You are a lanista, a gladiator school manager and trainer, aiming to become the most prestigious of Rome.
The game turn plays in four phases: Recruitment, during which you buy gladiator slaves from the market; Contract Negotiation, during which you try to place your gladiators in spectacles; Combat, during which you have your gladiators fight each other; and Healing and Resting, during which prestige may be earned from happy accidents.
The game is based on extensive historical research. The gladiator names are authentic, as well as the equipment sets and pairings.
Recruitment: On the market are gladiators. Each has a cost in gold and an equipment set (provocator, thrace, retiary, etc.). Some have special abilities.
Contract Negotiations: Various cities have gladiatorial games for tender. They rake in a certain amount of money and fame but require specific gladiator teams.
Combat: Each lanista organizes one or more fights between their own gladiators. Random draws determine the outcomes. Players can manipulate the odds in various ways.
Healing & Resting: If a gladiator physical integrity is compromised, he must be healed...or there can be an accident that yields prestige.
Random draws use a bag loaded with tokens of various colours. Players manipulate the token counts to influence the odds. This matches electoral systems used in Antiquity.
Lanista is accessible and educational; it will please newbies and grognards, be they inclined to compete or to manage.