Colosseum Board Game
Posted on November 11th, 2009 in Toys
- 3-5 players
- Age 10 and up
- 60-90 minutes to play
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.

This post has 4 comments
November 11th, 2009
I have many of the Mayfair games and this one is, so far, the best!
Rating: 5 / 5
November 11th, 2009
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!
Rating: 5 / 5
November 11th, 2009
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.
Rating: 5 / 5
November 11th, 2009
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.
Rating: 5 / 5