#kill caesar

Anyways, Happy Ides of March to everyone except Julius Caesar (“Et tu, Brute?”)

You’re all cordially invited to the stabbing party. Remember everyone. It isn’t just about stabbing. It’s about stabbing together as a group. This group activity will include:

1. Greeting.

2. Stabbing.

3. More stabbing.

…

23. More stabbing.

Choice Main

For weeks, you’d heard whispered conversation among the senators, their words heavy with discontent and conspiracy. Rage was brewing in Rome’s most cherished seats of power. Julius Caesar is a liar, a traitor, and, the worst insult to the Republic, a dictator. It’s time to settle a debt that can only be paid in Julius Caesar’s blood. It’s the Ides of March.

You want to kill Caesar because. . .

You’re a concerned citizen of the Republic

He owes you money

All you need for this game is a way of tracking player progression through six spaces, tokens for the players, a piece of paper for each player with the the numbers -1 to 2 (inclusive) written on it, and a token for each player to place on those numbers. The pictures below show what I used, but you can come up with your own solutions.

Assemble your players. Hand out the knives*. And prepare… To Kill Caesar!

You are a collection of roman senators. You have all come to the unfortunate conclusion that you must kill Caesar. It's not personal, he just has to die. On the plus side, your involvement in this matter may well allow you to rise the ranks, and will ensure a happy future for you. On the other hand, it wouldn't be wise to be the first to strike, and to strike alone. If you land the first blow alone, you will be blamed, and face the consequences. No, far better to be in second place than first.

Each round, every senator picks a number from -1 to 2, secretly. Once each senator has made their choice, everyone reveals their number, and moves that many places on the board. You may not choose the same number twice in a row, and you may not choose to move off the board away from Caesar. Once everyone has finished moving their pieces, the next step is to check if Caesar is dead. Caesar will have died if anyone landed on (or went past) the last step on the board. Caesar died because that senator will have stabbed Caesar at that point. Senators may not choose to reach the last square and not stab Caesar. Senators just can't help themselves.

If Caesar has died, the game ends. If one person reached Caesar on their own, they lose. They killed Caesar and will be blamed, and probably put to death, for their crimes. Everyone else piles Caesar as well, of course, and whoever was next closest wins the game, as they were able to land the first non-incriminating blow. If multiple players were the next closest, all of them win. If two or more players all kill Caesar at the same time, they win. None of them can be held solely accountable, so instead they are put in charge of Rome, for their well thought out plan. I just hope the precedent they set doesn't come back to bite them!

You will notice that both ways senators can win lets multiple senators win at once. This is because this is a team effort, but keep in mind a victory is better when fewer people win. You can gain far more politically if you are the only winner, after all!

If Caesar hasn't died, you need to check that the guards haven't noticed you. If every senator moved the same number of spaces forwards, then the guards will notice you're all acting very suspicious, and will move Caesar to a safe location, preventing you from killing him today. Oh well, better luck next year. (In this scenario, everyone loses)

If every senator chose to move back, then you all have to take this as an unspoken agreement none of you are willing to do the deed, and you all retreat, silently and ashamedly. I guess Caesar will keep ruling for a while longer.

And after you've finished killing (or potentially not killing) Caesar, you can always play again. If you decide to play again, then I guess your first round was just a practice session, and it's now time to do the real thing.

*no real knives necessary