Colosseum Board Game

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Your Sales Price $59.99 - $27.00

A quick rundown of this product’s key features:

For 3-5 players
60-90 minute playing time
Ages 14 and up

Our Top Reviews

Reviewer: Isaac
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Let the games begin!
Review: This is my favorite game. The theme is awesome. You all try to build up your own colosseum and put on The best show. You try to expand your arena, lure political people to attend, plan for a great show, and hire The right resources to execute your shows. The shows may compete with other people’s resources which really makes the auction/trade fun and interactive.

Reviewer: Mandy Nisanian
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great alternative to original
Review: Great game….nice pieces.

Reviewer: My Playful Kiddos Customer Support
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Very fun game
Review: Very fun game. Love playing this with my brothers

Reviewer: william peteresen
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Classic Euro-game; Disappointing Reprint.
Review: Colosseum is a classic Euro-style board game. The original Days Of Wonder printing of the game would get a 5-star (*****) review. It had great production values (for the time) and had a GREAT theme: In ancient Rome you are the director of a colosseum charged with putting on grand shows and events for the powerful citizens of Rome, including the Emperor himself! The game used an auction system in which players bid/bought tiles that represented actors, animals, gladiators, actors, magnificent sets, special effects and even ships! Yes, you could flood your coloesseum and recreate naval battles!! The game came with 40 or so “show cards” (worth victory points) that required various sets of the tiles to be able to present the individual shows. Using a ‘set collection’ mechanic, players put together their shows based on the tiles they acquired through the auction process. Players could even trade among each other after the auctions had taken place.If you haven’t played this game, do yourself a favor and check it out. Even better, BUY this game if you love euro-games. It’s that good. Don’t let the following negative comments stop you from buying the game. The problem is not with the game itself, but with the reprint. Thankfully 98% present of the original game’s mechanics were left untouched by Tasty Minstrel.Unfortunately…This reprint is a HUGE disappointment when compared to the original Days Of Wonder edition. And, to be truthful, the DOW version hasn’t held up well (IMO) when you compare it to the production values of board games that have come out just in the last 5-years or so. It is/was definitely showing it’s age. However, despite that, the Tasty Minstrel reprint is STILL THE INFERIOR version of the game. TMG seem to have made a lot of bad, and even baffling, artistic choices.For example, the board is smaller then the original? Why? The board looks like it was drawn by a first year art student, and resembles the backdrop to a cartoon? Why? The reprint has a silly, cartoonish art style (see the cover pic) that is NOT indicative of the game’s theme. Why?Tasty Minstrel added simple blocks to reflect improvements to players colosseums, where as the original had colorful illustrated tiles that stacked on top of each other and matched the artwork of the board and other pieces. The new ones look bland and uninteresting. Why, TMG? Why?If you own the ORIGIONAL DOW version, you don’t need to ‘upgrade’ (downgrade?). Keep your original and cherish it. As I said before, if you haven’t played this game, GET this game. Despite the disappointing reprint, it’s a CLASSIC. DO NOT over pay for an original DOW version. BUT, if you can find it for around $40.00, and in good shape, get it.

