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Free game guide · TABLE Method™

Citadels

Choosing an identity, round after round · Stage 4

Buy the guide, $7 See the TABLE plan

Citadels TABLE Method™ Game Guide cover

What the game is

Players build medieval cities. Each round, everyone secretly chooses a character with a special power, from the Assassin to the Architect. Over a game, each player builds up a visible pattern of choices.

Why it works at a table

Citadels asks players to take on a different character each round, some of which target others. Repeated character choices can provide opportunities to notice preferences, experiment with unfamiliar roles, and reflect on decisions without assuming that game behavior reveals anyone's personality. The book uses it as the anchor game for its chapter on who we are when no one is watching.

Try one variation

Choose a gentler cast (official variant, in the official rules). The 2016 rulebook lets you choose which character fills each rank. For a lower-conflict table, start with the official first-game set and consider replacing the Assassin with the Magistrate and the Warlord with the Diplomat. Keep one legal character per required rank and follow all player-count restrictions. These changes alter the kind of conflict; they do not remove it.

  • Targets: Lower conflict
  • Suits: Host settings and first sessions
  • Watch for: Removing all tension. Some interaction keeps the game alive.
  • Debrief prompt: “How did the character set shape the mood?”

The TABLE Method™, applied

A short excerpt from the full guide's TABLE plan. Anyone can pass, pause, or stop at any time.

  1. Target

    Notice patterns of character choice and how players respond to trying unfamiliar roles, without interpreting those choices for anyone.

  2. Assess

    Check the player count, the time, and whether the game serves today's goal.

    • Is the facilitator's scope right for deeper debrief? The book says rung four and beyond needs coach scope at minimum.

  3. Build

    • Use the rulebook's recommended first-game character set.
    • Say before play that characters are game roles, not statements about people.

  4. Lead

    • Call characters in order in an even, neutral voice.
    • Describe hits by character, not by person (“the Thief took the Merchant's gold”).

  5. Extract and Extend

    Debrief in order: Board, Self, Us, Life or Work, Extension. Ask what participants make of the game. Do not tell them.

Game not included; play by the rulebook in your box. In the BGT book: Introduction, Chapter 8 (Who Are You When No One Is Watching?) anchor game, Appendix C (Stage 4; rung four and beyond needs coach scope at minimum), Appendix E, and Appendix F (twelve-week weeks 7 to 8). Independent companion. Not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Z-Man Games. Citadels is a trademark of its owner and is named only to identify the game. Board Game Therapy is not inherently psychotherapy. Copyright 2026 Solid State Strategies, LLC.

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