Ides of March

🗡What is Ides of March?

"Brutus is just as cute as Caesar, right? Brutus is just as smart as Caesar, people totally like Brutus just as much as they like Caesar, and when did it become okay for one person to be the boss of everybody because that's not what Rome is about! We should totally just STAB CAESAR!"   - Gretchen Wieners, Mean Girls (2004)

Ides of March is a large multiplayer game for 6 - 12 players, with an included expansion making the game suitable for up to 24 players.

The game is themed after the conspiracy to assassinate Julius Caesar, a historical event so world-shattering it led to the fall of the Roman Republic, the creation of an iconic Shakespeare play, and this game (all equally significant moments in culture).

The rules are simple, the mechanics are unique, and you'll want to play again and again!

🩸How do I play?

Each player will get a card, representing the Roman senator they are and including the factions they are aligned with: either Brutus, Cassius, or Caesar. Each player has two factions they can choose from, with between 2-6 points of influence.

During the game, players will pair up and sneak off to discuss their strategy - based on how much sway you have with one faction over another, you can try to recruit another senator over to your side to gain power, or decieve another senator to vote the way you want. You may lie, scheme, and cheat your way to winning!

After between 4-5 rounds of conspiring (depending on player count), the senators will return, chosen allegiances at the ready. Influence is revealed one by one as a nail-biting race ensues to see if the faction you have chosen will win.

There's a catch - it's more than just how much influence you can provide. If any conspirator on the side of Brutus or Cassius reveals a dagger, it's over for Caesar, no matter how much support he's gained. However, if someone on Caesar's side reveals a shield, they are protected against any daggers and can still succeed! Shields and daggers don't count towards influence, so choose wisely.

This game is a 5 minute teach and, depending on how talkative your team of senators are, between 10 and 15 minutes to play.

Check out our video above for more detail!

📜No really, what is the 'Ides of March'?

Our game is named for the date the conspiracy culminated in the mass stabbing of Julius Caesar. The mythology surrounding this date, the 15th of March, 44 BCE (known as the Idus or Ides due to Roman calender convention at the time) is iconic. An estimated 60 conspirators were involved of the 333 Roman senators, although not all of their names and allegiances are known. 

According to an account by the philosopher and historian Plutarch, Caesar was warned by a seer that harm would come to him on the Ides of March. Plutarch recounts that Caesar mocked the seer for what he believed was a false prophecy on the way to his death at the Theatre of Pompey on that fateful day.

This account is further mythologised in the Shakespeare play, Julius Caesar, where the line "Beware the Ides of March" is spoken by a soothsayer to the titular Caesar. Some artistic recreations of the event or surrounding conspiracy are used in our game, under fair use and public license.

There's so much to say about the assassination of Caesar that we can't fit it all in here! We will be including in the rulebook a recount of the history, main players, and an interpretation of related artworks. Actual members of the senate and their various allegiances are included in the game, with an accompanying explanation of why we chose to include them. We hope you might learn something new from us!

👑What will I get?

Just a copy/copies of the game itself. We are streamlining the creation and fulfilment of this game. This means we don't have any add-ons, making sure your copy will arrive faster and making the process simpler for us and for you. This also means we can charge everyone a flat shipping rate, rather than needing to change shipping costs depending on what add-ons you choose!

If you do want to support us more by grabbing merchandise, we have lots of cute and unique merch available via our website!

Our reward tiers...

🗡Ides of March | $25

Late pledge | $30

🗡🗡Et-TWO Brute? | $45

Late pledge | $50

🗡🩸👑Bulk Discount for Retailers | $350

RRP $32 AUD - $768 value! For retailers in Australia and New Zealand only. Retailers elsewhere - please contact us!

🐀About Us

One Thousand Rats is a partnership based in Meanjin (Brisbane), Australia. We previously successfully funded our debut game, Curses & Covens, via Kickstarter. The game has since become a critically acclaimed indie darling and international success, and we've been so excited to bring you a new game since fulfilling our last Kickstarter.

We operate by four core design principles that we hope you appreciate!

💖Cosy💖

Our aim is to create unique games that bring people together! Games that the whole family can play. We are huge proponents of odd-ball themes and hope to evoke novel play experiences around the table. 

✨Pretty✨

Games that look good. We want to make games that you can give as a gift to a friend or coworker; games that look good on the shelf as well as on the table. We belive in human artistry and attention to detail. 

🌱Ethical🌱

Small box sizes, and paper and wood over plastic. One Thousand Rats is committed to fair pay for workers and quality products that you will be able to play again and again and again.

🐁Charming🐁

Games made by hand, tested locally, a little imperfect and all the more beautiful for it. We want to bring you a game meant to be played over and over again, thrown around, dog-eared, coffee-stained, and loved.

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