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We're opening a limited Google Play beta for players who already own the game on Steam! If you purchased the game on Steam, you can receive free access to the Android version through Google Play.The mobile version is normally a paid app, but verified Steam owners will be able to install it at no additional cost.
Fill out the Google Form.
Enter the Google account email(s) that will be used on Google Play.
Upload proof that you own the game on Steam (purchase receipt or a screenshot of your Steam library).
Wait for your submission to be reviewed.
Once approved, the provided Google Play account(s) will be added to the testing program, allowing you to install the game for free from Google Play.
Beta access is limited. We only have a limited number of testing spots available, so applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. 👉 Apply here: Google Play Beta Registration Form Thank you for supporting the game! We look forward to your feedback and hope you enjoy playing on Android.
The wait is almost over! Tomorrow, Citadels officially unlocks. Before the gates open, here is a complete preview of the game modes, roles, and multiplayer features waiting for you on day one!
Classic Mode
Pure tactics, bluffing, and intrigue!
Draft Phase: Roll the dice each round to determine pick order, then secretly select roles ranging from the Spy and Inquisitor to the Guildmaster and Diplomat.
Gameplay: Construct magnificent districts, hoard gold, anticipate your opponents' moves, and claim the Crown!
Shadow Fight Mode A dark-fantasy twist with new game dynamics!
Exclusive Roles: Replaces key standard roles with powerful new figures like the Shadow Lord and the Archivist.
High Intensity: Accelerated resource stealing and sharper turn tactics.
Steam P2P Lobby: Create public or private lobbies with a single click and invite your Steam friends effortlessly!
LAN Play: Discover local network lobbies automatically via UDP discovery.
Tactical AI: Fill empty seats with bots across multiple difficulty levels (Easy / Normal / Hard).
Smart Strategy: AI bots analyze board state, manage resources efficiently, and draft roles strategically.
Add Citadels to your Wishlist now and be ready when we launch tomorrow!
Online multiplayer now includes built-in voice and text chat, making every match more social, strategic, and delightfully suspicious.
Coordinate with allies, negotiate temporary truces, accuse your rivals, or simply enjoy the chaos together-all without leaving the game.
Built-in voice chat for online matches
Text chat in the Global Lobby
Adjustable microphone volume
Individual player mute controls
Open the Global Lobby to use text chat and join an online game.
Voice chat controls become available during multiplayer sessions.
To configure your microphone, go to:
Settings → Audio → Microphone Volume
You can also test your microphone there before joining a match.
Choose your words carefully. In Citadels, today’s trusted ally may become tomorrow’s assassin.
What's New in These Screenshots:
Interactive Rulebook:Detailed breakdowns of all 8 character roles and their unique powers.
District Catalog: Clear info on building costs, colors, and bonus victory points.
Quick Reference Guide: Instant access to turn rules, scoring systems, and special actions right during your match.
Take a look at the screenshots attached above to see how clean and accessible the game's guide interface looks! Thank you all for your continuous support! Don't forget to Wishlist and Follow Citadels - Shadow City on Steam to stay updated on our upcoming reeases and beta tests. See you in the Shadow City.
It will be built on timing, careful choices-and the occasional perfectly delivered lie. In Citadels: Shadow City, every round gives you a new identity. Your opponents may know what you need, but they should never be certain which role you chose or what you plan to do next. Here are a few tips to help you survive your first match.
Your goal is to complete a city of eight districts, but speed is only part of the strategy. Each district scores points equal to its building cost. You can also earn:
+3 points for building at least one district from all five categories.
+4 points for being the first player to complete an eight-district city.
+2 points if you also complete your city before the match ends.
A city filled with cheap buildings may finish quickly, but a smaller collection of valuable districts can still become a serious scoring threat. Watch the scoreboard-not just the district count.
At the beginning of your turn, you choose between:
Taking 2 gold.
Drawing 2 district cards and keeping one.
New players often take gold automatically. That works until their hand contains nothing useful to build. Take cards when your hand lacks affordable options or when you are searching for another district category. Take gold when you already know exactly what you want to construct. You may normally build only one district per turn, so plan one strong move instead of collecting resources without a purpose.
Roles are chosen again each round and act in numerical order. This makes every draft a small game of prediction. Ask yourself:
Which role gives me the best turn?
Which role does my opponent desperately need?
What will everyone expect me to choose?
Sometimes the best pick is not the strongest role—it is the one nobody can safely predict. If you repeatedly choose the same character, the Spy and Inquisitor will notice.
