Influence is a a game set in ancient Rome, where each player competes to become the Emperor. This is done by passing laws to gain influence points with the four people classes: Military, Priests, Upper Class, and Lower Class. The game centres around bribing, bidding, and the use of action cards to further progress. The game is played in rounds, with several phases in each round. Players move to different areas of the city of Rome to increase their influence in a particular class, trade, bribe, and interact with other players. A round consists of the Draw Phase, where players may draw and play action cards; the Trade Phase, where players may trade and bribe each others support in coming phases; the Move phase, where players must move to an area of the city to increase their points in a particular class; and the Forum phase, where players bribe the current Emperor to pass the law that benefits them the most. Influence is a social, reasonably paced game with no waits between turns, and a variable game length.