of all playing levels. I don't give that many 5***** ratings but Colosseum is definitely worthy.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars amazing, December 20, 2007

By 

ChaCha (Santa Clarita, Ca) - See all my reviews

= Durability:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars  = Educational:3.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: Colosseum Days Of Wonder Board Game (Toy)

Well constructed. Seems complicated at first, but quickly catches on... a lot of strategy...

I wasn't that interested in it from the game description, but my husband got it and I absolutely adore it. Forces you to make decisions like "which upgrade will help me out most in the end," and "Should I even upgrade or save my money for resources because if I don't get the resources I won't be able to make as much money this turn, but if I don't get the upgrade now, I'll never be able to get any higher than such and such a level."

Game consists of 5 rounds, each of which has 5 steps (takes longer than you think), involves trading with others. There are multiple ways of making money in the 5th step- which is important for investing, but which means absolutely nothing to you at the end of the game if it is still in your hand.

A different game in that each of the 5 rounds are scored separately... Your score does not cumulate or add to the previous scores- neither is it a "best 3/5" rounds type of game... but simply the best score of any player in any round wins...

It is not uncommon for you to make less points than a previous round one time in the game, but So far that I've played, the winner has always been someone who made the most points in the last round.