Set in ancient Rome, Trajan is a development game in which players try to increase their influence and power in various areas of Roman life such as political influence, trading, military dominion and other important parts of Roman culture.

The central mechanism of the game uses a system similar to that in Mancala or pit-and-pebbles games. In Trajan, a player has six possible actions: building, trading, taking tiles from the forum, using the military, influencing the Senate, and placing Trajan tiles on his tableau.

At the start of the game, each player has two differently colored pieces in each of the six sections (bowls) of his tableau. On a turn, the player picks up all the pieces in one bowl and distributes them one-by-one in bowls in a clockwise order. Wherever the final piece is placed, the player takes the action associated with that bowl; in addition, if the colored pieces in that bowl match the colors shown on a Trajan tile next to the bowl (with tiles being placed at the start of the game and through later actions), then the player takes the additional action shown on that tile.

What are you trying to do with these actions? Acquire victory points (VPs) in whatever ways are available to you – and since this is a Feld design, you try to avoid being punished, too. At the Forum you try to anticipate the demands of the public so that you can supply them what they want and not suffer a penalty. In the Senate you acquire influence which translates into votes on VP-related laws, ideally snagging a law that fits your long-term plans. With the military, you take control of regions in Europe, earning more points for those regions far from Rome.

All game components are language neutral, and the playing time is 30 minutes per player.

The Dice Cup Shipping, Delivery & Collection Terms: 

We post to the UK only.  We also offer collection from the store.

We aim to post all orders received before 12 noon on the following day.

New releases will be shipped, at latest, one day after we have received them into our stock.

During the run up to Christmas and during other busy periods (including when we have a sale) there may be short delays in dispatching goods due to the volume of orders.

Games are sent by Royal Mail or DPD Local Courier for heavier orders.

All orders over 2 Kilos will be sent by DPD. DPD is a next working day delivery service (i.e. Monday to Friday). The charge is based on the rate for the weight of the games. We will confirm that the games have been shipped by email.

In most cases deliveries should arrive one working day after the order is placed (during the Christmas period deliveries may take longer to arrive). If there are postal strikes or severe weather these times can be significantly longer. We reserve the right to substitute one mail service for another if it is equivalent and will result in the games being delivered faster than by Royal Mail. Please note that all orders for large quantities of games will ship by courier.

The collection option is only available for those that are able to come to the store during our opening hours.

Please check Facebook for what these are as they will change as Covid restrictions change. Currently we are open AT LEAST from 11am-6pm each day. Please bring some ID as well as proof of purchase when picking up your games.

We reserve the right to change the method of shipment and there may be a surcharge if the actual delivery cost is great than the amount charged.