Some characters are especially comfortable while you are learning: Smuggler A straightforward economic choice. Taking gold also brings an additional 2 gold, giving you the resources for an early expensive district. Ambassador Protects your built districts from destruction and theft. Religious districts also generate extra income, making the Ambassador excellent when your city is already attracting attention. Chancellor Draws three cards and keeps one, while Trade districts provide extra gold. Choose the Chancellor when your hand needs better options—or when securing the Crown matters. Once you understand the table, experiment with more aggressive roles: Spy Predict a character correctly and steal all of that character’s gold when their turn begins. Target the role, not the player. Inquisitor Choose a role and disable its ability for the round. A well-timed ban can ruin an opponent’s entire plan. Diplomat Can tear down an opponent’s district by paying its cost minus one. Completed cities are safe, so do not wait too long to strike.
Military, Trade, Science, Religious, and Special districts are more than scoring categories. Several roles earn gold from matching districts. A city with many Trade districts makes the Chancellor stronger. Religious districts reward the Ambassador. Military districts support the Inquisitor. Your buildings influence which roles become valuable to you—and make your next pick easier for opponents to predict. Diversify for the five-category bonus, but keep enough synergy to fund your city.
A player holding a large treasury is telling the table something. They may be preparing an expensive build. They may become the Spy’s next victim. Or they may pick a defensive role because they expect trouble. Before choosing your character, check:
Who has the most gold?
Who is one district away from completing their city?
Whose district colors strongly suggest a particular role?
Who has been choosing the same role repeatedly?
The board reveals intentions-even when players do not.
At seven districts, every action becomes suspicious. Your opponents may block your ability, steal your gold, or destroy a district before you can finish. Keep multiple affordable cards in hand and avoid relying on a single perfect plan. A flexible player is much harder to stop than a rich but predictable one.
Your first match will teach you the rules. Your second will teach you the roles. By the third, you will realize that the most dangerous resource in Citadels: Shadow City is not gold. It is certainty. Build your city. Hide your intentions. Trust no role at the table.
We're excited to announce that the Citadels - Shadow City Demo is now available on Steam!
Download it for free and get your first look at the game's world, mechanics, and atmosphere before the full release.
In the demo you can:
Explore the opening part of the game.
Learn the core gameplay mechanics.
Experience the unique atmosphere of Shadow City.
Your feedback is incredibly valuable to us. If you enjoy the demo, please consider leaving your thoughts and adding the full game to your Steam Wishlist—it helps us a lot and lets you know as soon as the game launches.
Thank you for your support, and have fun exploring Shadow City!
Balancing a card game is never just about numbers. In Citadels - Shadow City, every card needs to do two things at once: feel exciting when you play it, and still leave room for your friends to answer back. If a card is too weak, nobody remembers it. If it is too strong, everyone remembers it for the wrong reason. Our district deck is built around five categories: Military, Trade, Science, Religious, and Special. Each one pushes the player toward a slightly different rhythm. Some cards are simple, efficient buildings. Others bend the rules: protecting a district, stealing gold, drawing extra cards, doubling a role bonus, or helping complete the five-color scoring bonus. The tricky part is making sure “special” does not become “always correct.” A card like Dragon Nest can create a huge swing by giving extra cards. Secret Passage protects a key district. Necropolis can change the cost of a build entirely. These cards are meant to feel powerful, but they also need to create decisions: do you build them now, save gold, race toward eight districts, or wait for the right role? Roles are balanced in the same way. The Spy can threaten another character’s gold. The Inquisitor can shut down a role ability. The Chancellor improves your hand. The Diplomat can punish a greedy city. The goal is not perfect safety. The goal is tension. A good round should make you ask: “Do I build now?” “Will someone steal from me?” “Can I finish before they stop me?” “Is this card worth revealing my plan?” That is the heart of Shadow City for us: a table full of small plans, sudden betrayals, and one very suspicious friend saying, “Trust me.” We are continuing to tune cards, roles, and pacing based on real games with groups of different sizes. The best balance feedback usually comes from the loudest moments: the comeback nobody expected, the card everyone argued about, or the turn that made the whole table laugh. More behind-the-scenes posts are coming soon.
Every city has a voice.
In Citadels - Shadow City, sound is part of how the table breathes. We are building the atmosphere around small, readable moments: cards sliding into your hand, dice hitting the table, gold being collected, pages turning, districts rising, and quiet menu clicks that keep the game feeling physical.
Matches now use separate layers for background music and sound effects, so important actions can be heard without cutting off the mood. When you draw cards, roll dice, collect gold, open role selection, or build a district, the sound is meant to support the rhythm of the round rather than interrupt it.
