Foundations of Rome

The setup begins by placing the central city board in the middle of the table, flanked by the market board and curia board. Each player selects a color, taking their corresponding player board, building miniatures, and ownership tokens. One ownership token is placed on the victory point tracker and population tracker per player. Randomly choose a first player who starts with five coins, with subsequent players receiving progressively more coins. Lot cards are prepared according to player count by removing specific color-coded cards for lower player counts. Shuffle the remaining lot cards, deal six to each player, and have them place ownership tokens on corresponding city spaces. The remaining lot cards are divided into three equal piles for the three rounds, with six cards revealed in the market's for-sale area.

Foundations of Rome is a competitive city-planning game where 2 to 4 players vie for glory points over three rounds, representing ten years of history in Rome. Players act as architects and urban planners, purchasing lots and constructing monumental buildings to outshine their opponents and become the most influential citizen in the empire.

Gameplay occurs over three rounds, with players taking turns clockwise starting from the first player. On a turn, a player may choose one of three actions: take income, buy a lot from the auction, or build or upgrade a building. Taking income allows a player to petition Romulus for five coins plus one for each coin symbol on buildings they control. Buying a lot lets players purchase an available card from the market and place an ownership token on the corresponding city board space. Constructing a building allows players to place a miniature from their supply onto adjacent owned lots matching the building's size, after which ownership tokens are returned to supply. Players can also upgrade existing buildings with larger structures for zero coins.

At the end of each round, players undergo citizen scoring, civic building bonuses, and coin collection. Citizen scoring involves counting population symbols on buildings and moving markers on the population and victory point trackers, with bonuses awarded to the players with the most citizens. Civic building bonuses grant glory points based on adjacent building types. Finally, players collect coins or glory points depending on the round phase.

The game concludes after three full rounds. Following the final round's scoring steps, players tally victory points for each commercial building constructed and one glory point for each remaining ownership token on the city board. The player with the highest total glory points is crowned leader of the new senate and wins the game.