Tips & Strategy

How to teach Baghdad: The City of Peace, first-game advice, scoring paths, player counts and the solo Bot, from teaching videos, reviews and the co-designer's forum answers.

Advice only: where anything here differs from the rules pages, the rules win.

How to teach

• Teachers start with the theme and the board, then walk the six steps of a turn, and leave the card goals and end scoring for later. Ludex’s Teach the Game follows the same order.
• Rahdo calls the card row a conveyor belt: cards enter on the left, stay three turns and trigger as they leave. Brettspiel Teddy’s German teach calls the City a “mega-rondel”. Both images help a new table.
• Play the first card of each player face up and narrate the slide: the goal is checked when the card leaves, three turns later.
• Point at the roads around a location before anyone stops there: tuition and lost Favour at the end of the turn are the rule new players forget most.

First game

• Opening spot. Your first Vizier location is free: pick one not joined to Students or Patients, as slickerdrips advises in the How to Play.
• Build early. A level 1 Building costs 1 Coin and pays out every lap in its quadrant; Rahdo builds the Sufi Lodge on his first turn for steady Favour, and a level 2 Souk early solves money for a long time.
• Play cards for their icons. Dads and Dice suggest that in a first game you play cards for the skill icons you need now rather than freeze trying to meet every goal.
• Money is tight. The Broken Meeple’s review is titled “Enjoy Being Poor!” for a reason. Sell different Goods in port, and spend Favour above the start for Coins before tuition costs you 2 Favour per missing Coin.
• Keep a Step token. The co-designer advises keeping one or two Step tokens to skip a quadrant full of Students and Patients (BGG thread).
• Don’t waste Favour at the top. At +4, spend Favour before you gain more.

Scoring paths

• Boats race to the ports. The best port slots go to whoever arrives first. The co-designer stresses that reaching the high multiplier slots matters more than picking up extra Goods on the way (BGG thread). Dads and Dice score well by buying Boats early and parking them on strong ports.
• Build the Palace with bonus actions. The co-designer suggests getting most Palace pieces from your player board’s row bonuses rather than by stopping at Palace sites. For the 15-point Base, either be sure no rival can pay for it after the last Foundation, or place a tile that triggers two Palace bonuses in one turn (BGG thread).
• Artefacts: different types. Duplicates go face down and score nothing.
• Night cards give direction. Draft a Night card early and steer towards its goal; time your plays so it leaves your board after you meet it, or keep it on your board until the end.
• Level 5 is expensive. Five Coins is a lot: if neither level 5 Building on offer fits your plan, spend elsewhere (co-designer, BGG thread).

Player counts

• Two players use the 1–2 player Palace side, a neutral Boat in each port and neutral Architects; play is more tactical and lower in friction, according to Board Game Buzzz and The Broken Meeple.
• Three players is the sweet spot for The Broken Meeple: a tight board without long waits.
• Four players fight over the same tiles, ports and Palace slots; expect longer turns.

Solo against the Bot

• The Bot pays nothing and ignores tuition, so it moves freely through crowded quadrants. The Broken Meeple finds it punishing above the first level.
• slickerdrips’ Solo Playthrough shows how quickly the Bot deck runs, and how the Bot copies the actions you take most.

Videos and the rulebook

• In Rahdo’s run-through, Palace pieces first appear to need no Bricks; he corrects it on screen. You do need for the Architect (Palace Site Action).
• Kickstarter previews such as Board Game Buzzz’s used prototype rules; where they differ, follow the published rulebook.

Sources

• Baghdad: The City of Peace | How to Play — slickerdrips
• Baghdad: City of Peace ►►► This has proven to me what the greatest mechanism is in board games!! — Rahdo Runs Through
• Baghdad: The City of Peace | Initial Playthrough — Dads and Dice
• Baghdad - Board Game Review - Enjoy Being Poor! — The Broken Meeple
• Baghdad: The City of Peace | Solo Playthrough — slickerdrips
• Baghdad: The City Of Peace - Kickstarter Preview — Board Game Buzzz
• Baghdad: Regeln erklärt (Geniales Mega-Rondel!) | SO WIRD’S GESPIELT! — Brettspiel Teddy
• Co-designer Fabio Lopiano’s answers on the BoardGameGeek Rules forum