In ‘Perikles’ each player represents a Greek family with political influence spread across the six main cities of Greece. Players will use their influence to gain control of these cities, which in turn allows them to use their military forces to win glory on the battlefield.

The game can be played by three, four or five players. There are three turns in all, with each turn consisting of four main phases.

In the first phase players will select Influence tiles that will allow them to place more influence on the map. Influence is represented by wooden cubes. With three or four players each player will select five Influence tiles in all. If there are five players then each player takes four tiles in all. Certain tiles will also allow players to propose candidates for leadership, or an assassination to reduce another player’s influence.

In the second phase players will propose candidates for the remaining vacant candidacies. Once this is done players determine which of the two candidates in each city will become the leader, which depends on the amount of influence behind each candidate. As we know, though, any group in power always becomes unpopular, so the winning player loses an amount of influence equal to that of the opposing player.

The second half of the game is devoted to the fighting of the war. Each player takes control of the military forces for each city he is leader of. Players will fight over seven Location tiles. The order in which players commit forces to these locations depends on the Influence tiles they selected earlier, (and which should be retained for this purpose). Normally a player can send up to two units but he can send more if he is prepared to use up an Influence cube.

Each Location tile shows a historical location that was fought over during the actual war. The tile will indicate which city originally controls it. Some locations start with intrinsic defenders. Others have rebels ready to rise up if aided by another city. The battle for a location nearly always consists of two rounds, land combat involving hoplites, and sea combat involving triremes. The order in which these two rounds are fought is shown on the tile. Winning the first round of combat gives an advantage in the second round. The winner of the second round of combat takes the tile, thus earning victory points.

At the end of each turn all the leaders die. The grateful citizens then erect statues of them to commemorate their wise leadership in such dark times. A new turn begins. The game will normally end after three turns, although this could be less if Sparta or Athens are knocked out of the war. Players count up their victory points, which are earned from having influence on the map, for winning Location tiles, and for statues. The value of a statue depends on how well its city did in the war.