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How to play Akropolis (2026): Akropolis is a tile-laying game for one to four players in which each player builds an ancient Greek city out of hexagon tiles. You pick tiles from a shared Construction Site, place them flat or stack them higher, and score districts that follow their placement rules, multiplied by matching plazas. A game takes about 25 minutes and plays from age eight. This guide follows the official English rulebook from Gigamic.
The game you need: Akropolis
The box contains 61 city tiles, four starting tiles, 40 stone cubes, the Chief Architect marker, player aids and a score pad. A solo mode is available from the publisher.
Price band: $20–$30 (about $30) · Check today’s price on Amazon
What each Akropolis tile is made of
Every city tile is made of three hexes, and each hex is one of three kinds of construction:
- Quarries score nothing, but when you cover a quarry with another tile, you take one stone from the reserve.
- Plazas show one to three stars and multiply the points of districts of the same color.
- Districts come in five types: Houses, Markets, Barracks, Temples and Gardens. They score only if they follow their placement rule and you have at least one plaza of that color.
Akropolis setup
- Take the city tiles for your player count, shown on the tile backs.
- Make 11 face-down stacks: three tiles per stack with two players, four with three players and five with four players.
- Turn up enough tiles to make the Construction Site: two more tiles than the number of players, in a line.
- Give each player, called an Architect, a starting tile. It already includes a blue Housing plaza.
- The player who most recently climbed a hill takes the Chief Architect marker. Hand out stones in turn order, with later players receiving more to offset going later.
- Put the remaining stones nearby as the reserve.
Taking a tile from the Construction Site
Starting with the Chief Architect and going clockwise, each player takes one tile and adds it to their city. The first tile in the line is free. Any later tile costs one stone for each tile in front of it, so the fourth tile costs three stones. If you have no stones, you must take the first tile.
Adding the tile to your city
A tile on the ground level must touch at least one of your existing tiles along an edge. A tile placed higher must sit fully on top of three hexes, cannot hang over empty space and must cover hexes from at least two different tiles below. Hexes that get covered no longer count for anything, except that covering a quarry pays you a stone.
Height is the key idea in Akropolis. A district on the second level is worth 2, on the third level 3 and so on. Plazas are the exception: building a plaza higher does not make its stars worth more.
The five district types and their rules
| District | Placement rule to score |
|---|---|
| Houses | Only your single largest group of connected houses scores |
| Markets | A market cannot be next to another market |
| Barracks | Must sit on the outer edge of your city |
| Temples | Must be completely surrounded by other hexes |
| Gardens | No rule; every garden scores |
Running out of tiles and ending the game
When only one tile remains in the Construction Site, slide it to the first position, turn up a new stack beside it and pass the Chief Architect marker to the left. That last tile is never taken before the new tiles arrive. When there are no stacks left and only one tile remains, the game ends.
Scoring Akropolis
For each district color, add up the height values of every district of that color that follows its rule, then multiply by the total stars on your plazas of that color. Add 1 point for every stone you still have. The highest score wins, and ties go to the player with more stones.
For example, if your largest group of houses has five houses on the ground and two on the second level, the group is worth 9. With three stars on your housing plazas, that color scores 27 points.
Akropolis tips from our table
- Plazas first, districts later. A great district scores nothing without a matching plaza.
- Collect stones early. Covering quarries keeps your options open at the Construction Site.
- Build up, not out. Stacking turns a 1-point house into a 3-point house.
- Pick one or two colors. Spreading stars across all five colors rarely wins.
Want more games like this? Our best tile-laying board games roundup lists other puzzle-like city and map builders, and Akropolis itself makes a tidy gift for a family that loves quick strategy games.
Akropolis rules questions
How many players can play Akropolis?
Two to four in the box, plus an official solo mode from the publisher.
Can you place a tile on top of just one other tile?
No. A higher tile must cover hexes from at least two different tiles and cannot sit over empty space.
Do plazas score more on higher levels?
No. Only districts gain value from height. Plaza stars stay the same at any level.
What happens if you run out of stones?
You must take the first tile in the Construction Site until you collect more.
