Silos
🐸 Dettagli da BoardGameGeek
Consiglio BGG sul numero di giocatori
Categorie
Meccaniche
Design & Art
Lingua
Si abbina bene con
The FroGames Card
You have three aliens at the town hall and two near the radio station. He has four at the school and already controls the lab. You play the Rally card: all your aliens move to the school. He smiles. You abduct a cow. He stops smiling.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT
Aliens, cows, and mind control in small-town America
It's the mid-20th century. A typical Midwest town is infiltrated by competing alien factions. The objective: abduct and manipulate humans to control the levers of earthly society. SILOS is a completely reworked edition of Municipium (2008) by Reiner Knizia, with creative direction by Dave Chalker and art by Kwanchai Moriya. The acronym stands for Secret InterLopers from Outer Space.
At the table, you move your alien pawns between key city locations (town hall, radio, lab, school...), activate event cards to move troops or change rules, and abduct humans and cows to complete sets. Each complete set — politicians, government operatives, influencers, professionals — earns you a social power emblem. First to five emblems wins. Cows are the wild card: they count as any type of human you are collecting. The competition is about positioning: whoever has the most aliens in a location activates its special power and decides who gets abducted.
What they say abroad
"A clever refresh that makes Municipium's card counting public and its tactics sharper."
A clever refresh that makes Municipium's card counting public and its tactics sharper.
— Meeple Mountain
This is a promising new game, but it has few votes on BGG. The card will be updated after the first Italian plays. For now: Knizia, Moriya, aliens, and cows. Enough said?
— FroGames
SILOS
FrogScore · FroGames editorial rating · based on rules, international reviews, and play sessionsThe tools of invasion
Aliens, humans, cows, and alien powers
Alien pawns
Your troops on the field. They move between locations, compete for majority, activate powers. Each alien faction has a leader: stronger but one-time use.
Human tokens
Politicians, government operatives, influencers, professionals. Four categories to collect. A complete set (one of each type) is worth a social power emblem.
Cows
The most intelligent life form on Earth, according to aliens. They count as a universal wildcard: they count for any human category you are completing.
Event cards
Each turn you activate one: move troops, change the rules of a location, unleash the UFO. The deck is known, but the draw order introduces calculated chaos.
Recommended sleeves 24 cards in 1 size ▼
If you play often, we recommend protecting your cards with transparent sleeves to make them last longer.
| Size | Quantity |
|---|---|
| 70 × 120 mm | 24 |
| Total cards | 24 |
Come si gioca
Video dimostrativo di gameplay.
🎲How to PlayThe rules in four steps▼
How to Play
The Flow of Each Turn
Fast turns, public information, clear choices. Each round lasts 60 seconds once learned.
Move up to two alien pawns between adjacent locations. You can move one pawn twice, or two different pawns once each. The board is small: three to four moves and you're across the city.
Play one card from your hand and apply its effect: move extra troops, activate the UFO (move any alien anywhere), temporarily change the rules of a location, draw bonus cards. Some cards are public, others secret until revealed.
For each location where you have the majority (more aliens than anyone else), activate the location's power: abduct a human of a specific category, take a cow, draw extra cards. If there's a tie, no one activates anything.
If you have completed a set of four different humans (politician + worker + influencer + professional, cows count as wildcards), declare it and take a social power emblem. First to five emblems wins immediately.
⏱️Your First GameThe chronicle, moment by moment▼
A Game in Five Moments
What Happens at the Table
Not the rules. The experience.
Setup and Territories
Assemble the modular board with six random locations (city hall, radio station, school, laboratory...). Each location has a unique power written on the tile. Place starting aliens, shuffle the event deck. The player who has seen the most 1950s sci-fi movies starts. The city is ready for infiltration.
First Majorities
The first turns are pure positioning: move two aliens, play an event card, watch where the balance shifts. The player controlling the city hall decides who abducts the politician. The player with the radio station takes the influencer. Everyone looks at the cows with increasing suspicion.
Sets Take Shape
Mid-game: someone is about to complete their first set. Others see it and try to block them by moving aliens to key locations. Event cards become tactical weapons: "Rally" moves all your aliens to one spot, "Blackout" cancels a location's power for one turn. Tension rises.
Leaders on the Field
Someone plays their alien leader — the special pawn that counts double but can only be used once. This is the pivotal moment: you conquer a key location, abduct two humans at once, complete your second set. Others must decide whether to respond immediately or save their leader for later. No one knows if it's the right move.
