2024 BGG rank #740

The 7th Citadel

1–4 players 5–1000 min Ages 14+ 3.0/5 complexity 6.8/10 rating

About this game

The 7th Citadel is an all-new cooperative exploration and adventure game from the creators of The 7th Continent. In this post-apocalyptic medieval fantasy world, you play as a “slave-gardener” who escapes from the Citadel of Necrodruid Ninidazir’, only to find yourself confronted by an even greater Threat! Explore the Collapsing Lands freely by gradually unveiling the board using numbered terrain and event cards. Interact with your environment, converse with its inhabitants, and build a city that will signal the renewal of this desolate world.... As the scenarios unfold, your choices, for better or worse, will lead you inexorably to the epic finale against the Threat!

What it feels like

Hand Management Cooperative Game Grid Movement Modular Board Solo / Solitaire Game Narrative Choice / Paragraph Scenario / Mission / Campaign Game Adventure Exploration Fantasy Card Game Post-Apocalyptic Medieval Fantasy

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Game intelligence

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Setup

1. Choose a scenario and set up the Adventure Deck according to scenario instructions, ensuring green Adventure cards are placed before gold Adventure cards of the same number, and among same-color cards, lower-priority variants are placed after higher-priority ones.\n2. Each player selects a character and takes their corresponding components.\n3. Place Terrain cards and other components as directed by the scenario setup.\n4. Refer to the Threat Booklets and Dialogue Book only when the game explicitly instructs you to do so.\n5. Determine the starting active player and begin the first turn.

Turn flow

Each turn follows four steps:\n1. CHOOSE ACTIVE PLAYER & ACTION: One player is designated the active player and selects an action to take.\n2. CHECK FOR INVOLVED CHARACTERS: For mandatory actions (marked with a mandatory icon), ALL characters on the active player's Terrain card MUST get involved. For optional actions, characters on the active player's Terrain card MAY choose to get involved.\n3. RESOLVE THE ACTION, which has four sub-phases:\n A. GEAR UP – The active player selects equipment (gear) cards from among their cards, choosing which effects (some or all) to apply. Multiple gear cards with the same KEYWORD may not be selected. If a mandatory gear icon appears on one of the active player's gear cards or on a card in play, that card MUST be selected and its effects applied.\n B. DRAW – Determine the cost (default number of cards to draw) of the action, then draw Action cards. The active player may choose to draw MORE cards than the default cost shown. A card limit icon restricts only how many successes may be counted, not how many cards may be drawn or how many class icons may be tallied.\n C. RESULT – Reveal the drawn cards; count successes; apply effects of selected gear cards, hand cards, Quest cards, etc.; check total successes against the action's difficulty. Resource/damage/effect icons on gear cards are only counted when those cards are revealed from the active player's Action Deck during this step.\n D. CONSEQUENCE – Apply the consequences of the action. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, consequences apply ONLY to the active player.\n4. START A NEW TURN.

Scoring and victory

Scenario-based: players win or lose based on completing or failing scenario objectives, not a points total. Target score: Complete the scenario's primary objective before failing conditions are met. Scoring sources: Scenario objective completion, Quest card resolution

Source: Rulebook

Rules to know

The most useful rules for getting a first game right.

General

Card text and dialogue override the rulebook.

Card text and the Dialogue Book override this rulebook. When in doubt about a rule or in-game effect, interpret it in the most logical way, or, if you cannot resolve it, interpret it in the way most favorable to the players.

General

You may not look at card contents, Threat Booklets, or Dialogue Book unless invited to do so.

Players may not look at the contents of cards (face-down), Threat Booklets, or the Dialogue Book until the game explicitly instructs them to do so. This preserves hidden information and narrative surprise.

Setup

Green Adventure cards must be placed before gold Adventure cards of the same number in the Adventure Deck.

When storing and sorting the Adventure Deck, green Adventure cards must always be placed before (on top of / in front of) any gold Adventure cards bearing the same number. Among cards of the same color and number, variant cards marked with a lower-priority icon must be placed after higher-priority variant cards of the same number.

General

Scenario-linked Adventure cards (with a scenario icon) must be taken over others if the pictograph matches your current scenario or a card you possess.

Any Adventure card whose numbox (on its back) is associated with a scenario-link icon is tied to a specific scenario or card. If the pictograph inside that icon matches the scenario you are playing, or matches a pictograph visible on another card you possess, you MUST take that scenario-linked card instead of any other card with the same number. If no match exists, you may not take that card and must instead take another card bearing the same number with the standard shape.

Restriction

A player may only take a gold Adventure card if no green Adventure card with the same number is available in the Adventure Deck.

When a player would take an Adventure card from the deck, they may only take a gold-bordered Adventure card if there are no available green-bordered Adventure cards bearing the same number currently in the Adventure Deck. Green cards always take priority over gold cards of the same number.