We are also giving characters more presence. Role turns can be announced with their own audio cues, and certain targeted abilities have separate alerts. If the Spy, Inquisitor, Diplomat, or Shadow Lord turns their attention toward you, the game should make that moment feel personal.
The intro story has its own atmospheric track and voiced beats as well. Background music lowers while dialogue plays, then returns, helping the story remain clear while keeping the dark fantasy mood intact.
On the visual side, the soundscape is paired with moving clouds, flickering lights, fire, dust, wind, water ripples, and lightning across the main scenes. Our goal is simple: before the first card is played, Shadow City should already feel alive.
Thanks for following development. More glimpses from the city are coming soon.
We are constantly working to bring you the most immersive and authentic tabletop experience possible. As we approach release, we’ve been polishing the fine details and are thrilled to announce two major quality-of-life updates that will completely change how you play! 🎙️ In-Game Voice Chat Diplomacy, deception, and negotiation are the heart of our game. You no longer need to rely on third-party apps or text chat to argue over who the Assassin is targeting! We have fully integrated real-time Voice Chat directly into the game.
Communicate seamlessly with your lobby.
Form secret alliances or bluff your way to victory.
Bring the true "game night" tabletop atmosphere directly to your screen.
🎮 Native Gamepad Support Want to play from the comfort of your couch? We’ve completely rebuilt our controller mechanics from the ground up!
True Native Navigation: Move smoothly between menus, cards, and districts using the D-Pad or Left Stick.
Universal Compatibility: Whether you use an Xbox, DualSense (PlayStation), or Nintendo Switch Pro controller, the game will recognize it natively out of the box—no complicated Steam Input setups required!
Smart UI: The game now automatically detects when you pick up a controller, seamlessly switching focus modes to ensure you always know what action you're about to take.
These additions make the game more accessible, social, and ready for late-night gaming sessions. Grab your controller, plug in your mic, and prepare to build the greatest city!
See you in the game!
In every game of Citadels - Shadow City, luck opens possibilities, but strategy decides what you do with them.
Yes, cards are drawn from a deck. Yes, roles are hidden. Yes, sometimes the perfect district appears at exactly the right moment. But the heart of Citadels - Shadow City has never been random chance alone. The real game is about reading the table, predicting your opponents, and choosing the right risk before anyone else does.
Each round asks a different question.
Do you pick a role that strengthens your economy, or one that disrupts another player's plan? Do you take gold now, or draw for a stronger future turn? Do you build safely, or reveal your direction too early and become the next target?
That is where Citadels - Shadow City becomes more than a card game. It becomes a game of timing, bluffing, and control.
A strong player is not the one who simply gets lucky. A strong player is the one who:
reads which roles are likely still in play
notices who is short on gold, cards, or tempo
builds a city with a plan instead of reacting turn by turn
knows when to stay unpredictable
turns small advantages into a winning final round
Luck still matters, and that is part of what keeps every match fresh. But luck in Citadels - Shadow City is a spark, not the whole fire. Over time, better decisions win more often.
That is exactly why we love this design, and why it works so well on PC. Quick rematches, multiplayer mind games, and the tension of hidden intentions make every session feel like a battle of wits as much as a race to build.
So what do you think? Is Citadels - Shadow City more about luck, or more about strategy?
We would love to hear how you approach role picks, bluffing, and city building in your own games.
Every round in Citadels - Shadow City, you pick a secret role - and nobody knows who you've become until it's too late.
Each character brings a unique ability that can swing the game in your favor. But choose carefully: every role you take is a role someone else can't have. And every ability has a counter.Let's break down who's who in Shadow City.
💡 Pro Tip: Watch what districts your opponents are building. If someone has 3 Trade districts, chances are they'll pick the Chancellor for the tax bonus. Steal accordingly.
💡 Pro Tip: Block the Diplomat when someone's close to finishing their city. Block the Spy when you're sitting on a pile of gold. Timing is everything.
💡 Pro Tip: Take the Smuggler early in the game to build up your economy, then pivot to more aggressive roles in later rounds when you need to strike.
💡 Pro Tip: The Chancellor shines in the mid-game when your Trade engine is running. More yellow districts = more passive income every time you pick this role.
💡 Pro Tip: Pick the Ambassador when you're the leader or when you suspect the Diplomat is in play. Your districts become untouchable — and your blue district income stacks up fast.
💡 Pro Tip: Best when your hand is full of cheap cards you don't need. The discard is random, so there's risk — but 2 gold plus Science taxes can be a massive swing.
