CARTA IMPERIA: Rise of Rome

Republic of Rome on a Tiny Epic scale with the diplomatic bite of Queen's Dilemma

Do deals with your rivals to become the most prestigious Senatorial Family in the Roman Republic.  The winner is the Family with the most Prestige + Governorships + Legacy Points at the end of the game.

You can watch a Solo Playthrough here

Delivers in October 2026

Yes, you did read that right.  

If we Fund this campaign, we have everything in place to press the button and Deliver to Backers before Essen Spiel in October 2026.

And we've proved we can do it because we've done it before! 
We funded our last game, Pandora Celeste: Pirates & Salvage in March 2026 and delivered to all Backers who completed their Pledge Manager on time in May 2026.

3 months from Funding to Delivery with transparent updates all the way - no messing, no hanging around.  This is the Guntower Games way.

A semi‑cooperative empire‑building boardgame for 1-6 players where your word is the deadliest weapon of all...

The Fun is in the Tabletalk!

Almost everything in this game is legitimate currency that can be bartered away to gain the support you need: your Legions, your Governorships, even your Prestige Points are simply coins to be traded for advantage in this deadly Game of Laurels.

And you don't even have to wait your turn to do this. You can make deals however and whenever you like.  We've even seen players take a bribe to switch sides at the start of a crucial battle in a Civil War - which happened many times in history! 

There is no downtime in this game, you are constantly engaging with your friends around the table, trying to bend them to your will.

No-one is strong enough to go it alone. Twist arms and persuade your opponents to help drive Rome's expansion...

Horsetrade for the votes you need to steal the best provinces in Elections...

Your Prestige is your political currency and Victory Points. Spend it to influence your rivals, then extort it back in the Courts!

When the dust settles, you realise that while you were scheming, bargaining, and gently backstabbing your way to supremacy… you and your fellow senators had conquered an empire along the way.

Watch this to see what the tabletalk feels like:

And this exchange over a very early prototype highlights how the game works for players who enjoy a more sober style of play.

What's in the Box

PLEDGE REWARD

To keep prices fair and the experience focused, we’ve streamlined our Pledge Tiers to one clear offer with a small set of Add‑Ons for those who want to go deluxe.

As a 'Thank You' to our fans, we will apply a £2 discount in the Pledge Manager to all Backers who helped us Fund Pandora Celeste and its Expansion in the past. We really do appreciate your support.

ADD-ONS

STRETCH GOALS

To stay true to our Pledge Tier, we’ve limited our Stretch Goals to three meaningful quality‑of‑life improvements. They’re not part of the Senator Pledge yet, but we’d love to add them if the campaign gathers enough momentum. 

OK, so how exactly does it play?

CARTA IMPERIA is a compact 4X-style game where players uncover new territory to conquer, then use Action Cards to interact with each other and the board.

1. Place Era Tiles(s) 

Expand the map with new Era Tiles for Rome to conquer. Then reveal an Historical Event for that Era.

2. Select Actions

Each Player secretly selects 2 Action Cards and lays them face down on the table.

3. Reveal Actions in Numerical Order

Each card gives every player an Action, while the player who chose it gains an extra bonus. In an unusual twist for a 4X-style game, some Actions become more expensive when multiple copies are played.

These are the Actions you can play:

                     Card Players can Romanise fully-conquered map tiles

                                    Then All Players Tax their Provinces

                           Bank Prestige into more permanent Auctoritas...

                                 Adopt a new Governor into your Familia...

                                                   or Enact a Reform

                          Then each Card Player must trigger an Election

  Use the Law Courts to steal Prestige from your rivals or Impeach the Primus

                  Command the Armies of Rome and conquer new territory

       This card is unlocked by an end-game reform called the Mules of Marius 

                                               Declare yourself Emperor

                         Use your Prestige as Mobs to take down your rivals

                               Cross the Rubicon and declare a Civil War

                    (or if you don't have the troops) Assassinate the Primus

Download the Rules 

Here is a first draft of the Rules.  They are still very much a Work-in-Progress.  
We’re updating these in line with feedback from our Blind Playtesters and Rules Consultants, and they’ll receive a full Graphic Design Pass as part of that process.

This means that Red Private Legions haven’t yet been updated yet. In the final product, they’ll become White Allied Legions, to make them colourblind-friendly and better reflect how the Roman Army evolved over time.

So please read them with that in mind: this is a rough outline of the rules which has yet to be polished in any way.

Solo & 2-Player Mode

Let's be honest here: this game is designed to be best with 3 or more players.

But we all have times when we can't get 3 people round the table, so we've designed an NPC Automa that simulates the dealmaking process at the heart of this game.

It's not perfect.  It can't replicate the delightful unpredictability of haggling face-to-face with your gaming buddies - but it does provide a crunchy decision-space which enables you to play a challenging game at lower player counts, even if it doesn't have the buzz of getting one over on your mates 😈

Content & Previews

The titles say it all in these brief clips from our recent Playthrough.

Our friends James & Maria give a masterclass in dealmaking as Mike teaches them the game in this Playthrough Demo of the Early Republic short game.

Jason & Tonia of BoardgameNook get into character as they sharpen their knives...

Mike met up with the great guys from Boardgame Bungles at UKGE to show them the game. Spoiler alert - they loved it! 

In the lead-up to UKGE, Mike joined Jay of Bucketlist Boardgamers to dive into the ideas, historical roots and creative sparks that shaped Carta Imperia. Catch the conversation here. 

Phil has fun with the Rise of the Republic in this preview of our prototype.

Shipping

From the Back of the Guntower

Discover more of Guntower Games' creations. You can include any of them as Add‑Ons in this campaign.

Pandora Web & Freezer Promo

As a promo to our Pandora backers, and at no extra cost, we’re including a free Vents Web Token and the fan‑created Freezer Protocol (promo suggested by Martin, card designed by Martijn) with every Carta order from returning Backers. 

These promos will also be available on our website for other Pandora backers once this campaign is over.

Refunds & Cancellation

Who Are We?