Caesar Must Die: A Julius Caesar Social Deduction Game

Want a surefire way to engage your students in the assassination of Julius Caesar and the Shakespeare play based upon it? Use this social-deduction game to immerse your students in the political intrigue of Rome in 44 B.C. Soon they will be wondering, "Who is loyal to Caesar? And who is (literally) trying to stab him in the back?" Featuring original artwork and Among Us-style gameplay, this activity is bound to be a hit with your students! Along the way they will learn the key players in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Just print and play to bring the world of Caesar to life.

 Setup: Friends, Romans, countrymen, the year is 44 B.C., and the Roman Republic has never seen a leader as powerful as Julius Caesar. You might say he bestrides the narrow world like a colossus. Yet while his popularity has never been rivaled, there are those who fear Caesar intends to crown himself king. A group of conspirators realize the fault is not in their stars, but in themselves, so they take matters (and daggers) into their own hands. Their goal? To make great Caesar a ghost. But there are still many loyal to Caesar. If the conspirators want to get close enough to give him the most unkindest cut of all, they must first pick off his loyalists one by one. Meanwhile, Caesar must judge who is faithful and who has that dangerous lean and hungry look. In this game of intrigue and betrayal, cowards will die many times before their deaths, but it’s up to you whether mighty Caesar will live—or use his final breath to gasp, “Et tu, Brute?”

Gameplay: This is a game of conspiracy and paranoia. Caesar and those loyal to him try to determine which group members are conspirators. Caesar executes players whom he believes to be conspirators. Meanwhile, the conspirators pick off the loyalists one by one before their plot to assassinate Caesar is discovered. Gameplay is based on Mafia (also known as Werewolf), where a group of murderous conspirators have infiltrated an unsuspecting group of innocents.

 Special cards and character roles: Character roles include Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, Mark Antony, Calphurnia, Portia, Octavian (Caesar Augustus), Casca, the Soothsayer, Cicero, and the Cobbler. Special cards include: the Bodyguard, Artemidorus, and Thrown to the Lions card, which adds variation to the gameplay.

Recommended Number of Players: 8+

Game Duration: 15-30 minutes

With this 16-page digital download you will receive:

• Detailed game rules, which include a script to walk you through the process of moderating gameplay
• Reproducible cards with 16 different characters/designs featuring original artwork
• A reproducible game guide with a list of special roles and cards