💡 Pro Tip: Pair the Alchemist with expensive districts. That 1-gold refund matters most when you're building 4-5 cost buildings and need every coin.
💡 Pro Tip: Target high-cost districts to maximize the damage. Destroying a 6-cost building for 5 gold cripples an opponent's score and slows their progress dramatically.
Going first (Spy, Inquisitor) = you act before others can react
Going in the middle (Smuggler, Chancellor, Ambassador) = strong economy and card advantage
Going last (Guildmaster, Alchemist, Diplomat) = powerful build synergies and disruption
Read the table — if someone's been building Military districts all game, they probably want the Inquisitor bonus
Bluff — sometimes picking the "wrong" role is the best play to dodge the Spy
Welcome to the treacherous streets of Shadow City, where power shifts as quickly as the wind! If you’ve ever wondered why no two matches of Citadels - Shadow City ever play out the same way, the secret lies in the heart of our gameplay: hidden roles and dynamic city-building.
Unique Synergies: Some districts provide bonus gold or points when paired with specific roles (like the Diplomat or Guildmaster).
Special Abilities: Unique districts can completely break the rules of the game, offering you passive income, protection, or the ability to sabotage your rivals.
Greetings, future rulers!
As we've mentioned before, your ultimate objective in our game is to build the most magnificent medieval city and outscore your rivals. But what exactly does that mean in terms of gameplay? Let's break it down!
Building Your City
Your city consists of district cards. To build a district, you must pay its cost in gold coins from your stash. You can only build one district per turn, so managing your income and making smart investments is crucial.
The Race to 8 Districts
The game is a tense race! The end of the game is triggered as soon as any player completes their 8th district. But beware — finishing first doesn't guarantee victory. The winner is determined by the total value of their city, plus bonus points!
Types of Districts Districts come in five colors, each tied to a specific strategy and character role:
Military (Red): Brings bonus gold to the Inquisitor and the Shadow Lord. -
Religious (Blue): Fills the pockets of the Ambassador.
Trade (Yellow): Grants additional income to the Chancellor.
Science (Green): Rewards the Guildmaster with extra gold.
Special (Purple): Unique buildings that grant special advantages or end-game bonus points.
Strategy is Key
Will you rush to build 8 cheap districts to end the game quickly? Or will you focus on expensive, high-value buildings and protect them from the Warlord? The choice is yours, and every match will require a different approach based on the hidden roles your opponents select.
What is "Citadels - Shadow city"? It is a psychological hidden-role card strategy game where you'll need to rely on your cunning and deduction. Your primary goal is to build the most majestic and prosperous medieval city, outsmarting your rival rulers along the way.
At the core of the game lies a secret character drafting mechanic. Each turn, players covertly hire one of the influential citizens of the medieval kingdom: from a stealthy assassin and a cunning thief to a powerful wizard or a ruthless warlord. Every character possesses unique abilities that can completely turn the tide of a match. You can steal gold from your rivals' treasuries, destroy their buildings, or generate extra income from your own city districts.The key to victory is mastering the art of bluffing, predicting your opponents' moves, and striking exactly when they least expect it!Game Features: We set out to combine the thoughtful depth of classic card games with the immersive capabilities of modern digital technology:Atmospheric Interface. The game transports you to a virtual medieval table featuring dynamic, flickering lighting. Stylized wooden UI elements and smooth, satisfying card animations will fully immerse you in the process.
Advanced Audio Design. We’ve developed a custom audio engine that allows the clinking of gold coins, the rolling of dice, and the rustling of cards to overlap perfectly without ever interrupting the atmospheric background music.
Fair Play & Security. We've implemented robust asset protection and security systems to guarantee client stability and ensure your game sessions are completely safe from tampering.
The countdown has begun! We're now in the final stage of development, putting the finishing touches on Citadels before launch.
Right now, we're polishing the interface, fixing the remaining bugs, and making sure every card interaction feels smooth and balanced. These last details may seem small, but they make a big difference to the overall experience.
Thank you to everyone who has wishlisted the game and followed our journey so far. Your support truly motivates us, and we can't wait to welcome you to the world of Citadels on July 27!
About
This page aggregates Steam news feeds, patch notes, and developer announcements for Citadels - Shadow City, sourced from official Steam community posts.
Major updates, balance changes, and seasonal events often correlate with player-count spikes — cross-reference announcements here with the live charts on the main Citadels - Shadow City statistics page.
Articles link back to Steam for full changelogs. SteamScope refreshes news entries as new posts are published to the game's Steam hub.