Race to the Fifth Emblem
Last round: someone has four emblems, just one set left. Others count the remaining cards in the deck, calculate probabilities, move everything to the location that could secure victory. A cow abducted at the right moment can end the game. Or your opponent plays their last event card and blocks you. The end.
🐸What to Know FirstThree honest things, from friends▼
What to Know First
Three Things You Need to Know
The event deck is known and public: everyone knows which cards exist and how many are left. If you hate tracking probabilities, this game will be burdensome. If you love optimizing, it's right up your alley.
With two players, it flows very quickly. With four, downtime lengthens: while others play, you have to recalculate your moves based on theirs. It's not analysis paralysis, but it's not a filler either.
Beneath Moriya's pop art is pure Knizia math. Aliens and cows are fiction: you're optimizing sets and majorities. If you're looking for narrative or immersion, look elsewhere. If you're looking for clean decisions, you're home.
🏆Victory and DefeatWhat the ending rewards▼
How it Ends
Victory and Defeat
Only one way to win, many ways to lose control.
Victory
- Collect five social power emblems by completing sets of humans (or cow-wildcards). Immediate end of the game.
- If the event deck runs out and no one has reached five, the player with the most emblems wins. Tie: count remaining human tokens.
- Rarely, but it happens: surprise victory thanks to two cows abducted in the last two turns completing two sets at once.
Fatal Errors
- Playing the leader too early: you use it on turn 3, others save it for the last round and overtake you.
- Ignoring the cows: they act as wildcards but are limited. Whoever controls them has a huge advantage on sets.
- Not counting cards: you play blindly while others know exactly which events can still come out. You lose mathematically.
SILOS is a classic Knizia hidden inside a modern game: clear decisions, no frills, constant interaction. If you like optimizing, this is your alien invader.
💬Frequently Asked QuestionsQuick answers before checkout▼
Frequently Asked Questions
FAQ about SILOS
What mechanics does SILOS use?
Mainly area majority (area majority on locations) and set collection (collecting humans of four different types). It adds point-to-point movement, event cards with push-your-luck, modular location powers, and once-per-game leader abilities. It's a eurogame under alien skin.
How different is it from the original Municipium?
Same core engine (Knizia 2008), but deeply re-elaborated: card counting is now public and transparent, location powers are modular (each game different), alien leaders add strong tactical choices, theme and production completely redone. It's not a reskin: it's a true remaster.
Does it play well with two players?
Yes, in fact it's probably the best. Total control, zero downtime, every move counts double. With three, it's good. With four, it lengthens and chaos increases: depends on what you're looking for.
Are cows really important or are they a gag?
They are strategically crucial. They act as wildcards for any human category, thus accelerating sets. Controlling locations that give cows (usually farm or pasture) is a winning strategy. The gag is just the thematic excuse.
Is it available in Italian?
No. This is the English edition by Bitewing Games. The text on the cards is in English, but it's mainly iconographic: once you learn the set of events (24 total cards), the language matters little. Rules in English.
The people behind the game
Who invented it, who designed it, who publishes it — and what else they've done.
SILOS is a strategic board game for 2-4 players, lasting 45-60 minutes, ages 14+, designed by Reiner Knizia and published by Bitewing Games. It combines area majority and set collection in a clean system where alien factions compete to control locations and abduct humans (and cows). Modular board, public card counting, direct interaction. English edition with art by Kwanchai Moriya. Available on FroGames.it.
Silos
Frequently Asked Questions
The answers you're looking for, no beating around the bush.
📸Do the images match the actual product?
The photos on the website often come from BoardGameGeek and are intended to give you an idea of the game. They may vary slightly from the version you receive. The content declared by the publisher is always binding.
📦Does the content of the box match what is indicated?
We always strive to provide the correct content, but minor variations are possible due to reprints or updates. The information comes directly from the publishers. If you have any questions, please contact us!
⏳How do pre-orders work?
Pre-order the game before release, payment is immediate, and the game is reserved for you. As soon as it arrives, we'll ship it right away! If there are any delays, we'll update you promptly.
🔒Can I trust buying here?
Absolutely! Secure payments, tracked shipments, and a team that loves board games as much as you do. If something goes wrong, we'll do our best to fix it.
🛠There's a problem with my order, what should I do?
Write to us now! Whether it's a missing part, damage, or an error, we'll help you resolve it as soon as possible. Your experience truly matters to us.