Customer Reviews

Colosseum Days Of Wonder Board Game

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

As a fan of strategy board games, Colosseum does not disappoint. If you've played The Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, or similar games, you probably will like this game too.

Colosseum is a 3-5 player game in which your goal is to put on the best event possible with the most spectators in your arena. In 5 rounds, you must strategize your way to having enough cash to buy expansions, new events and bid on assets (e.g. gladiators, decorations, etc) in order to put on the most spectacular event by the last round. Additionally, there are important men that travel the board (with your help and the other players) that, should they be seated in your arena during your performance, will give you additional spectators.

It sounds really complicated. Reading the rules and understanding them is quite time consuming. 4 of us 30 somethings took about 2 1/2 hours to get through our first game, and we struggled to understand the strategy we should use and how intensely we should get into the bidding wars for assets. But by round 5, we were hooked. The game takes 60-90 minutes once you know what you're doing. In essence, this game has a steep learning curve, but it is worth the patience it requires to learn.

Also, give yourself 1/2 hour+ to remove all the pieces from the perforated cardboard when it arrives. There are a TON of pieces. But they fit pretty nicely into the box, so don't worry about losing any.

The game pieces themselves are incredibly well made. Over time, other games have pieces that bend, wear off, or just break. Colosseum comes with sturdy pieces, several of which are wooden. Generally this thing is built to last.

Overall, it's a great strategy game. I highly recommend it!

For me, the single best thing about this game is that there is essentially zero "down time" while everyone else takes their turns. To win the game, you have to expand your arena so you can produce the most elaborate show possible. This means constantly checking to see which available show will give you the most points, based on the resources that you can acquire. If someone else buys the rights to that show before you can get it, you're forced to choose a different one which means some of your resources could end up for sale or trade with other players.

The second thing that I really appreciate is the auction/trade system. Each player in turn initiates a trade with each of the other players. This is so much smoother than just having an open auction where everyone is trying to barter with everyone else at the same time, especially with 4 or 5 players. In the end, you can usually get what you need... unless you're currently winning.

Which brings me to the third thing that I like most about Colosseum: the scoring. At first glance the scoring track looks like Ticket To Ride or Kingsburg, where you advance your scoring marker at each turn's end based on what you produce. Not so with this game. You still get paid for the show you produce, but if you earn the same or less than you did on any previous turn, you don't move ahead! Basically the biggest show you produce is the only one that counts. Usually, this will happen in the last round of the game due to the many bonuses you accumulate, which means "it ain't over 'til it's over" nearly every time.

Strategy tips: Spend all your money. It's worth nothing at the end of the game. Expand your arena early, and save your emperor medallions until the final show, unless you need to expand and purchase the rights to a show on the same turn.

Days of Wonder consistently has some of the highest quality components of any game publisher. Colosseum is no exception. The vivid colors and icons speed up the game because you can easily identify what you have, what you need, and what's available. I bought this from their website because I got another game free with the purchase. I figured the price would average out pretty well if I didn't like it. Turns out, this game is so much better than I expected, I don't know why I waited so long to try it. Absolutely worth the full price on its own.

I am a fan of Days of Wonder's games, and Colosseum lives up to all that I have come to expect from them.

We get together with another family in our neighborhood every other week or so to play games. This one has become a favorite of ours. The game play is strategic, adaptive, and creative. It is a fairly quick game to play, while able to keep the players interacting with each other.

Well designed, well made. It's a keeper for sure.

Colosseum is a great game. I do game research and also have boys who play games. This one is one of the family favorites. There is a mixture of strategy and chance that make this game enjoyable. There are many elements of strategy to develop that even after several games, we are learning new strategies for game play.

Great game!

Looks complicated but really is not that hard to play. There are some concepts that make the game very fun and different than any other board game out there. If you want to be successful you need to really plan long term. I have played 5 times already and just keep coming back for more.

I bought this game a while back and finally read the rules. After playing it the first time is has been a favorite to play with my family and friends. It really is a fun lively game that can involve both the light gamers as well as the intense crowd. The rules a quite basic even though there are a million pieces to it. I have put them in baggies to keep things organized a bit better. Highly recommended!

It tests logic skills. Not much random chance and best played with 4 or 5 players. Usually an hour and 45 min to 2 hours to play. Great family game with older kids.