Reviewer: Ernesto
Rating: 3.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Max player count for a good time
Review: Colosseum is a three to five player game that has each player trying to create the highest scoring event before the end of round 5. The points acquired during scoring is not cumulative, only what the players highest score will give them victory. Theme of the game is each player plays a Roman magistrate in-charge of a Colosseum and must gather the necessary resources to produce an event that everyone will love.The setup for a five player game will have players choosing their starting position on the board. The board has a pentagonal shape of a road on it for areas where a player’s Colosseum are placed and Roman Nobles move on. In the center is a water fountain with a pentagonal shape that has three spaces on each side for placing assets to be bid on later. Senators, Consul, and the Emperor will be placed in their respective spots on the board. Players will start with a small Colosseum that is only two spaces large. Five starting asset tokens are given to each of the players along with two starting event tiles and 30 coins to each player. The player closest to the Emperor will be the first player.Each of the 5 rounds are divided into five phases:Investing- in this phase players will be using an action to purchase items for their Colosseum, but only one purchase allowed unless two emperor medals are spent for another action. These purchases are Emperor’s Loge (allows two dice to be rolled for movement), Season Tickets (adds 5 pts to scoring), Arena expansion (more spaces for Officials to land on and needed for new events), Event programs (requires bigger arena and is how players score). Aside from the limited amount of Arena expansions, and only one Emperor’s Loge, players are allowed to buy more Season Tickets each round.Acquiring Event Asset Tokens- Starting with the first player of the round, a player will choose from the center pentagon a set of three assets to bid on. The amount the initiating player must at least start the bid is 8 coins, but can choose more. Then starting with the left player, bids will increased by each player or they will pass. If the starting player wins the bid than the three assets taken are replaced and the next player starts the bid. If another player won the bid, the start player will choose another set of assets to bid on, but the player that won the previous auction cannot bid until a new player begins a new auction. When all players have gone the phase ends.Additional note: Players can obtain special star performers (4pts) by obtaining three or more assets that are the same.Trading- Starting with the first player of the round they will either offer some of the assets they acquired, or old ones, to the players around the table. These token exchanges can include coins to try to assuage individuals for their assets. Each player will get a chance to trade before putting on their event.Produce an Event- In this phase players will begin by rolling a die (or dice with Emperor’s Loge) and move the Roman Nobles around the board clockwise. The reason for moving them is landing on spaces that were marked for Nobles will grant the player an Emperor’s Medal (grant coins, movement, additional event points). Moving a Noble into a players Colosseum will grant additional points to scoring for each one (Senator 3pts, Consul 5pts, Emperor 7pts). After moving, players will check their event and see if they have all the assets required to host it. If they are missing any assets they will simply receive a lower score for their event. Players will then score for the event hosted with additional points from Emperor’s Medal, Nobles, Season Tickets, Star Performers, and Podiums. Where a player’s scoring tracker ends up will also give that player an equal amount of coins for the following round.Closing Ceremonies- This phase is only done in rounds 1-4 as the 5th round will simply be checking who won. This phase will have the highest scoring player receive a podium (worth 3pts) and the lowest scoring player will be asking for a mandatory donation of an asset from the round winning player. Finally any player that produced an event will have to remove one of their assets used in the event from play. If another round begins, than the first player marker is passed to the left.After round 5, the player with the highest score wins the game.Colosseum is a stress inducing experience, but with very easy game mechanics that players could find some amount of joy in playing. It is a great 5 player game, and should only be played with max players. The reason being is it gives players more chances to bid, and someone else to trade with in the game. The simple design of the game is what makes the game stressful as players will find the one investment action the most debilitating aspect for trying to win. That what makes it fun since most players will feel like they can do more, but are unable to do so. Also, the fact that the scores are not cumulative and it is only a player’s last event is what matters. This means that players will have to think about what they are trying to accomplish now and in future rounds. This concept is a difficult learning curve for individuals as every action matters and making a mistake can cost someone the game. The time it takes to play the game can very depending on the other players. In some instances it is an hour long game while other times it can be two+. This is both good and bad as a gaming group will dictate the length of it. The cost of this game is rather steep with the kind of pieces that are in it. They are not bad, but it is a very costly box as there is no insert for this game. The coins are metal and help give some theme to the game as there is no real theme unless players are willing to talk about what kind of show they are doing. There are some good, but steep, mechanics in trying to score the most points and that may not be for everyone. If players want a challenge for themselves and their opponents, than Colosseum is a game that will make that possible.When teaching the game, make it clear that only their highest score will make a difference in the game. Also, let them know what the limits are on each type of asset in the game. Included in this explanation should be a clear discussion on Emperor Medals as this can give players more options in the game. A variant to consider if a shorter game is wanted is having open bidding during trades. Going in turn order can matter sometimes in trading, but most of the time players can accomplish their goals of trade without needing to wait for their turn.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: fantastic edition of a well deserved classic
Review: Not to easy to track this game down, but it is well worth it… great edition with fantastic metal coins, and a lot of them.

Reviewer: Amazon Customer
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Great game though
Review: Received it a little dinged but it’s really minor damage so I decided not to return it.Great game though! Loving it!

Reviewer: Matthew
Rating: 4.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Four Stars
Review: as advertised

Reviewer: Andrés barba barrera
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Excelentes componentes, llego en perfecto estado

Price effective as of Jun 30, 2025 11:50:59 UTC

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