Tabletop games
Akropolis
GigamicJules Messaud2022
- players
- 2–4
- minutes
- 25
- years
- 8+
In the box
Three-hex City tiles · 4 starting tiles · Stones (the game's currency) · 1 score booklet
Box details
- Designer
- Jules Messaud
- Artwork
- Pauline Détraz
- Publisher
- Gigamic
- Mechanics
- Tile PlacementLayeringHexagon GridOpen DraftingPattern BuildingSolo Play
- Expansions
- Akropolis: Athena · 2024
Where to buy it
Near you and online
In a shop
Within 50 km.
Online
Affiliate link: Marquoir may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
The basics
Each player builds their city by placing hexagonal tiles, on the ground or on higher levels. On your turn, take a tile from the construction site — the first is free, each tile skipped costs a stone — and place it in your city; each quarry you cover earns a stone. When only one tile remains on the site and no stack can replenish it, each colour’s valid districts score their level multiplied by the stars on the plazas, and the highest total wins.
Checked against the official rules · October 2026
The rules, step by step
Setup
11 stacks of tiles, Site = players + 2, 1 starting tile
- Take the City tiles that match the number of players, as shown on their backs: 2+ only with two, 2+ and 3+ with three, all of them with four.
- Make eleven equal face-down stacks: three tiles per stack with two players, four with three, five with four. The remaining tiles, laid face up in a row, form the construction site: two more tiles than there are players.
- Each player receives their starting tile, which already carries a Housing plaza. The Chief Architect marker goes to whoever climbed a hill most recently.
- Everyone receives stones, clockwise from the Chief Architect: one for the first player, two for the second, and so on. The others form the reserve.
How to play
Take 1 tile, Skipped tile = 1 stone, On the ground or higher
- The Chief Architect starts, then play goes clockwise.
- On your turn, take a tile from the construction site. The first one is free; each tile you skip to go further costs one stone, returned to the reserve. With no stones left, you must take the first one.
- Place the tile in your city: on the ground, touching a tile already placed along at least one edge, or on top.
- A tile placed on a higher level must rest on at least two different tiles, with no gap underneath.
- Each quarry you cover earns one stone. A covered hex no longer counts.
- When only one tile remains on the construction site, it moves to the front and a new stack is turned face up after it. The Chief Architect marker passes to the player on the left, who resumes play.
Scoring
Districts × stars, Level 1 on the ground, 1 point per stone
- Each district is worth its level: 1 on the ground (1st) level, 2 on the 2nd level, and so on.
- For each colour, add up the valid districts, then multiply by the number of stars on the plazas of that colour, all such plazas combined, wherever they are in the city.
- Houses (blue): only the largest group of adjacent houses counts.
- Markets (yellow): only if they touch no other market.
- Barracks (red): only if they are on the edge, not completely surrounded.
- Temples (purple): only if they are completely surrounded.
- Gardens (green): all of them count.
- +1 point per remaining stone.
End of the game
No stack left, Last tile not played, Highest total
- The game ends when only one tile remains on the construction site and there is no stack left to replenish it. That last tile is not played; the cities are then scored.
- The highest total wins. In case of a tie: the most stones.
House rules and pitfalls
With two or three players, you can use all the tiles for a longer game.
- With two or three players, you can use all the tiles for a longer game.
- Rulebook variants, which can be combined: each type of district gets an extra condition that doubles its points when met, on top of its usual condition.
- Houses: a group worth 10 or more. Market: next to a Market plaza. Barracks: three or four empty spaces around it. Temple: built on a higher level. Garden: next to a lake, that is, an empty space completely surrounded.
Going further
Frequently asked questions · In the same family
Frequently asked questions
Doesn’t the construction site hold one more tile than there are players?
No, two: that is the tip in the rulebook’s setup (six tiles with four players). Tiles are taken until only one is left, so the Chief Architect, who opened the round, takes a second one before the next stack is turned over.
Does a district with no plaza of its colour score anything?
No. Without any star of that colour, the multiplier is zero.
Does the height of a plaza matter?
No, only its stars count. Height only matters for districts.