Restriction

A player may not voluntarily discard a Quest card, nor give it to another player.

Quest cards (marked with the relevant icon) are binding. A player may not decide on their own to discard a Quest card. Additionally, Quest cards may not be given to another player.

Special

When giving an item card to another character on the same Terrain card, one of them must perform an action costing X, where X equals the item's weight.

When a character gives an item card to another character who is on the same Terrain card, one of the two involved characters must perform an action (such as an effort or movement action) whose cost is equal to the weight value of the item being transferred. This represents the physical effort of passing the item.

Turn structure

At the start of each turn, choose the active player and the action to be taken.

At the start of every turn, the group chooses which player will be the active player for that turn, and which action that player will take. The active player is the one who leads the resolution of the chosen action.

Strategy briefing

Drawing Extra Cards for Class Icons

Because the card-limit icon only restricts how many successes you may count — not how many cards you draw or how many class icons you tally — drawing extra cards beyond the default cost is often worthwhile when you need class icons for special effects, even if the additional successes won't count toward the difficulty check.

Managing KEYWORD Conflicts in Gear Up

Since you cannot select multiple gear cards with the same KEYWORD during Gear Up, and mandatory gear cards must be selected, plan your gear loadout to avoid KEYWORD conflicts. A mandatory gear card effectively 'blocks' that KEYWORD slot, so avoid carrying redundant KEYWORD gear cards.

Consequence Mitigation Through Active Player Choice

Because action consequences apply only to the active player (unless stated otherwise), deliberately choosing which character acts as the active player — especially during mandatory actions — allows the group to direct consequences toward the character best able to absorb them (e.g., higher health or relevant resistances).

Prioritizing Scenario-Linked Adventure Cards

Always check your current scenario pictograph and any pictographs on cards you possess before drawing from the Adventure Deck. Missing a mandatory scenario-linked card could mean taking a suboptimal or incorrect card, potentially bypassing crucial narrative content or bonuses.

Event Card Awareness and Action Planning

When an event card hits play, it permanently blocks one action type on that Terrain card until resolved. Always check the placement arrow on active events before declaring your action for the turn to avoid wasting a turn on a forbidden action.

Gear Card Result Icons Are Conditional

Don't assume a gear card's result-area icons will always fire. They only trigger if the card is revealed from your Action Deck during the Result step. This makes heavy reliance on result-area gear effects inherently probabilistic — build redundancy where possible.

Common questions and edge cases

An action has a card-limit icon showing '2'. Can I draw 4 cards and count successes on all 4?

You may draw 4 cards (or more), but you may only count the successes from 2 of them toward the action's difficulty check. However, class icons on ALL drawn cards (including the extra ones) may still be counted. The card-limit icon restricts success counting only.

I selected a gear card during Gear Up that has a damage icon in its result area. Does the damage apply because I selected it?

No. Result-area icons (damage, resources, penalties, etc.) on gear cards are ONLY triggered if that card is physically revealed from your Action Deck during the Result step. Merely selecting the card during Gear Up does not activate those icons.

A mandatory action forced all three characters on my Terrain card to get involved. One character was chosen as the active player. Do all three suffer the action's consequence?

No. Unless the card or rule text explicitly states otherwise, the consequence of the action applies ONLY to the active player, even if other characters were involved in the action.

An event card is in play on my Terrain card. Its placement arrow shows a movement action icon. Can I still perform movement actions on that Terrain card?

No. While the event card remains in play, the action shown in its placement arrow (movement, in this case) cannot be taken again from the Terrain card the event is attached to. You must remove or resolve the event first.

I need to take Adventure card #15. There is a green #15, a gold #15, and a scenario-linked #15 in the deck. The scenario-link icon matches my current scenario. Which do I take?

You MUST take the scenario-linked #15 card because its pictograph matches your current scenario. The scenario-linked card takes priority over both the green and gold variants when a match is found.

I have a mandatory gear card with KEYWORD 'Shield', and I also want to select another gear card with KEYWORD 'Shield'. Can I?

No. Even though the mandatory gear card must be selected and its effects applied, you still cannot select a second gear card bearing the same KEYWORD 'Shield'. The mandatory gear card counts as your one selection for that KEYWORD.

My character wants to give an item with weight 3 to another character on the same Terrain card. What must happen?

One of the two characters involved in the transfer must perform an action costing 3 (equal to the item's weight of 3). Only then can the item card be given to the other character.

A card's text tells me to do something that seems to contradict the rulebook. Which do I follow?

Always follow the card text. Card text and dialogue override the rulebook in all cases. If the effect is still unclear, interpret it in the most logical way or, if unresolvable, in the way most favorable to the players.