Learn Trajan
Learn the game in 5 short steps. Everything links to the full rules.
Welcome to Trajan
Rome, 110 AD, under the Emperor Trajan. You are a patrician winning prestige at the seaport, in the forum, the army, the senate, the building sites and Trajan’s own favour — while keeping the people fed and entertained.
The most victory points after 4 quarter years wins. Your actions come from a small mancala of coloured markers on your own mat.
2–4 players, 60–120 minutes. Ready to set up? Open the setup checklist — it adapts to your player count.
The action circle
Six trays, one action each. On your turn, pick up all markers of one tray and drop them one per tray, clockwise. The tray of the last marker is your action. If the Trajan tile beside it shows two colours now both in that tray, you score it too.
The number of markers you picked up moves the shared time marker. The full rules.
Six actions
Seaport — draw commodity cards, display them or ship sets for points.
Forum — take a demand, senate, wild or extra action tile.
Military — recruit, march your leader, occupy provinces for points.
Trajan — take a Trajan tile for your circle.
Senate — climb the senate for points and votes.
Construction — hire workers and build for tiles and sets.
Rounds and quarters
One lap of the time marker is a round; at its end a demand tile — bread, games or religion — is revealed. After the fourth round the quarter year ends:
- every player meets the three demands with forum tiles or Trajan demand tiles, or loses 4 / 9 / 15;
- the senate names a consul and a vice consul, who take bonus tiles;
- the forum and provinces are refilled.
The end
After the fourth quarter, add 1 point per card in hand, worker and legionnaire in the camps and Trajan tile on your circle; 10 or 20 per set of 3 or 4 construction tiles of one type; and your bonus tiles.
Most points wins; a tie goes to the higher senate position. Final scoring.