Overview
At a glance
Is this game right for my group?
ABG editorial scores on a 1–5 scale.
Harder to teach
High replayability
Highly interactive
Scales well
Deep strategy
More strategic control
How it plays
How does it play?
Restore Cadmea, upgrade citizen dice into leaders, honor the gods, and defend the seven gates of Thebes across ten exacting rounds.
Core mechanisms
Key systems that shape the decisions players make.
Tile Placement
Place tiles to build a shared or personal spatial arrangement.
Contracts
Complete specific requirements to earn rewards, income, or victory points.
Grid Movement
Move pieces between adjacent spaces on a regular grid.
Worker Placement with Dice Workers
Use Worker Placement with Dice Workers as a recurring structure for player decisions and resolution.
Matching
Pair items with corresponding symbols, properties, or categories.
End Game Bonuses
Earn additional points for meeting conditions evaluated when the game ends.
See all 9 mechanisms
Read the full game description
Thebai is a heavy Eurogame set in Cadmea during the struggle between the sons of Oedipus. Across ten rounds, each player leads a noble house rebuilding the city, developing an estate, producing and exporting goods, training hoplites, and cultivating devotion to the gods. In the action phase, a Citizen die is placed on an estate or city space before the Archon moves through Cadmea to unlock a second action; a Metic may imitate the die without displacing it. Dice are upgraded rather than rolled, turning placement values into a long-term development puzzle. The Fate phase then resolves battles at the seven gates, wages, council positions, and turn order. Contracts, councilors, city tiles, divine tracks, and military defense all score, rewarding an economy that can survive pressure while converting influence into lasting glory.
